by Samantha Sage
In state-legal cannabis markets, dispensaries are your primary promotional space to drive in-person sales. That's sales not only of your cannabis products themselves, but also custom-branded cannabis merch and apparel your business can use to create buzz and identify fans as a part of your community.
But in a dispensary full of premium cannabis products and awesome merch for other brands, how can your business stand out from the crowd, grab attention, and convert interested shoppers into loyal fans? Choosing the right cannabis swag for your marketing budget, your customer's purchasing habits, and their needs or interests is absolutely critical to in-store dispensary sales success for your products and merch.
At Higher Promos, we've been creating customized dispensary swag that converts, educates, and amplifies since Oregon went legal in 2015. So we have a wealth of knowledge on how to create the most unique and useful promotional products for your cannabis brand to resell or give away in dispensary and cannabis industry event environments.
Don't just get the word out about your brand - create a loyal following that promotes your brand for you!
Understanding Dispensary Purchasing Habits
Choosing swag that converts in the dispensary requires understanding your target audience's budgets. Are your consumers very price sensitive? Are they older folks with more disposable income and loyalty to brands they like? If you're planning to resell any of your customized cannabis merch, the price will need to be right for the folks you're targeting.
For more price sensitive shoppers, swag priced as add-on items at the Point of Sale will be most successful, especially if they are useful cannabis companion items like rolling papers, lighters, and joint tips. Price your items such that they will round up in $20 increments when purchased with common cannabis items. The industry's reliance on cash and in-dispensary ATM services means most shoppers will be working with $20 bills for their totals, and may not have enough singles for swag purchases exceeding $5-10.
For more premium product shoppers who make larger basket purchases, who are typically older or more established in their careers as well, consider age- and style- appropriate premium swag items including high-quality apparel pieces with minimal branding or cannabis consumption tech devices with custom engraving of your brand logo. These swag items offer an opportunity to educate and engage with customers about their consumption experiences, and when they return to your dispensary, your budtenders will have the conversation starter ready to ask about their experience using your cannabis consumption merch. Showing your buyers that you truly care about their experiences with your products is a sure-fire way to satisfy customers and encourage repeat dispensary visits.
Beyond budget concerns, it's important to build customer personas & tailor your swag choices to your most common customer interests - are your most frequent shoppers outdoors enthusiasts, especially if you're located near recreational areas like mountains or the coast? Are your cannabis consumers music lovers who could use your swag at festivals and concerts? Are they social consumers who host group smoking sessions and may have need for branded ashtrays, roach clips, and other communal use smoker's swag? Or are they solo consumers who would perfer stash supplies, custom apparel, and experience-minded goodies for their own use? It's always a good idea to personalize swag smokers actually want, and specifically your smokers, to create the most useful swag to stretch your marketing budget further with years of re-use.
Speaking of stretching marketing budgets, consider swag collaborations between the dispensary, cannabis distribution company, and/or your individual brand where the relationships and opportunities present themselves to get the most bang for your collective buck. Cannabis brands, farms, and processors are all competing for attention in the dispensary - why not work together on collab merch that gets more than one brand's name in front of the client at a time? After all, your supply chains must work together to get your cannabis products into consumer hands, so shared success through marketing campaigns is a great way to strengthen both profits and business relationships - a rising tide lifts all ships, especially in the historically collaborative cannabis space!
Last, but never least - don't forget your medical patients! New legal state cannabis markets so often forget to include the people who are most positively impacted by cannabis use in their policies and access considerations - don't make your brand outreach part of the problem! Consider custom imprinted medical marijuana items as free giveaways for your patients to show you support and care about their needs.
Custom experience journals help medical marijuana patients track the products and terpenes that give them the most relief of various symptoms. Branded travel medication organizers provide support for their whole health journey beyond their medical cannabis needs. Custom imprinted wellness items like massagers, heat therapy wraps, and home comfort self-care goods will help your medical marijuana clients feel fully seen and cared for in your dispensary. Get creative and caring in your custom cannabis swag selections to ensure that you can offer patients more than just standard recreational consumption accessories.
Dispensary Marketing Ideas for Merch Madness
How to best market your products and merch in the dispensary will depend on many factors - including the dispensary layout, your shelf or hanging rack space, and how much merchandise or marketing materials (like printed collateral and signage) your dispensary staff is willing to display. Additionally, you will need to be aware of your state's legal requirements for marketing your cannabis brand, and what kinds of specals and giveaways can be offered vs what is explicitly prohibited. Always research marketing restrictions placed on cannabis in your state market to ensure you remain compliant, and do not jeopardize your license or the reputation of the dispensary by running illegal cannabis marketing campaigns.
