Since the passage of the Cannabis Act in October of 2018, which officially legalized marijuana in all Canadian territories, there has been a lot of important news to keep up with for folks in the cannabis industry. For marijuana growers, producers and entrepreneurs, the Cannabis Act has brought along with it all of the usual red tape and legal bureaucracy that is expected to come along with a groundbreaking piece of regulation. This includes the ongoing battle over how cannabis can be advertised and marketed to customers in Canada, as well as all of the normal guidelines that need to be established regarding how exactly cannabis can be bought and sold. Even for companies that are based in the United States, there has been a lot to keep up with. As the world moves closer to a global cannabis marketplace, the variety of laws and regulations that are being debated and implemented in Canada are bound to effect a much larger marketplace. For MMG and our clients, one piece of recent news is of particular importance.

Shortly before the start of the New Year, Health Canada launched a “public consultation on draft regulations” for a whole host of cannabis products. In layman’s terms, this means that Health Canada, which is the equivalent of the United States Department of Health, is reaching out to the scientific and business communities to find the best ways to introduce cannabis products to the market in ways that are safe and healthy.  This new fact-finding mission is particularly concerned with edibles and extracts, as well as creams and ointments. In the case of edibles, Health Canada is suggesting that products be limited to 10 milligrams of active THC per serving. For creams and topical applications, the suggested upper limit is 1,000 milligrams. As more research is done, these suggested dosages could change.

In addition to trying to establish reasonable limits on the strength of cannabis products, the main concern of Health Canada’s program is to introduce marijuana in ways that ensure deterrence for children and young adults. The Canadian Minister of Health was quoted as saying “These proposed regulations under the Cannabis Act support our overarching goal of keeping cannabis out of the hands of youth and protecting public health and safety.” This goal is clearly tied in to much of the advertising legislation that Canada has put in place for the cannabis industry, which prohibits the use of cartoons and celebrity endorsements to sell products. For edibles and creams, the Canadian government is hoping to ensure that companies are using plain, child-resistant packaging so that children do not inadvertently come into contact with cannabis products. We ensure that our clients’ products are packaged in accordance with their use as health products, and are designed to not attract curious hands. It makes sense that Canada would want to steer the future of cannabis advertising away from many of the mistakes that have been made in the past with alcohol and tobacco. Looking back in time, there is no way that Joe Camel was really a good idea.

We’re constantly watching legal progress and more information from the Canadian government in the coming years, as well forward movement from many US states that are likely to follow suit with legalization. In the meantime, there is plenty of positive news for the cannabis industry to hang its hat on. Results of a University of Michigan study were recently published concerning the relationship between the use of medical marijuana against other prescription drugs. 2.1 million Americans currently hold medical marijuana prescriptions, and among those sampled for the study, 42 percent reported quitting another prescription drug in favor of medical cannabis. Another 38 percent of surveyed patients reported decreasing their dosage of another prescription drug. Results from studies such as these continue to pour into the consciousness of everyday people who have for years been misled regarding the medical applications of cannabis. The results continue to affirm what we at MMG and so many other people have known for years, that cannabis offers effective treatment for inflammation, joint deterioration, muscle aches, anxiety and a whole host of other maladies.

Studies such as these are likely to continue shedding light on the uses of marijuana. Thirty percent of participants in the Michigan University survey noted they have not told their primary care physicians that they are using medical cannabis as a treatment. This also fails to take into account the hundreds of thousands or millions of people across the United States who use cannabis for medical applications without legal permission. As we move toward a more open dialogue with the medical community, benefits will continue to come to light.

Every business wants the best ROI. Marketing practices are pretty much always about maximizing this return on investment. How can you generate the most sales leads at the lowest cost? What will make the biggest impact on potential customers without breaking the bank? Well, it’s becoming clear that email marketing produces the best ROI out of all possible marketing channels. If you want the best ROI, you need to focus on email marketing.

Does email marketing really give the best ROI?

Put simply: yes! More email marketing equals a better return on investment. According to an eMarketer study, email marketing has a median ROI of 122% – four times higher than any other digital marketing channel. The majority of marketers say that email marketing offers an excellent or good ROI. Email has consistently proven to be the best marketing channel for businesses, and 75% of online shoppers are somewhat or very likely to open brand emails. Email marketing is the most effective way to get a strong ROI.

Why else should you be doing more email marketing?

We know that email marketing produces the best ROI of all marketing channels. But, it’s important for many other reasons too. For one, email has the widest reach. It can be easy to assume that social media is bigger, but there are three times more email addresses than Facebook and Twitter accounts combined.

Customers also prefer to interact with brands via email, with 72% saying that email is their favorite way to receive promotional content from brands. Interacting with them in a way they enjoy is the best way to net customers and increase brand loyalty.

