Selling CBD online? 15 strategies to boost conversion rate

CBD is expected to be a $7.8 billion industry in 2022. It’s gaining attention rapidly and from all sections of society. 

5 MOST POPULAR CBD INDUSTRY TRENDS IN 2022:

🔥CBD gains favor among millennials, with 31% of consumers being between 35 and 49.

🔥 More states are expanding their definition of legal THC to include higher concentrations.

🔥 Payment processing continues to be an uphill battle, with CBD still being seen as high-risk.

🔥 Influencers, affiliates, and community marketing gain traction in the CBD marketing world.

🔥 Mainstream brands, like Sephora & Urban Outfitters, are making their way into CBD.

With CBD booming the way it is, competition only gets more fierce. Getting your store to convert browsers into customers is a pretty common problem. With so many new CBD shops opening, it's easy to forget that your business isn't perfect.

The key to growing your CBD store is not in the products you sell, but in knowing how to build relations with your customers and encouraging them to turn into lifelong customers.

15 IDEAS TO INCREASE SALES FOR YOUR CBD STORE

1. Prioritize for Retention

For most CBD customers, loyalty is everything. If they like the product and the business around it, they’re likely to be recurring customers.

In fact, the CBD space is perhaps the most efficient space here. While the average number of orders per customer for most eCommerce stores is 2.1, for CBD stores this number rises to 3.7. That means if you can bag one customer, they’re most likely to give you at least 3 sales each.

A good way to bank on that is through three key Customer Retention strategies:

• Having a product that is entirely unique to your brand
• Building “cult” loyalty for your business with brand differentiation
• Regularly engaging customers who actively show an interest in your brand

Want more? Check out 18 Slightly Fresh Customer Retention Ideas for eCommerce

2. Highlight Value Propositions

In most cases, you can’t bag a sale without communicating the value you offer.

In fact, experts say your product's value proposition is perhaps the most important aspect of your online business. This means that when you’re marketing your CBD business, you need to highlight the unique value you can offer your customers while simultaneously enhancing customer trust and improving conversion rates.

With your CBD product, it isn’t merely enough to deliver on what you’re promising. You must also offer extra value to your customers that encourage them to retain their customership with you.

Let’s take an example. For our client GoldenMonk, we highlighted three value propositions: free priority shipping, buy in bulk, and a loyalty program.

We ran two experiments over due course of time across the homepage and product page. The results? 30% increase in conversions.

This strategy may be a classic, but it’s effective.

3. Use dynamic banners to present welcome offers to different customers

The National Center for Biotechnology Information found that 62% of CBD consumers use it to treat a medical condition - anxiety, pain, depression, etc.

Synthesio found that 68% of CBD consumers use sublingual products (CBD oil) while the rest use inhalation products (vape pens), and ingestible products (gummies, capsules, chocolate bars), and topicals (creams, lotions, masks, shampoos) in decreasing popularity.

By understanding where your audience comes from, and then catering to their specific needs, you can use dynamic banners to hyper-personalize the welcome experience and make it more likely that these users will convert.

Check out: 24 Ways Online Vape Stores Can Boost Conversions

4. Bring in pre-recorded videos of different products

Those of you who have watched the Netflix TV Series Disjointed, know where we’re coming from.

BUT these videos are more than just a TV ploy. They’re also a great marketing tool IRL.

In today's fast-paced world, many consumers are looking for faster ways to find information. In such a case, Videos can serve as a great supplement for your website and allow you to follow up on your leads that come in via email or other channels.

In the CBD space, video is one of the most powerful media when it comes to getting your message across.

Why?

• It helps you bring awareness to the intricacies of your business.
• It helps place emphasis on important aspects of the product.
• It builds quick engagement for the audience.
• It bridges the gap between the brand and the consumers.

Plus, the control over these videos helps provide an excellent customer experience by making them memorable and helping them remember your products.

Here’s a video explaining the ‘Seed to Sale’ process by Lazarus Naturals. Notice how it brings so much awareness to the growing (and study) of CBD?

Here’s another one from Cornbread Hemp:

5. Customize popups to meet customers in their journey

Popups are an essential part of your marketing campaigns as they provide a quick and simple way to capture your visitors' attention.

However, sometimes visitors tend to ignore these popups and leave without completing the actions that you had set out for them in this regard.

