Marketing Dispensary 420 Events

You’re probably already done planning for 420. This year, it lands on a Saturday, which is HUGE. 

Why is that?

Well, for starters, it will be a massive event day. Last year, it landed on a Thursday with most events happening on 4/22, the Saturday after. Not as large of an impact as it coinciding with the holiday itself, but dispensaries found a lot of success with events, nonetheless.

That made 420 primarily an in-store event the day of, which saw promotions focused on product sales and discounts or in-store engagements.

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Marketing 420 Events is Bigger than Holiday Promotions

With 420 on a Saturday, many retailers have been arranging or getting involved in events and festivals in their cities. They may be holding block parties and collaborating to build community with local businesses for a great experience, instead of letting a big sale/promotion take center stage as the big draw. 

This year, the tone has shifted to marketing a good deal and a good time.

This begs the question: do you have your customer touchpoints in place to drive attendance to the events you’ve put so much into?

Don’t forget, it takes 3+ touches for someone to remember. So, get in there and schedule those extra few emails and texts that aren’t about buying stuff, but rather focusing on coming out as a community and sharing some time at the event.

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Build Community Around Your 420 Event

How can you use Happy Cabbage and SMS/Email marketing to address this needed change in approach? Here are a few suggestions:

1. It’s ok, and often a refreshing departure from the norm, to message customers about something that isn’t sales-related. Really. We would not lead you astray.
   • We see this everyday in our data. Some of the most successful campaigns aren’t focused on sales at all, but on community engagement and events. Trust that by showing them something a little different than your competition and by communicating to them as something other than a source of transactions, they will still come in and shop. The data confirms this.
     

2. If you’re holding an event at or near your store, tie attendance to sales.
   • “People who attend our block party receive 15% off everything in store” or “come into the shop today to hear our DJ and get a free “J” with every purchase over $25"
   • Who doesn’t love a password? Let people know that if they mention your holiday lingo, they’ll get a little something special from you just for showing up and supporting the community.

3. Retailers are offering incentives for you to spend more with them to save, in turn, with their onsite vendors. It’s friends helping friends.
   • Food vouchers and coupons for vendors with a minimum $ purchase at the dispensary scratch both seller’s backs.
   • Is this Disney? Spend a certain amount at some retailers and get a flash pass to skip vendor lines, so you can spend more money faster.

4. Find a way to tap into lifestyle and experience over discounts and promotions.
   • People are going to be out and about on 420 this year, ready for the best experiences they can have. They may have even already shopped the days prior to prepare, rather than waste valuable time on Saturday in lines. The best discount in the world can’t motivate many people to wait an hour to shop. Instead, focus on whatever experiences you’ve curated, be it food, music, raffles, games, the whole lot, either in the store or on location at a 420 event. Let them want to come check it out lest they be stricken with a rapid case of FOMO.
5. This is a great opportunity to collect sign-ups for your opt-in list
   • Expect known people to show up, bring friends and for new customers to be introduced to your store. Show them you're the ones to come to for all their herbal needs and opt them in!

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Setting 420 Dispensary Events up for Success

With a Saturday holiday, retailers are preparing for a day full of action, as opposed to a few hours after 5pm on a weekday.

They’re bringing in multiple vendors and entertainment so you can hang out (at their shop and not the one down the block) for hours. Some retailers are rotating vendor guests throughout the day, like having a different fleet of food trucks in the morning, afternoon, and night. It is a welcome diversion from the mattress-sale style of boasting the lowest prices in town today only - you can’t miss this!

While its still too early to say yet what the results of these events will look like in sales dollars, we can’t wait to dig into the data and give you a post-420 report.

A good event is likely to have a customer hanging out for a few hours shopping with you (not your competition) and having a good time with their friends, your team, and the local community. So, it’s a no-brainer that they come back to “Your Dispensary” when their stash gets low again because you gave them an experience and helped them remember that buying weed is more than a transaction.