Candid Cannabis Marketing with Blunt Creative Social Media Pro Eman Abdou

00:07:25 – 00:09:19: Eman Abdou, CEO of Blunt Creatives, discusses the foundational elements for establishing a brand before launching a cannabis marketing campaign. While logos, colors, and visuals are essential, they aren’t a brand’s core. Understanding what the company will offer and to whom is much more important.

Instead of images, focus on exploring how the service or product can differentiate itself from the competition. Eman stresses that successful brands have stories rooted in culture, whether it’s pop culture, ethnic backgrounds, or specific cultural influences. This cultural foundation becomes the brand’s identity and drives the customer experience.

Confidence is another key element highlighted in building a brand. A strong belief in the brand offering and a vision for how it stands out inspires confidence in the business, attracting the right target audience.

00:16:12 – 00:19:45: Eman Abdou shares insights on effective cannabis social media marketing, emphasizing Instagram as a key platform despite cannabis-related restrictions. Instead of directly promoting products with sales-focused content, she highlights the importance of sharing engaging content that focuses on positivity, mental health, cannabis news, history, and culture. This strategy maintains brand presence without violating platform rules. Because of cannabis restrictions, social media is not the best way to get customers to your dispensary. Still, it keeps cannabis brands or dispensaries at the top of your customers’ minds by being an effective brand awareness tool.

To complement social media efforts, she suggests integrating email marketing. By converting Instagram followers into email subscribers, businesses can offer special deals and maintain direct communication without the risk of platform penalties. Eman emphasizes the synergy between social media, email marketing, and website optimization, stating that strategically aligning these three marketing channels can yield significant results in cannabis marketing campaigns.

00:37:39 – 00:40:40: According to Eman Abdou, crafting a brand strategy can align with the social media presence by incorporating a cause or purpose beyond products or services. In her experience, brands supporting social causes or communities generated compelling social media content by integrating community-oriented initiatives into the brand identity. In her agency, Eman encourages small and local companies to share personal stories, values, and missions. She cites examples like throwing an event with collaborators and sharing photos on social media. You can engage your audience by giving to the causes they support.

She also believes showcasing people who work behind the brand and telling your brand story makes good social media content. Authenticity resonates with audiences, so businesses can benefit from overcoming the fear of judgment and presenting themselves genuinely on social media.