So how do you get email marketing right?

Email marketing is a great way to improve ROI, but not if you’re doing it the wrong way. Here are some top tips to get email marketing right for the best ROI:

•   Get more subscribers by convincing website visitors to subscribe to your mailing list
•   Target your emails by including the customer’s name and personalizing the email in line with their demographics (where they live, their gender, age, interests, and so on)
•   Create professional, interesting, easily understandable emails
•   Make sure your emails don’t end up in the Spam folder by avoiding too much capitalization or bad HTML
•   Make your emails mobile-friendly so subscribers can read them on computers, tablets, and smartphones

You need to do more email marketing if you want to get the best ROI. If you’d like to learn more about using email marketing to improve your ROI, get in touch with MMG today.

Email marketing is the best way to reach your customers. 72% of consumers report that email is their favorite way to receive promotional content from brands and the reach of email marketing is wider than any other channel. However, the debate remains: are plain text emails or image-based emails better?

What’s the difference between image and plain text emails?

Image-based emails use HTML (HyperText Markup Language) and can contain, of course, images and more design elements. A plain text email, simply put, is one that just uses text without flashy design elements. Most email marketing platforms make their templates with HTML, so it isn’t difficult to create the elements for an image-based email. However, some email clients won’t accept HTML emails or automatically send them to the Spam folder.

Is plain text or image-based email better?

Did you know, 82% of marketers believe that content which contains images is more likely to be consumed? However, that doesn’t mean they’re right. Image-based, HTML-heavy emails may be more attractive but, they’re also more likely to get flagged by spam filters. Whereas, plain text emails are more likely to get in front of subscribers’ eyes because they are rarely flagged as spam.

HTML emails also use more bandwidth, and many email servers won’t automatically show HTML elements (images)  in emails. This means the receiver has to manually enable these elements to see them, which they may not willingly do. Meanwhile, plain text emails are likely to be opened as the subscriber can see every aspect of them right away. The best answer is to include a plain text alternative even if you’re sending HTML emails.

What about personalization?

Over 80% of marketers reported higher open rates thanks to email personalization, and 75% believe that it leads to higher click-through rates.

Personalizing your email campaigns can be incredibly helpful. It’s particularly important if you’re sending plain text emails. The more personalized your emails are, the more likely it is that receivers will engage with them, whether that means opening them, reading them, clicking through to your website, or even making a purchase.

Personalized plain text emails will generally include, at a minimum, the subscriber’s name. They can also include further personalization, based on the subscriber’s location, age, gender, occupation, previous purchases, or click-through activity. The more of these elements that you include, the more likely that subscribers will open your emails and engage with them.  

Plain text is an important complement to image-based HTML emails and they can also work well on their own. If you’d like to find out more about using image-based and plain text emails, get in touch with us at MMG  to find out more.

If you don’t have an SSL certificate on your website yet, it’s time to start planning to get one. That’s because Google will soon begin penalizing sites that don’t have one by marking them as not secure—which will surely keep many safety-conscious customers from making purchases from your site. If you’re not up to date on the need for an SSL certificate, here’s what you need to know.

An SSL Certificate Keeps Your Customers Safe

SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer, and it’s the best way to create an encrypted link between a server and a web browser so any information passed between the two is private. This is critical for sites that accept sensitive information from customers, such as passwords and credit card numbers. So if you run a blog, you don’t necessarily need an SSL certificate to protect customers. But if you plan to sell anything—including cannabis products—online, you need this protection.

It Can Protect Your Business

Websites that don’t have an SSL certificate are easy targets for cybercriminals, which means your site is more likely to be hacked. When you run an ecommerce site, this could spell disaster for your business. Not only could any private information on your website get out, but your company’s reputation could suffer if any customers are affected. You can avoid all this by obtaining an SSL certificate.

It Can Improve Your Customers’ Trust in Your Brand

Many people already don’t buy from websites that don’t have an SSL certificate. They can tell by checking the address bar. If it says HTTPS, it’s secure. But if it simply says HTTP, it’s not, and they often feel less confident about entering in their credit card numbers.

Recently, this became much more of an issue for website owners because once Google released Chrome v62, it became more obvious which sites have an SSL certificate—and which ones don’t. That’s because Google now marks the ones without this certificate as “not secure.” This applies to any type of website where users can provide feedback—even if it’s only through a search box—but it’s especially important for ecommerce sites to take note of this update.

If you want a simple way to protect your customers and website as a whole while also building trust in your brand, get an SSL certificate. This will allow you to compete with other marijuana brands with confidence.

If none of this makes sense to you, don’t stress. Marijuana Marketing Gurus can help get you set up with an SSL certificate so you can rest easy knowing your site and your customers are safe. Simply contact us and we’ll light the way.