5 Dispensary Customer Personas to Target Your Audience

Dispensaries should always cast a wide net when it comes to attracting customers. Using a variety of dispensary marketing strategies will help you reach more people, but you should also consider who you’re trying to reach. In other words, you should use some common dispensary customer personas to target your audience.

Nowadays, marijuana products appeal to all kinds of people. It’s not just hippies and edgy college students who want to get high – it could be a senior citizen looking to alleviate their ailments or someone who wants to add CBD products to their wellness routine. You should adapt your marketing to all kinds of consumers to ensure they feel comfortable buying from your dispensary.

As such, here are 5 dispensary customer personas to help you target your audience effectively.

1. First-Timers

It’s not just experienced stoners who want to visit dispensaries. On the contrary, many people who are interested in marijuana and CBD products have never touched a joint in their lives. These beginners or first-timers are a valuable segment in dispensary customer personas, and it’s especially important to target some of your marketing toward them, as they’ll usually have a lot of questions before they buy anything.

One of the best ways to target first-timers is by posting detailed and informative blog posts about your products. You can use your content marketing to address common queries—an essential step when building accurate dispensary customer personas—such as what are the effects of cannabis, how long edibles get you high, and the difference between indica and sativa strains.

You should also hire friendly budtenders who are prepared to answer any questions beginners may have. People are much more likely to buy something from you if their questions and concerns are taken seriously and handled with grace. It also helps to offer a range of easy-to-use products. Beginners likely won’t know how to roll a joint or load a vaporizer, so offering pre-rolled joints, disposable vapes, and edibles gives them easy ways to test the effects of cannabis.

2. Casual Consumers

While there are plenty of dedicated stoners out there, many of your customers will be people who just want to get high now and then. These casual consumers are also an important part of dispensary customer personas and can vary widely in their profiles. For instance, it could be anyone from a college student looking to unwind after class to a middle-aged woman seeking something to improve her sleep.

Since casual consumers don’t feel the need to buy weed all the time, they’ll likely be enticed by special offers and deals. You might want to run promotions such as a discounted “strain of the week” or a two-for-one vape deal to keep casual customers coming back. Implementing a dispensary loyalty program is also a smart way to keep these customers returning to your dispensary. You might even want to give them occasional rewards, such as custom-branded cannabis products imprinted with your store logo.

It’s also important to offer products suited to their needs. Casual users, often represented in dispensary customer personas, often buy marijuana products simply for relaxation, or occasionally to relieve minor problems like stress, anxiety, and poor sleep. If you’re trying to adapt your marketing for these kinds of users, make sure to promote products that cater to these purposes.

3. Cannabis Connoisseurs

Cannabis connoisseurs are experienced cannabis users who look for the best strains possible. Marketing to connoisseurs can be somewhat different than marketing to other dispensary customer personas. After all, they already know what marijuana can do and what kind of products to use – they just want to know they’re getting the finest products possible.

These users are often interested in the bag appeal of cannabis strains. They want to know that they’re buying fresh, colorful, pungent buds that haven’t been on the shelves for weeks. They’re also especially interested in the flavor of the products they buy. They’re more likely to buy strains and concentrates that are packed with flavorful terpenes.

Grading your strains can help you attract more cannabis connoisseurs. While first-timers and casual users—two common groups in dispensary customer personas—won’t care if a strain is AA-grade or AAA-grade, experienced connoisseurs will look for top-notch AAAA+ strains and don’t mind paying a premium for them. Offering unique craft cannabis strains is also a smart way to get high-paying cannabis connoisseurs into your dispensary.

4. Seniors

While dispensaries often target their marketing at all kinds of adults aged 21 and over, many forget about senior citizens when considering dispensary customer personas. Interestingly, a study on cannabis use trends among older adults in the United States found that marijuana use in those aged 65 and over increased by 75% between 2015 and 2018.

Generally, older users are a key segment in many dispensary customer personas, as they’re often interested in the ways cannabis can relieve their medical issues and improve their quality of life. Many senior citizens suffer from problems like joint pain, arthritis, cataracts, diabetes, and chronic pain. Many also experience issues related to stress, anxiety, and depression.

When targeting your audience, consider how your products can help with these common issues. What’s more, ensure your budtenders are prepared to talk to elderly patients about their specific needs. It can also help to offer smokeless cannabis products like tinctures, capsules, and beverages, especially as older users with health issues may wish to avoid smoking.

5. Wellness Lovers

Although cannabis is known for its ability to offer a sensational recreational high, many users are more interested in how it can help with general wellness. Wellness and self-care lovers—often highlighted in dispensary customer personas—may wish to buy cannabis products simply to boost their daily routine in one way or another. Some of these users may prefer to avoid getting high altogether.

When adapting your marketing to this customer persona, make sure you highlight the availability of high-free cannabis products. Cannabis topicals like creams and bath bombs are known for helping with pain and stress as well as alleviating skin issues without inducing a psychoactive high. As such, these are of particular interest to those focused on self-care.

CBD products are also valuable in this regard. Many people who want to consume cannabinoids without getting high will seek out products like CBD oils, capsules, and vapes. You should also consider stocking and promoting capsules and edibles that offer microdoses of THC – these are great for users who only want mild effects.

Conclusion

If you’re looking to improve your marketing and reach a wider audience, these 5 dispensary customer personas will help you target your audience. Make sure to consider these types of customers when working on your social media marketing, email marketing, content marketing, and all other forms of marketing materials.

One of the best ways to expand your reach and attract more customers is to enhance your branding. For instance, offering custom-branded cannabis products can do wonders for brand visibility and awareness. For more information and resources on cannabis branding and marketing, visit Cannabis Promotions.