420 IS OVER, NOW WHAT?

4/20 Came and went, NOW how do you sustain that level of volume throughout the year?

When we think about the preparation of 4/20 and how we attract the consumer to our business, we usually only think about that one day of the year but here is where you have to shift your mindset to, "How do I retain and keep that customer for the recurring revenue?"

There are a few ways from a marketing perspective and we will share those over the next month however, don't forget the experience.?Once a customer has entered your #retail location or had a #delivery from your business (as well as pick-up) has each step left a lasting impression?

STEP ONE - MARKETING

1.?Attraction?

You have utilized the 4/20 marketing to attract the consumer already, now you have to continue to attract them.?Many #cannabis businesses use coupons, discounts, loyalty, and rewards programs and these are great incentives to keep your customer coming in.?However, it also sets a rule to the consumer that you are always going to discount their purchases.?If they think "sales" are the norm, then they are being taught to always look for the "cheapest price".

Here is where Attraction is important.?EXPERIENCE.?Are you training your sales associates/floor staff/ #budtenders in new products and allowing them to sample them??Are you doing in-store sesh's or product demos with your team and allowing the #Cannabis Brands to #educate your team??When you invest in your team as an experience, your consumer becomes more aware, and more involved and you have given them an experience that other businesses may not be doing.

2.?Capture and Communicate?

Here we are, post #420 and you now have A LOT of consumer data captured, what will you do with it??Did you capture their email? Did you capture their cell??Did you incentivize their experience above to have them earn a VIP spot so they can receive communications???

More importantly, DID YOU CAPTURE THEIR RETURN INTEREST??If you are not sure, this is where communication with the cannabis consumer comes into play.

Many methods of communication can and should be automated with the right software, something like PROTEUS420 allows your business to communicate, capture, and review the ROI on the communications making it easy and understandable.

How can you communicate??Well, that is easy there are a few ways to communicate, and allowing the customer to make those choices and control it makes for a better EXPERIENCE.??

• SMS Texting
• MMS Texting
• Email Communications
• APP specific communications

Each one of the above comes with compliance and regulations, opt-in, double opt-in, downloading, and APP onto their specific devices.?If you only use one of these options above, it also limits whom you can reach so ideally building a managed flow of the options above will open you to reaching the #cannabisconsumer more efficiently and effectively.

and Lastly for MARKETING,

3.?Convert?and Recur

Converting a new or existing consumer to a recurring customer is the trickiest part of the marketing game. For every piece you place in the puzzle board to finish your masterpiece, you will lose another piece or worse yet, break/tear or not be able to finish the puzzle altogether.

Here at #PROTEUS420 we have a marketing business plan called the #conversion-inversion. Mathematically the inversion of conversion is getting back to the right side up, after a long time upside down. This is where many #Cannabisbusinesses start because either the information they had wasn't understandable or they weren't tracking the customer data to begin with.

When you start upside down sometimes you just have to turn yourself right-side-up again and start asking the questions you would ask as a consumer. Those questions could sound like this:

• What is your favorite product? Brand? Type of Cannabis?
• How long have you been a cannabis consumer?
• When entering a store what makes you feel comfortable?
• Do you wish to have more interaction or less interaction with a sales associate?
• How much do you typically spend on cannabis per month?

These 5 questions will allow you to focus on the immediate and most important pieces of a consumer experience: Do they want digital or personal attention? Do they know what they want and are they receptive to ideas or new products? Do they qualify for VIP or Discount status? And lastly, what type of shopping experience do they expect at your business?

When you are able to forecast and plan for consumers and their shopping habits, you can have better products, affordable budget spending that still allows for profit, and also, happy customers = returning customers! Not only that, but a consumer that has a wonderful experience in a #dispensary or with a #delivery will tell their friends and share that verbally and on social media.

So when you think about the #420 shopping day, make sure you aren't only building on one day a year. BUILD ON THIS EVERYDAY! In the words of Kevin Costner, "Build it and they will come" but it doesn't stop there. Make they happy and they will keep coming back!

Stay tuned to our next newsletter that will deal with the Step Two of after 4/20. This three-step newsletter will address the Options for consumers in brands, payments, and the security of their information.

-Dawne M. Morris Co-Founder and CMO for PROTEUS420 an online enterprise resource platform (ERP) system for businesses in e-commerce, retail, healthcare, and highly regulated industries, including alcohol and cannabis. Dawne brings decades of finance, digital marketing, and design experience to the organization. She previously helped grow and expand the digital agency PIXELED.net and developed a successful hosting enterprise, Illuminated Hosting Service, LLC.