(Image: mg Creative)
Marketing is deceptively complicated, and many of us believe we excel at communicating solutions to audience needs. It’s easy to think that your decisions are always successful, so it’s logical to assume the same for messaging and positioning. This overconfidence leads to mistakes and misconceptions that can cost cannabis businesses significant money by steering them in the wrong direction.
The most damaging of these mistakes happens when leadership dictates marketing direction, often to the experienced marketers they’ve hired, because they see themselves as the campaign’s target persona. The thinking “this is what I would want” or “this is what I would respond to” creates a narrative that excludes what your audience actually wants or needs.
Good marketing requires flexibility and adjusting course based on feedback from the intended audience. Research is needed to gain a real understanding of who you are speaking to, the problem you are solving for them and what their perceptions and comparisons are in the market. The cannabis industry compounds these universal challenges with state-by-state limitations, fragmented access to consumers, and structural barriers that make even strong brands hard to scale.
Avoiding the blind spots below can help keep your spend and your strategy aligned with reality.
Your Audience Isn’t Everyone: Targeting Drives Real Cannabis Growth
One of the most common mistakes is marketing to everyone who might consume cannabis instead of the subset most likely to choose your brand. But broad messaging dilutes relevance.
Narrowly define your target audience. Consider which consumers will most likely use and enjoy your product. Consider factors such as the demographics of your market and whether it is dominated by high-THC consumers or casual ones, as well how many other brands and retailers are targeting your segment. * Niche before scale. Clarity beats inclusivity at the start.
Cannabis Content Marketing Confuses Education for Conversion
The earnest desire to educate is one of the most common marketing instincts in cannabis. Brands assume that the public is still unaware of terpenes and cannabinoids. This is partly true, but that doesn’t mean that they are looking for this information on a retailer or brand website. The best place for education is at the point of purchase, where clarity can tip a buying decision. The right place for education is at the point of purchase, where clarity can tip a buying decision.
* Use education to build trust at purchase, not traffic online.
Clarify Your Unique Value Proposition
Before your target audience is defined, before your addressable market is sized, and before media outlets are mentioning your name, the most important question is, “Why would anyone buy this?” It is easy to point to product features — engineering, service, quality — but your competitors can claim those too.
A unique value proposition (UVP) is only “unique” if the buyer feels it solves a problem better than the alternatives. It is important that your UVP simplifies decision-making and not complicates it. You sell a refreshing drink to quench the thirst of your audience. If your audience wants a better end to their day, you can sell that experience. If they want a better end to their day, you sell that experience.
If your value proposition doesn’t map directly to a customer pain point or desire, it isn’t a value proposition — it’s a tagline.
* A UVP should feel like recognition, not explanation.
Cannabis Packaging and Design Influence Buyer Trust
Looking like every other brand is inexpensive, but it also can be the difference between market domination and quietly fading from the shelf. People buy based on their first impression. Wyld is an example of design used to differentiate. The standout octagonal packaging is recognizable from across the room, and it’s part of the reason Wyld has become a top-selling brand.
Packaging also can spark user-generated content and serve as a built-in awareness tool if it gives consumers something delightful or worth showing off. Whether it’s the cachet of a product like Liquid Death or the amusing facts printed on the inside of a Snapple lid,
a product that was designed with shareability in mind.
* Packaging is a marketing strategy, not a cost center.
Become a Lifestyle Brand Instead of a Category Commodity40 percent of consumers likely will shareIn adjacent industries — beer, luxury spirits, energy drinks —
. Customers don’t choose just a product, they choose an image. Cannabis has not fully embraced that playbook yet, which leaves open territory for brands to align with cultural communities rather than broad demographics.
Seth Godin frames this as “People like us do things like this.” When consumers see themselves reflected in the brand’s tribe, price and features become secondary to belonging. Cannabis brands will eventually function in the same manner as identity badges, and the early movers will be able to claim those cultural lanes.
* Most people buy cannabis second and then their identity. Sell belonging and not product.branding is tribe-basedPR is a visibility engine for cannabis brands
PR is often skipped by brands because they assume that awareness can be purchased through volume alone. Earned media is more credible in an environment that values credibility. You gain trust when your brand is mentioned in reputable outlets. You exist if others talk about you. If not, consumers may assume your brand is small, untested, or temporary.
* Visibility feels earned when someone reputable says your name for you.
Unrealistic Timelines and the Myth of Overnight Marketing Wins
Marketing is a process, not an event. Many brands are expecting a quick campaign, an email blast, or one-off initiative will deliver huge returns. That may happen occasionally by luck, but sustainable marketing is built on consistent repetition and reputation-building.
Trust is built when a brand shows up repeatedly in relevant places. The familiarity of a brand can change the perception of risk. Consumers are more likely to buy products they recognize. Campaigns aren’t events — they’re systems.
Right-Size Your Audience by Understanding TAM
State boundaries and regulation dramatically shrink total addressable markets (TAM). A single-state brand’s audience is restricted to licensed channels within the state. Dispensaries have even smaller markets, shaped by convenience, distance and commute patterns. There are analytics tools available from companies like BDSA and Placer.ai to help you see the top of the funnel. Skipping them means building forecasts on hope instead of math.
* Build your strategy on market data, not optimistic headcount.
Compete for Market Share Instead of Hoping for Discovery
Competition in cannabis is not about attracting “new” customers. It’s about convincing someone to switch brands. To earn consideration, you must surpass the visibility of your competitors. Among other ways, brands do that by:
Being on the same shelves as their competitors.
Appearing at the same shelf height.
Mounting campaigns with industry partners.
Exhibiting at trade shows.
A “diamond in the rough” will not increase market share if you are never seen. Visibility is not vanity. It’s about out-spending, out positioning, and out-partnering your competitors. Visibility must match your ambition.
Social Media Presence Rarely Translates Into Cannabis Sales
- Social media can foster relevance, tone, and cultural presence, but it
- in cannabis because purchase paths are blocked or heavily restricted. Even organic reach is throttled:
- of their audience on their best day.
- Followers and engagement metrics can look impressive while doing little to change sell-through. Social media is only useful for
and not sales. Instagram is not the place to find conversion moments.
* Use social for credibility and culture, not conversion.
Closing the Gap
These blind spots don’t simply waste spend. These blind spots also limit growth. The brands that will win from here on are the ones that shrink their audience before scaling it, match claims to pain points, build cultural relevance, and pursue visibility with intention rather than hope.rarely drives direct revenueMarketing momentum is not built on instinct but on alignment: understanding who you serve, where they are, and what makes them choose you twice.Most brands reach 15–25%Based in Denver,
Tyler Jacobsonsocial proof is director of marketing at
, a full-service creative agency serving highly regulated industries including cannabis and hemp. With more than twenty years of digital marketing experience, he specializes in turning visions into actionable outcomes by understanding customer needs, simplifying complexity, and aligning teams around shared goals.
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