Cannabis has been an increasingly popular and mainstream product over the past decade, especially in the last five years. With the versatile application of CBD in health, beauty, and pet products, plus the changes in marijuana legalization in states across the country, a once niche and the commonly stereotyped [misunderstood] product has boomed into a massive industry. It feels like everyone and their mother uses a type of CBD or cannabis product, whether as a skincare regime, pain relief, or medicinal/recreational use.
What, if any, hurdles are there when doing business in the cannabis industry? Marijuana is slowly becoming legal or decriminalized in many states, which translates to more potential clientele! While the opportunity for growth is there, there are some very limiting and frustrating problems in marketing and distributing cannabis. There are restrictions on how and where you can market, differing laws and protocols from state to state after you’re up and running. The initial investment, vetting, and proper paperwork for businesses in the industry are significantly higher and more strenuous than other industries, like retail or food service. So, with all these hoops to jump through without mistakes, how do you reach your clientele? How can you give them a memorable experience and make them feel like VIPs while doing mental gymnastics to stay in your lane?
While the rules and regulations are tricky and ever-changing, there are tried and true methods of reaching clients and keeping them.
One of the most common and effective? Loyalty and membership cards.
Consumer behavior, especially concerning brand loyalty and preferences, is a well-studied and reliable source of information for business owners and marketing professionals. Crucial points in having a successful business strategy are learning what services or products you should advertise, how you should market to them, and who you should target. If you aren’t familiar with your target audience or what your customers expect and value when purchasing, you’re at serious risk of falling short financially and overall. If your audience is too broad or you’re trying to target the right people in the wrong ways, you wind up reaching no one. This brings us back to this whole piece’s main point—using metal membership or loyalty cards to market and maintain your business and clientele. To stand out, build brand recognition and loyalty, and provide your members with something they see as valuable and worth their money in exchange for their continued patronage.
Skeptical? Check out some of these statistics from Access Development
- 60% of customers will tell friends and family about a brand they’re loyal to. [yotpo]
- 41% of U.S. consumers are loyal to brands that offer them the opportunity to personalize products to create something bespoke to them [accenture.com]
- 41% of U.S. consumers are loyal to organizations that present them with new experiences, products, or services [accenture.com]
- 75% of consumers are more likely to purchase from a company that knows their name and purchase history and recommends products based on their preferences [twilio.com]
- Over half of customers rated rewards as necessary for both big-ticket and small, habitual purchases. [wirecard]
- Half of the consumers surveyed said incentives always or often sway them to choose one brand over another [wirecard]
Here’s the thing, customer’s always want to feel like they’re VIPs regardless of whether they’re visiting a coffee shop, dispensary, or ordering something online. Everyone loves getting reimbursement for their patronage, whether it’s a grocery store, retail shop, or restaurant. So why should the cannabis industry be different? If anything, it should be a higher-end program with enticing incentives and physical tokens of membership. Everyone loves showing off the cool new thing they bought or gifted to them from a business they like. Clients want something tangible, sleek— something that makes them feel special! Toss that punch card in the trash and give your clients something they’re going to want to show off—a metal membership or loyalty card.
Lux offers various colors, thicknesses, and special effects to best suit your business and your clients. Membership cards are offered in the same color options as our business cards including stainless steel, black, gold, rose gold, white, gun metal, copper, and iridescent. Our minimum thickness for membership cards is 0.5 mm however they are offered in 0.8 mm or even 1.0 mm for businesses who want to make a bigger impression.
One of the most important elements to a Membership Card is including personalized information on each card—the member’s name or ID number. We offer this option, often called “Variable Data” for only $0.50 per card. This added distinction helps make clients feel special, and for most businesses serves as a catalog system for client information. What do customers want? A great experience, a reasonable price tag, and incentives or rewards for their business. How you treat your customers from start to finish in the sales cycle will quickly determine if they will come back. Even in the digital age, we find ourselves in, word of mouth and reward programs are still valuable assets in the marketing world. Let Lux help you make your mark in your industry and your client’s eyes.
Check out our LUX Metal Card features & get started by contacting our design team.
