CBD Email Marketing: 10 ways to generate higher ROAS from email campaigns

By Larry Berg, Founder & CEO,     CBD Marketing Hub

Welcome to CBD Marketing Hub’s digital marketing series, created to provide an inside look at powerful CBD customer conversion tools. This week’s focus is email marketing. At pennies per unit and current CTRs averaging 2 to 3.4 percent, emails represent one of the most cost-effective ways for CBD brands to reach consumers today.

 

The only thing getting opened more than refrigerator and pantry doors in homes these days are its digital screens.

At the epicenter of everything — from homework, homeschooling and home health to home shopping — our dwellings have become digital gateways to what global management behemoth McKinsey labeled America’s new “homebody” economy.

It seems as if absolutely everything has moved online. In some households, it nearly has.

Home has become the digital command center — and the shift from offline to online has been dramatic.

“That (shift) makes eCommerce the new battleground,” says Bethany Gomez, the managing director of the Brightfield Group, a consumer insights and market intelligence firm that serves the CBD and Cannabis industry.

There will be casualties, according to Gomez, who predicts the CBD market will consolidate from 3,500 to 1,800 companies by year-end.

Now that consumers are in month three of COVID-19 related mandates, it will be harder than ever to hit the off button.

As digital muscle memory improves, it’s only logical that consumer practices morph and become more deep-seated consumer patterns.

GETTING BEHIND SHIFTS IN CONSUMER DEMAND

One of the highest percentages of growth segments in online shopping services is among shoppers 65 and older. Shutterstock image

With eCommerce growth estimated to exceed 18 percent in 2020 (eMarketer), it’s critical for growth-oriented CBD companies to get behind the demand for click-and-collect, curbside pick-up, and online shopping services, and a growing audience of online shoppers 65 and older.

Getting there will require finesse, as well as a longer-term view of the market.

The bottom line for CBD brands is “ be in it to win it.”

CBD marketing, which has been more fluid and dynamic, will require more patience and persistence.

EMAIL RESPONSE WINDOWS TIGHTENING

Savvy CBD brands are increasing the frequency of their digital campaigns in order to keep pace with ever-evolving market demands of homebound consumers who are making decisions faster than ever. Shutterstock image

Homebound consumers have had time to do their homework and are becoming more decisive.

Our proprietary CBD trend tracking monitor reveals that the shelf life of the average email promotion is shortening.

Consumers are making decisions within three to five days of drop dates, which signals the need for brands to plan additional CBD promotions to stay top-of-mind with top and middle funnel buyers.

Bottom funnel buyers are moving at warp speed.

Our internal performance data confirms that price-sensitive CBD buyers are making decisions more quickly than ever before.

The number of email users continues to increase. Activity levels are also on the rise. More than half of U.S. adults start their day by checking their email.

That means brands need to nail consumer messaging and price points.

For younger brands, the market requires more A/B splits, designed to test messaging and price points, as well as a higher placement frequency to stay in front of consumers bombarded with attractive options from CBD companies with greater consumer brand recognition.

More mature brands cannot rest on their laurels either. They need to amp up promotions, tighten consumer messaging and make inroads in untapped consumer markets to defend and grow their market position.

A number of the largest brands need to further differentiate themselves and establish a clear value proposition for multiple product lines and consumer segments.

“Selling CBD to everyone” in this market translates to selling to no one. The generic CBD customer lane leads to a dead end.

Trend lines are becoming more apparent among the top CBD brands and include:

• Price reductions: CBD discounts ranged from 30 -70 percent off throughout the first two weeks of July
• Increased promotions: Digital placements increased by more than 52 percent from QTR 1 to QTR 2
• Increased frequency: Major brands supported consecutive digital CBD ad placements within a 7- to 14-day window versus longer promotional periods studied in June.

REMAIN RELEVANT

Relevance matters. Consumers are more likely to engage with brands that create a pleasant user experience.

1. Develop relevant messaging that speaks to your consumer segment’s interests, desires, and product interests. Segmented and targeted emails generate 58 percent of all revenue, according to a DMA
2. Personalize your emails. Why? Ninety percent of U.S. consumers find personalized marketing content “very” or “somewhat” more appealing, according to Statista.
3. Remain true. If you promote an offer that is exclusive to a select consumer segment, make sure it is exclusive to a select consumer segment. Consumers are savvy and easily offended. If they discover a “selective” offer that is clearly not selective at all (available to everyone), they will lose trust in your brand and likely not be back.
4. Add a clear call-to-action. Make sure you include clearly labeled activation buttons like “Claim your 40% Off” to generate the desired activity. Don’t be afraid to add “Learn More” and other CBD customer activation elements, which can provide actionable data about CBD consumer interests.
5. Invite customers to join your tribe. Offers that provide incentives and valuable content generate consumer response. A study from Loyalty 360 stated that 59 percent of U.S. moms would sign up for email updates from brands if rewards were offered.
6. Avoid busy ads. Less is best. Pick powerful words and use as few as possible to deliver your CBD advertising.
7. Match user experience. Correlate your CBD email promotion with your CBD landing page. An email campaign featuring 40% Off All Tinctures should direct visitors to a landing page featuring complimentary 40% Off messaging and tincture product imagery, not a generic product page. Customized experiences increase CBD conversion rates by as much as 25 percent, according to our CBD campaign tracking monitor.
8. Spread learning. CBD email campaigns provide valuable analytic data that is more powerful when shared across organizational groups from marketing, social, and digital teams to customer service support.
9. A whopping 45 percent of consumers surveyed by Media Frenzy Global say they want to be inspired by brands, who instill hope about the future. The payoff? Survey respondents say they will be more loyal to optimistic brands after the pandemic.
10. Rinse & Repeat. Repetition is critical, particularly in today’s hyper-competitive marketplace. CBD brands that support multiple email campaigns experience higher ROAS, particularly when they add in digital retargeting ads in the mix. We recommend that every email campaign have at least three customer touchpoints to achieve the highest level of conversion.

With half of all U.S. consumers reporting that they have spent more time-consuming content than ever before, shouldn’t we make the experience more relevant and engaging?

Editor’s Note: Performance is important. If you would like to learn more about the efficacy of email and other CBD marketing campaigns visit our results page, or contact us at hello@cbdmarketinghub.com.

Disclaimer: The CTRs referenced in this series lead-in are reflective of aggregated 2020 email campaign results collected by CBD Marketing Hub. Individual campaign results may vary based upon offer strength, messaging, and competitive activity.