How to Start a CBD Brand: CBD Marketing 101

Hemp has been known to have medicinal and therapeutic benefits for thousands of years now. Despite this, many individuals have misconceptions about the plant, causing its demonization and loss of popularity. However, the landmark 2018 Farm Bill ruling that made hemp federally legal has made many people change their general perception of hemp and cannabis. 

Cannabidiol (CBD) is becoming increasingly popular for its numerous medical benefits. Although it may still be relatively new in the growing cannabis industry, it has already become a household name. 

The immense potential of the CBD industry has prodded many people to explore how to start a CBD business. However, many entrepreneurs who have tried dipping their toes in the murky waters of selling CBD products can attest that it’s not a walk in the park. 

To successfully create your own CBD brand, you must first have a clear understanding of what cannabinoids are. Here are some of the most significant things you need to know about seizing CBD business opportunities.

What Is CBD?

Cannabidiol, or simply CBD, is one of the many cannabinoids found in cannabis and hemp plants. Unlike tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), CBD does not induce an intoxicating effect. Instead, it causes several therapeutic and health effects. 

Industrial hemp contains less than 0.3% THC. For this reason, it cannot produce the “high” effect that’s common with most cannabis products. Moreover, the low levels of THC make it legal to cultivate, harvest, and process industrial hemp into CBD products under federal law. 

When learning how to start a CBD business, it’s important to understand how CBD products are manufactured. The first step is usually obtaining the raw plant matter. After that, you can then begin extracting CBD using various techniques. While CBD businesses can perform this process in-house, some brands prefer outsourcing it to an extraction company.

Once you extract CBD oil, you can either sell it as concentrates or infuse it into other products. Some of the most prevalent CBD products on the market include tinctures, topicals like creams and gels, and infused edibles. 

Steps To Starting A CBD Business

With an understanding of what cannabidiol is, it’s time to discuss how to start selling CBD. There are countless CBD business opportunities in the burgeoning market. However, like any other type of company, launching a CBD business requires plenty of hard work. 

Furthermore, since the CBD industry is still a relatively new sector, anyone looking to start a CBD oil brand must be prepared to deal with the uncertainties of a shifting regulatory landscape. However, you can easily breeze through this process with the right strategy and information. To help you kick things off, here’s what you need to do to start a CBD business online.

Identify Your Niche and Target Audience

There are many CBD products that consumers prefer. When starting, most entrepreneurs in the CBD realm assume they serve all consumer demographics. This is not feasible and can be detrimental to the business.

It would be best to determine your target consumer in order to tailor your brand to their preferences. Your target market dictates plenty of elements in your CBD business, including packaging, branding, and marketing campaigns. 

Furthermore, an extensive range of CBD products is available in the market, including oils, CBD infused wraps, and many more. Thus, understanding your customers will help you focus on their preferred products instead of wasting resources on unwanted goods. 

Stay On Top of CBD Laws and Regulations

Since the CBD market is still in its developing years, you can expect sudden and frequent changes in regulations within the industry. Although the Farm Bill legalized the commercial production of hemp in the United States, it came with some restrictions.

For instance, the hemp used to produce CBD must contain 0.3% THC or less. Things get more complicated when it comes to statewide laws because they are different across the country. Therefore, it would be best to cross-check with legal specialists to ensure you don’t break any regulations when you launch your CBD business.

Generate a Business Plan

Failing to plan is planning to fail. Similarly, disregarding a business plan can only be detrimental to your brand. Creating a business plan for your CBD brand is a significant step that all entrepreneurs should take. 

Simply put, a business plan is a formal document highlighting a company’s goals and how it plans to achieve them. Consequently, it serves as a road map for managing funds and operations and dictates how to advertise CBD products. Furthermore, a formal strategy is what attracts investors to up-and-coming brands; therefore, having a solid business plan can help you secure funding. 

Develop Your Brand

Developing a brand revolves around meeting the needs of your target customers. Keeping an eye on trends and learning from established firms will help you fine-tune your brand. Find attractive designs and aesthetics that resonate with your clients but be careful not to try and reinvent the wheel. Also, pay attention to which colors and photography styles your customers like and leverage them.

Once you find an ideal brand identity, bring your vision to life. You can outsource professionals to take photos and design logos for your brand. Similarly, you can get custom CBD packaging for your products to make them stand out and entice customers. 

Build Your Website

Building a website is a significant step for your CBD company. It’s crucial for your domain and business names to match. Hence, you should do some research before naming your brand. You can also opt for an eCommerce platform like Shopify over open-source sites to reduce the website development timeline. 

Building your site isn’t the end of it. Once it’s up and running, you must customize it and add content to attract potential customers. You can utilize the countless website templates or themes available to spruce up your site and make it stand out. Additionally, ensure you add high-quality images of your goods and product descriptions to make your site appealing to your target audience.

CBD Marketing

Once your business is operational, you should shift your focus to customer acquisition. Although the CBD market is on an uptrend, customers won’t appear out of the blue. Therefore, you must find the best techniques for advertising CBD products to get more eyes and hands on your goods. 

You should invest adequate time, effort, and money to ensure your CBD business runs smoothly. Utilizing digital marketing for CBD can help propel your reach and improve brand awareness. For instance, partnering with influencers who share your company’s beliefs can help you find credible advocates for your brand.

However, ensure you understand CBD advertising laws before you begin your marketing campaign to avoid getting your brand in trouble. To be safe, don’t make any medical claims, state any untested assumptions, or mention anything that the FDA hasn’t approved in your marketing.

Another vital element of CBD marketing is finding the best solutions on how to store CBD. Your product packaging says a lot about your brand and directly affects how customers feel about it. Hence, you should always use outstanding packaging material, such as custom dropper bottles for CBD, to attract buyers and associate your band with excellence. 

Most newcomers to the CBD industry usually have one question in mind when choosing their packaging, does CBD expire? The short answer is yes. CBD, like all other plant compounds, has a limited shelf life. Even so, this varies depending on the type of product. If your brand stocks many products at once, refrigerating CBD can help extend its lifespan and help you avoid incurring huge losses.

How To Start A CBD Brand: The Bottom Line

Launching a CBD business requires you to have all hands on deck. While the market has the potential to bring in excellent profits for brands, companies need to stay abreast with compliance regulations and keep educating the public about the benefits of CBD. Fortunately, you can use the tips provided here to get the ball rolling and dive into the CBD industry.