Marijuana Content Marketing is More than Blog Posts

Think about some of your favorite brands. Now consider why they’re your favorite. Is it the feeling that you belong to the culture of that brand? Is it a sense of shared values? Do you feel a strong connection to the mission and vision of the brand? You may not know it, but you’re already on your way to understanding why storytelling is important in business. Having a solid digital content marketing strategy is a critical step in making a lasting emotional connection with your customers, establishing brand loyalty and inadvertently contributing to cannabis culture.

At CannaSiteCo., understanding your brand and crafting your brand’s story is our jam. Marijuana content marketing for cannabis startups and small businesses is vital for your cannabis brand, and our team of professional cannabis industry writers and strategists understand the unique needs of cannabis brands. As a business owner in the cannabis industry, you’re probably doing lots of jobs and have a long list of hurdles to overcome. Hiring an agency like CannaSiteCo. for marijuana content marketing services sets the stage for the conversations that happen between your business and your potential customers without you having to take on yet another major task. If you are ready to execute content marketing in-house, follow these steps to establish your brand voice and solidify your digital content marketing strategy.

Develop your buyer personas

If you want to learn more about the importance of a digital content marketing strategy, start with understanding your audience or buyer personas. This term represents somewhat-fictional ideal customers based on real data and insights from your existing customers. By understanding the challenges, lifestyles and desires of your buyer personas, you’ll have context for the decisions your business must make, wisely choose the content and marketing tactics you’ll use to win new business and help allocate resources internally. Developing your buyer personas is much easier when you utilize a detailed persona creation guide like this one by Hubspot, or try creating buyer personas with HubSpot’s persona generator tool.

“People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.”

Simon Sinek has been famously quoted on the internet for years from his speech on “the golden circle.” In this speech, he walks through why storytelling is important in business, how we structure brand messages, and why it’s so important to connect with people rather than simply pitch a product or service. The takeaway?

“People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.” Simon uses Apple, and the cult following they’ve grown, as an example of how captivating copy makes all the difference. Instead of structuring their messaging based on the what, the way other computer or phone manufacturers would, they start with the why. From Sinek’s TedTalk:

If Apple were like everyone else, a marketing message from them might sound like this: “We make great computers. They’re beautifully designed, simple to use, and user-friendly. Want to buy one?” “Meh.” That’s how most of us communicate.

It explains the product, but it doesn’t strike an emotional cord. Instead, Apple positions its products from a place of purpose.

Here’s how Apple actually communicates. “Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently. The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use and user-friendly. We just happen to make great computers. Want to buy one?”

He says this technique is so impactful in part because of the way our brains function and handle emotion and logical thinking in different sections. When we start with the “why”, we target the emotional and behavioral responses in the limbic portion of the brain first. Reasoning, consideration and logic take place in the neocortex as the customer moves into the “what” and considers the technical aspect of the purchase. When we strike an emotional nerve, the customer is more likely to be swayed by their emotional connection to then rationalize a choice.

Simon isn’t the only one who has spoken about the power of emotional branding, but with more than 58 million views on this video alone, he’s definitely brought this message back into the limelight. As you develop your brand voice and message, consider the golden circle message.

Tie your values into your content

Consumer habits have changed over the years. Today, customers aren’t just buying a product or service, they know their dollars buy into the brand and the values a company stands for as a whole. Consumers want to patronize canna-businesses that align with their own mission, values, environmental concerns and charitable efforts. Developing your business story means spelling out your company’s core principles and mission statement. Incorporating your values is one of many great ways to get to the heart and soul of your brand, connecting you with your customers.

Marijuana content marketing for startups

We know why storytelling is important in business and how to tell a story, now it’s time to start creating. Use your buyer personas, your brand values, mission and goals to develop your brand story and personality. It’s hard to tell a cohesive story if you don’t know the characteristics that make your brand unique and the ways in which you impact your customers as you solve their problems. What does a gecko have to do with insurance? Nothing at all, but Geico knew they needed a strong story to help customers not only connect with the brand but also remember the unique company name. 

When customers choose CannaSiteCo. for marijuana content marketing for startups and small businesses, we kick-off the campaign with a content strategy call to learn about your brand, products, services, target audience, customer needs and more. Then we carefully craft your brand story for publication on a variety of channels/platforms.

If you’re still curious about creating your own digital content marketing strategy or if you’d like to learn more about our cannabis content creation services, please schedule a discovery call. No pressure — just a good conversation and tons of possibility.