To better capture their attention and keep engagement levels high, it is important that you customize your popups based on how your customers move through the sales funnel.

Top of the Funnel

At the top of the funnel, customers would benefit from a direct Lead Capture with a request for information regarding preferences.

Or even a gamified pop-up offering a sweet discount to the receiver. They’re more likely to convert with a coupon that they won.

Middle of the Funnel

The middle of the funnel is best reserved for product discovery ie introducing the entire range of products based on the interests of the customer. In this case, it’s a product carousel with solutions for sleep.

You may also want to include a simple sales promotion. This goes a long way with customers who are interested but skeptical about the pricing or the product.

Bottom of the Funnel

The bottom of the funnel would be best served by a pop-up that assures customers of the quality of the product, instilling trust in the brand.

6. Maintain an email workflow

In today's world, email has become the main medium for communication. In fact, working with email workflows is the easiest way to develop seamless sales funnels.

Email workflows are what drive email marketing. With a well-defined process, you can optimize your email marketing to be a channel to drive engagement and boost conversions.

In the CBD space, we've seen that it's almost essential to run three workflows: Welcome Series, Cart Recovery, and Browse Recovery.

With advanced email campaigns catering to these three workflows, our client IceHead Shop saw an overall improvement in their conversion rates by 48%.

They were further able to track their email campaigns to nurture leads and increase traffic through organic search and direct marketing, thereby continually increasing sales.

In a matter of months, email became their fourth largest channel with 4% of revenue being generated through email alone.

Want to try this for yourself? Tune in to Engage. Get great emails for every step in the customer journey.

7. Run carefully timed replenishment emails

The good thing about CBD is that — in most cases — the products become a part of the lifestyle. That means that if your customers like your products, they’re more likely to stick to your brand and regularly stock up when their supply runs low.

This introduces a great avenue to run well-time replenishment emails. Most customers restock their supply every two months. So, by being aware of the trends and paying attention to your customers’ needs, you can be around the next time they need to stock up.

Here’s a good example from GoodBud:

8. Use lead magnets to connect with different audiences

Most CBD eCommerce brands cater to at least 2 - 3 different types of audiences or use cases: pet parents, insomniacs, those with anxiety, or even recreational users.

To connect with each of these audiences, you have to provide relevant value. Lead magnets, like eBooks, free consults, or even samples, go a long way with that.

Check out this unique eBook from NAILPRO. Pretty interesting!

Unique lead magnets are the lifeblood of your CBD marketing strategy. They're the things you send out to your audience to not only collect their information as a lead but also direct them down the funnel toward the sale.

9. Leverage marketplaces to boost marketing operations

Marketplaces are an integral part of eCommerce. Especially in the CBD space, marketplaces help expand your reach online. Whether it's lead generation, selling more products, or finding new customers, marketplaces go a long way in boosting your marketing efforts.

For example, Verda. One of the biggest players in the CBD space, Verda helps set up marketplaces for CBD brands curating a complete collection of stores as well as delivery affiliates, bridging the gap between digital and retail.

Another good example is Namaste Technologies, or Lifeist, a disruptive wellness platform that uses its position to increase awareness of CBD in the North American, Australian, and European markets.

Marketplaces, such as Weedmaps, Leafly, Vana, and Kushy, also allow you to connect with both new audiences and existing customers while providing a valuable mechanism for collecting email addresses and online reviews. Not only can these benefits improve your conversion rate, but they can also help build trust in your brand.

10. Opt for the Dispensary experience

Why do CBD users prefer dispensaries? Because they provide a homely experience where consumers can learn about their product, converse with salespeople, and even gain trust in the business.

Your CBD eCommerce store is a great opportunity for you to take this online, and it’s just as important to recreate it. In fact, providing a customer-centered experience is one of the most important factors for any CBD business to achieve success.

Perhaps the best way to do that is by building a custom storefront that banks on the much-loved Dispensary experience. Building a virtual storefront that is unique to your brand can help go that extra mile when it comes to brand differentiation.

We love Charlotte’s Web storefront which keeps on giving as you scroll through. It opens with two great banners, leads into the Featured Categories, has videos, articles, and testimonials at easy access, and has a chatbot should visitors have any questions.

