Unless you’re an older individual, you more than likely know about the advantage of having an influencer as a part of your business endeavor. More specifically, the modern era has made it, so cannabis brands have some cannabis influencers as a part of their marketing package and tactics.
Nevertheless, if you hope to learn more about the necessity of influencers in the cannabis industry, you’re in the right place. Below will discuss what an influencer is, if they’re worth the investment, how to market an influencer, the use of social media, and much more.
What is an Influencer?
An influencer is someone in a specific industry, brand, niche, or subject influencing that specific audience. Influencers have a special effect, authority, or understanding into a particular subject, with a presence that makes them a valuable take-off platform for brands looking for believability.
Influencing marketing is a type of marketing that surrounds itself with endorsements and product placement. It’s a way for a brand or business to work with an influencer to promote its products, service, or platform to gain that influencer’s audience for their business or brand. Despite the popularity of so many influencers, many wonder if it’s worth the investment.
Are Influencers Worth the Investment?
Asking if an influencer is worth the investment depends on many factors. First and foremost, does the influencer fit with your niche? As it pertains to cannabis, you’ll need to work with an influencer who is cannabis-friendly or is already a marijuana influencer.
Besides knowing if the influencer fits your cannabis business or not, then you need to see what they offer. Are they only going to share your products occasionally in their story? Are they going to take photos with your business’s merch? Whatever the case might be, ensure that whatever you get in return is enough promotion to benefit your company.
Lastly, what is the budget like? Every cannabis business has a certain amount of capital meant for marketing and promoting. If your business has a particular number in mind for an influencer, don’t bother jumping way over budget unless it’s worth it.
How to Market Your Brand to Influencers
Marketing to influencers is an imperative step in the influencer marketing process. Before you magically have an influencer out there promoting your cannabis business, you need to attract an influencer who is willing to work with you. Indeed, there are plenty of people with small followings who’d work with you no problem, but you want major influencers for this department.
The process typically begins with a message or email to see if they’d have any interest in an additional comment about sending some products to try for further inquiry. If they’re interested, the cannabis business would then send some of their products to the influencer and take it from there.
Influencer Marketing
Once the influencer and business connection has been established, there are two main routes a cannabis business can go. We’ll discuss the specifics later, but understand it has to do with marketing through the influencer versus marketing with the influencer.
Part of the reason influencer marketing is so prevalent and valuable has to do with the overall appeal people with a large following have. People are naturally clicky and tend to look up to people who have an audience. Whether it’s a musician, entrepreneur, model, artist, TikToker, or YouTuber, there are countless avenues for an influencer to begin.
When it comes to a cannabis business, some people might feel odd about the subject since there is still some stigma attached to the matter. Though that stigma is nowhere near as bad as it once was, utilizing an influencer to talk or promote your cannabis products in a positive manner will only help.
Marketing through Influencers
Marketing through an influencer revolves around the idea of getting a written contract in hand for what the influencer will do in return for you. It’s all about promoting your product through the influencer, meaning they’d make posts or tag you in various ways supporting your product.
It’s different from marketing with the influencer because it’s from a promotional standpoint rather than an agreement to collaborate on something. Nevertheless, marketing through the influencer tends to shift with how much they charge. It’s impossible to say how much an influencer charges until you ask them in an inquiry.
Marketing with Influencers
Though not as common, marketing with a cannabis influencer is when an influencer becomes a spokesperson or a part of the brand. Think of it like an athlete doing a commercial for a brand. Rather than the athlete promoting the product on social media, they might be in commercials or on the brand’s social media site.
Though it requires more detail, a larger budget, and is overall more complex, marketing with an influencer does offer some benefits. Numerous marijuana brands found that developing a solid partnership with a top-notch, innovative, and popular influencer can be a significant achievement on their path toward success.
The use of Instagram
Usually, whenever someone mentions the idea of an influencer, they tend to think of Instagram before any other platform. Though the notion of an influencer has been around as long as marketing has been around, it’s undoubtedly exploded with the popularity of Instagram.
Instagram has every feature wrapped in one for someone to promote another product. Whether it’s through Instagram reels, stories, posts, comments, or sharing, all of it is possible through the platform. It’s truly the perfect place for marketing, with it having so many options for brands and collaborators to choose from.
Popular (Cannabis) Influencers on Instagram
- Weed Humor
- Thehighwoman
- Herhighgarden
- CheechandChong
- Jackey_420
- Imcannabess
- The Mommy Jane
The use of Podcasts
As great as Instagram is for a plethora of reasons, no one can deny the success podcasting has had on practically every industry. Podcasts are incredibly popular for countless reasons, with there being a podcast for virtually every niche or subject you can think of.
Though podcasts have become oversaturated in recent memory, plenty of popular cannabis podcasts are ideal for marketing. Still, not every cannabis podcats offers the same degree of marketing as other ones. Regardless, always have an email in mind to send to see what podcasts are open for marketing collaborations.
Popular (Cannabis) Influencer Podcasts
- CannaInsider Podcast
- The Green Repeal
- Different Leaf: The Podcast
- Green Entrepreneur
- Shaping Fire
- Weed + Grub
The use of YouTube
YouTube is a viral platform for countless reasons. Whether you look at its ease of use, accessibility, or the wide range of content, it’s impossible to say for sure why the platform has grown into what it has. As for the cannabis industry, there are plenty of YouTubers who fit perfectly with the Cannabis world.
YouTubers can do product reviews, highlighting what they like and don’t like about your product with links in the description to learn more. Some channels do promotional bits where they talk about your brand early or at the end of a video. Both options are helpful, with the prices varying depending on the channel.
Popular (Cannabis) Influencers on YouTube
- That High Couple
- Leafly
- StrainCentral
- Ruffhouse Studios
- Jorge Cervantes
- Growing Exposed
The use of TikTok
Though not as old as the other options for marketing, no one can deny the size and popularity of TikTok. The platform offers countless avenues for marketing, especially when discussing cannabis. Similar to YouTubers, TikTokers can promote products, give reviews, and discuss a product they’re in collaboration with. There’s a lot to be said about the potential of TikTok marketing.
Popular (Cannabis) Influencers on TikTok
- AppleCrumbWill
- MrBocaj
- SheSmokesJoint
- Dabbing Granny
- Koala Puffs
- MacDizzle420
Need Help? Contact Client Verge
Rather than worry about going through this entire process yourself, allow us to guide you along the way. Here at client verge, we have the experience and team ready to get you where you want to be. No matter what dispensary or cannabis business you might have, allow us to point you in the right direction.
We’re a groundbreaking digital transformation supplier dedicated to opening your business’s capability on the web. We understand the necessity of the online and medium and how it can unlock your potential as a business owner; besides helping you connect with cannabis influencers, we offer:
- SEO
- Website Development
- Consulting
- Paid Ads
- Social Media Management
- Content Writing
Conclusion
We hope you enjoyed our discussion on the importance of influencers and how they benefit your cannabis endeavor. People have a slew of people they look up to and admire, with there being a large sect of people in this specific area who look up to countless individuals in this medium.
Rather than strictly rely on your word and products, allow others with a following to help grow your business along with themselves. Cannabis influencers understand the platform they have and know when a company is the right fit. Regardless, be sure to reach out to us at Client Verge if you have any questions about influencers, cannabis, or would like to get started with growing your business.
