Welcome to High On Marketing - A weekly newsletter where I show you how to strengthen your email marketing strategy for your cannabis brand. Learn how to nurture your audience, increase retention rates, and sell more weed.

Today’s Email:

• Welcome Series That Wow: Crafting First Impressions That Stick

• Step-by-Step Guide: Building Your Own Welcome Magic

• Pro Tips: Enhancing Engagement from Hello

• What You Can Do Today

Let’s Roll 🛼

I do A LOT of research into different cannabis brand’s marketing strategies. Here’s what I’ve found:

Their automations suck.

Roughly half of the cannabis brand email lists that I’m subscribed to have no welcome email series at all.

At best, most had a 1-email “Thanks for Signing Up!” message that went right to spam.

Your welcome email is like the first handshake with a new friend - it sets the tone for everything that follows.

The goal of your welcome series is to introduce potential customer’s to your brand, but also to secure a sale ASAP.

Steal my 7-step welcome series to take your subscribers from introduction, to paying customer as soon as possible!

Crafting Your Welcome Series:✍️

1. The Warm Welcome:

Your first email is pretty straightforward.

Thank them for joining, introduce your brand, and hint at the goodness to come. Think of it as a teaser trailer for your brand’s blockbuster movie.

Remember, your customer’s want to know how they will benefit from opening your emails; give them a reason to look out for your emails in the future.

CTA: Encourage first sale by offering new subscriber discount.

2. Value Proposition Unveiled:

Why your brand? What makes you different?

This is when you show them why they should choose your brand and what makes you unique. It can be an uncommon extraction method, an easier shopping experience, a more knowledgeable staff that’ll help them find the perfect product.

But remember, turn these features into benefits. 

You’re constantly answering the question “What’s In It For Me?”

Example:

A unique extraction method in your cultivation process is a feature of your brand’s products.

Your extraction method producing a higher-quality product, with a smaller carbon footprint, and giving your customer’s a better buzz are the benefits of that feature.

CTA: Encourage them to check out your website/blog for more info on your brand. Always funneling your audience to your website.

3. Show and Tell:

Now, show off a bit.

Highlight your bestsellers, customer favorites, or unique offerings.

This is where you start laying down the social proof, too.

Share customer stories, testimonials, reviews, etc. Real people finding real relief from your products.

This is your chance to flaunt what makes your products or services stand out. Don’t be modest!

CTA: “Discover More” linked to product page/testimonial page/about me

4. Educational Insights:

• Strain guides

• Product education

• Science of cannabis

• Tips for a better high

Establish your brand as a reliable source of information regarding cannabis. The more your customer’s trust your insights, the more likely they are to buy from you again and again!

Use educational content to tackle common objections smokers have (i.e. quality of the high, flavor profiles, terps, etc.)

CTA: Invite your readers to follow your brand’s social media pages - multi-platform!

Wondering why your emails aren’t converting? Click here to find out…

5. The Exclusive Invitation:

One-time purchases are great, but customer loyalty is the goal.

This is where you introduce your loyalty program. Remember, exclusivity sells!

Show your customer’s what they’ll get for joining your loyalty program:

• Exclusive offers

• Early access to new products

• Free brand swag

I like to say something like “You've qualified for our loyalty program!” to make them feel extra special.

Again, all of the perks that they will receive for joining need to be benefit-focused for your customer. “What’s In It For Me?”

CTA: Invitation to join loyalty rewards program

6. More Social Proof/Product Comparison:

Got some stubborn smokers that still aren’t convinced you’re their brand?

No problem - they just need a lil more convincing…

This is where you use additional social proof and/or product comparisons with your competition to show your audience what makes your brand better than the rest.

A lot of the times your audience is having a hard time choosing a product because of the overwhelming amount of products to choose from.

Consider adding a questionnaire for your customer’s to tell you more about what they’re looking for - then offer to help them find it.

CTA: Put a link to your product page or COA breakdown to back up your product comparison. 

7. Final Offer/Preview What’s to Come:

Email #7 is your last chance to get a sale from your welcome series.

It’s also the perfect opportunity to preview the kind of content that they’ll get from being a subscriber.

Let them know it’s their last chance to save with your exclusive offer and tell them how they’ll benefit in the future by following your brand.

Give them a reason to look out for your emails!

CTA: “Last Chance” discount code.

Pro Tips for Enhancing Your Welcome Series:

• Personalize: Use their name, recommend products based on their interest. Make each email feel like it was crafted just for them.

• Optimize for Mobile: More people read emails on their phones than ever. Ensure your welcome emails look great on any device.

• Test and Tweak: Use A/B testing for subject lines, content, and offers. Keep refining based on what works best.

• Formatting: Make your emails easily scannable; use bullet points when listing benefits and features.

Optimizing your welcome series is crucial for the success of your email strategy.

The first email in your welcome series has one of the highest open rates of any emails you’ll send; you need to WOW them from the start!

You need to stand out. They’re not gonna remember your brand if there’s nothing worth remembering.

But whatever you do, DON’T underdeliver on your promises…

There’s nothing worse than buying weed from a brand that claims to have “The Dankest Buds in {region}, only to buy flower that’s flakier and dryer than the mids I use to sell in high school.

Or a brand that promises “sustainability” while producing more plastic waste than Dasani.

Building trust comes from being truthful… DUH!

What You Can Do Today:

Determine what it is that sets your brand apart from your competition; what’s your value proposition(s)?

1. Come up with 5-10 things that you feel your brand does better than the rest.

2. Next, turn these points into customer benefits; how does your process/products/brand improve your customer’s life (or high)?

3. Then, start incorporating those benefits into your welcome series (and all other content). These are your value propositions.

Your value propositions are critical when a customer is first being introduced to your brand. Let them know ASAP what your brand can do for them.

That’s all for today!

Happy Welcoming! See you next week😊

Steve

P.S. Do you have a welcome series in place for new subscribers? If not, respond to this email with the biggest struggle you’re facing in creating a welcome series that WOW’s! I’d love to help (for free).