11. Have airtight delivery options

Especially when it comes to lifestyle CBD products, delivery timelines are everything. The last thing you want is for someone to miss a dosage because your delivery partner is running late.

When it comes to shipping CBD, chances are you’re going to have to jump through some hoops. So, it would pay off if you find a delivery partner that is compatible with your business, and then maintain deliveries with them for the long term.

Some of the requirements CBD delivery partners look for include:

• All licenses filed and updated regularly
• Products with less than 0.3% THC
• Legitimate sources with their own set of licenses
• Third-party testing procedures and documents to support results

Considering the black-and-white nature of the game, you may want to double-check the documentation of all your partners to ensure everything is in the clear. It would also be helpful to stick with known and trusted delivery partners such as USPS, UPS, and DHL.

12. Bring in Social Proof

In a space like CBD where trust and product quality is everything, social proof goes a long way. It not only builds trust in the brand but also in the industry as a whole.

There are many ways to make this happen:

• Positive social media conversations
• 5-Star product ratings on the website
• Quality testimonials on marketplaces
• Persuasion triggers with social proof
• Celebrity endorsements and influencer marketing

All of these strategies build credibility for the brand, the product, and the industry. They also help drive conversions and can increase traffic and visibility for the brand.

In fact, we ran two experiments with our client GoldenMonk. Simple experiments. All we did was display a pop-up that indicated the frequency and volume of customers buying from the brand. The result? A 15% increase in conversions from this campaign and an overall increase for the website of 1.5%.

This goes to show that social proof holds a heavy footing in the CBD space, and businesses who play it well can leverage it to gain traction for their brand.

13. Have options for Pets

CBD and animal care: a combination that makes you drool with excitement.

At a time when the pet population is growing exponentially, more people than ever have been looking for different ways to keep their beloved pets healthy and happy.

Many have found that CBD is a natural and effective way to provide your pets with the best health care without the use of harmful drugs or harmful procedures.

In fact, a big chunk of the eCommerce CBD space comprises pets. More and more pet parents actively seek CBD products to help with their pets’ health ailments.

Hemp-based CBD pet products are likely to make up 3-5% of all CBD sales in the U.S.

With a share as strong as this, it is always a good idea for you to reach out to the pet parents in your community and leverage connections with them to grow your business.

Keep Reading: 20 Reasons Your Pet Supplies Store Has Low Conversions (60+ Ways To Fix)

14. Run Instagram influencer marketing

One of the biggest avenues for CBD marketing is affiliate marketing. A big chunk of that comprises influencers on Instagram.

Instagram influencer marketing is a great way to build your brand visibility, get more followers, and create a better customer experience.

This is even more important in the CBD space where digital advertising holds too many grey areas and people are still skeptical about the use and effectiveness of these products.

Having influencers, even micro-influencers, come in and discuss CBD on a personal level helps bridge the gap between brands and consumers, and even build awareness for a larger market share eventually.

Hey, have you seen this? 15 Underutilized Social Media Ideas For eCommerce Brands

15. Bring in the Subscription programs

It’s important to remember that the convenience factor is perhaps the biggest hit when it comes to CBD eCommerce stores.

A good way to build on that is by offering Subscription programs that let your customers receive a fresh shipment at a pre-allotted time without having to put in any extra work.

Here are a few CBD businesses that do this right:

a) Cure Crate’s super-personalized recommendations

What’s unique about Cure Crate is that they curate their CBD box based on the customers’ unique needs. When placing the order, customers take a quiz online that helps a brand assess their requirements and then determine the right product mix for them.

b) Zatural’s assortment of surprises

Zatural offers a wide variety of CBD products (topicals, edibles, etc). Each month, customers get to try something new and can then make an array of their favorite products to keep permanently. They offer subscriptions in packages of three, six, and twelve months.

Final words

In an era of ever-increasing competition, brands are looking to their business strategy and marketing to stay ahead of the competition. CBD eCommerce brands that focus on technology and online marketing have proven that they can increase profits, reduce costs and enhance performance.

It's important to remember that marketing in CBD is quite different from the eCommerce sector as a whole. Advertising is more complicated, logistics can be tricky. In many cases, it's best to use the available resources to boost word-of-mouth and referral marketing.

Whether it's email, community marketing, or social media, they should all be leveraged to drive traffic and boost retention with customers. CBD is perhaps the one space where retention pays off the most.