When possible, leverage in-store merchandising improvements with eye-catching signage and attention grabbers to drive brand recognition and get customers wondering about your brand. Creating printed educational materials matched to your brand marketing and swag logos will give more instant recognition, building both intrigue and trust in your brand as an industry leader, a problem solver, and a caring educator guiding their cannabis experiences. Our cannabis clients have had great luck with molded aluminum signage, 5D "moving" signage on dispensary shelves, and custom posters with education around terpenes, strain effects, and consumption methods.
If your state allows rewards programs and free gifting of cannabis swag giveaways, consider establishing a loyalty marketing program. Get return customers with a swag-supported rewards tier program, giving higher valued swag items for each tier of return visits - think custom stickers for first visits, branded lighters for 2nd visits, full color rolling trays for 5th visits, apparel or headwear for 10th visits, and retail gifts like branded speakers or branded dab rigs for higher rewards tiers.
Word of mouth is still one of the most powerful, successful marketing funnels available to cannabis brands in legal markets. Encourage referral marketing by offering swag for bringing in friends, giving away low cost swag items like papers and lighters in 2-packs to encourage regifting at sessions, and offering perks for sending new business into the dispensary. While nothing encourages referrals as much as a positive shopping experience in your dispensary, giving away desirable swag that your customer's friends will ask about and want for themselves is a great way to get new customers in the door too.
Swag can be a vital tool for growing your social media presence and online following. Consider social media giveaway campaigns to get your followers to tag friends and share your account with their own audience to reach new like-minded potential customers. Custom cannabis swag is a perfect way to work with out of state social media influencers on partnerships to promote your cannabis brand - while you can't legally ship your cannabis products out of state, you can easily create and ship fully custom swag boxes with a premium unboxing experience that influencers will document and share online.
For an inventive Point of Sale add-on idea, we can custom brand a wide range of brand name and generic non-medicated snacks like Snickers with overwrapped custom labels, Swedish Fish in digitally imprinted window bags, Sour Patch Kids in reusable metal tins with your logo imprinted, and more customized treats for your dispensary brand.
Anticipate the munchies your customers may get from their cannabis consumption, and save them a trip to the corner store, with your own custom branded snacks and treats sold or given away in your dispensary. Your brand will be associated with forethought and caring for your customer needs, driving customer loyalty to return to the dispensary and purchase your products.
Best Dispensary Merch Marketing Tactics
Dispensary 420 specials are the perfect opportunity for unique, low quantity cannabis swag giveaways to use limited edition desirablility to drive sales. 420 swag can be something as simple as a new design of rolling papers, specialty lighters with a fun 420 design, up to unique custom headwear or apparel like ever-popular cannabis themed beanies and hoodies.
Marijuana leaf swag items are always popular, but may get lost is a crowd of other merch with leaf motifs, and will not have as much broad appeal since not every consumer will want to advertise that they consume. Consider instead more discreet branding ideas, like adding a woven tag with your logo inside a stylish, retail-brand name cap to create low-key cannabis merch that is still desirable and sure to be worn, keeping your brand front of mind with loyal fans.
Custom cannabis packaging is also popular for dispensaries - choose from full color printed exit bags, custom imprinted or engraved nug jars in glass and bamboo, pre-roll tubes with pop-tops or glass joint tubes with cork stoppers for a more premium feel, or any other unique custom cannabis packaging you could imagine. The sky is the limit on your cannabis packaging choices, and Higher Promos can customize them all! Ask us about recycled and recyclable cannabis packaging options to keep your logo out of the landfill too.
The best cannabis swag ideas are the ones that resonate with your unique audience - their habits, their budgets, and their interests. While you know your customers best, our team knows swag options that will fit their needs and your marketing budget. Simply contact our swag specialists today with your logo and details for custom cannabis swag shopping made easy.
Order cannabis promotional products online for your dispensaries in one stop by shopping here on our website and building your online cart. Then just submit your cannabis swag selections, and our team will handle creating your order, mocking up your logo on the swag items, and finalizing your brand colors to make sure your brand guidelines are met on your final cannabis swag items.
Final Thoughts
Marketing yourself in the dispensary space ultimately comes down to cutting through the noise with desirable offerings and unique, innovative ideas - both for your cannabis products themselves, and the custom cannabis merch items you choose to promote your brand. With the right consideration of your audience, and the right swag shopping guidance, you can stock a small selection of awesome custom branded items that will intrigue first time buyers and keep your loyal fans coming back to your dispensary as their preferred shop for years to come. When you're ready to super charge your swag to start converting leads into customers and get your brand the recognition it deserves, the Higher Promos swag specialists are here to assist you with all your custom cannabis merch creation needs.
Samantha Sage is the Marketing Coordinator & Sales Assistant for Higher Promos. Sam has worked in many facets of the Oregon cannabis industry since 2018, and is now leveraging her 10+ years of multi-industry marketing experience to help cannabis businesses grow their brands with quality promotional products. When Sam isn't researching new & unique cannabis swag options, you can find her in the Oregon woods with her husband & senior rescue dog.
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