All posts by Four Twenty

Why Product Packaging Matters 1

Why Product Packaging Matters

Advice & Tips, Cannabis Marketing, Product Packaging,

Without a doubt, product packaging is one of the most vital ways to ensure that a product is appealing to various consumers. This applies to all products, and cannabis products are no exception. Unfortunately, many cannabis companies do not realize the absolute importance of product packaging.

If you are still uncertain about whether you should give your product top-notch packaging or not, here are some of the reasons why product packaging matters:

  • It makes your product stand on the retail shelf

Your product will be sitting beside other cannabis products, so how will it be different from others? Of course, product packaging is the single most important factor that will make it catch the attention of potential buyers. In fact, the packaging will make your product stand out on the shelf.

Generally, there are tons of things you can do with your product packaging. You can allow it to come in a particular container or shape that others do not usually have. Or ensure that it has a design that will make look different from others in an awesome way. Whatever packaging you want to use for your product, make sure that it will not make the product look odd in a way that will discourage the retailers from stocking it.

  • It gives important information about your products

If you are new to the cannabis market, it is likely that most consumers do not know anything about the products that you are selling. Therefore, you need to provide certain vital information about your brand as well as the product itself. Luckily, you can take advantage of product packaging to give various pieces of information about the products.

The set of information that can be on the product packaging includes the name of your brand, product type, net weight, batch numbers, ingredients, and warnings. It is worthwhile to note that your location may determine the information that you can add to the product package. Whatever the case may be, product packaging will still enable you to provide useful info about your cannabis product.

  • It enhances the experience of the customers

As a canna-brand, your concern should not just be about selling your product to customers. You need to associate a positive experience with using your cannabis product so that the consumers can always come back to buy from you. The experience that consumers will get from unboxing a beautifully wrapped box of cannabis products will be different from one that is shabbily and unattractively shaped. So, consider using your product packaging to offer buyers a one-of-a-kind experience that will make them become your loyal consumers.

All these benefits of product packaging will draw more consumers to your cannabis product as they will be willing to have a taste of what you are offering. This, in turn, will lead to improved sales for your business, and if your product is good, the consumers may continue buying your product for a long time.

Canadian Cannabis 2

Canadian Cannabis

Canada, ,

The cannabis industry is one of the fastest-growing ones in the world today.  This is quite understandable though considering the number of health benefits that come with the use of cannabis products. One of the leading countries in the industry is Canada. The cannabis industry in the country has continued to gain rapid traction daily.

What does the industry look like?

Everyone knows Canada to be a country blessed with natural resources among which are precious metals and oil sands. However, the cannabis sector is a new industry that has taken the investment and health sector by surprise. After the legalization of marijuana for recreational and medical use, a lot of analysts are now of the firm belief that the Canadian cannabis industry could become as high as over $22 billion in annual revenue. This is bigger than the combined value of the wine, spirits and beer industries.

The market is growing

Unlike what obtains in the US, the cannabis industry in Canada is legal on a federal level. This makes for better safety for all businesses within the industry. As a matter of fact, medical marijuana was legalized in 2001 in the country with the Medical Marijuana Access Regulations. The MMAR gave over forty thousand people to grow Marijuana. However, ever since then, the program has gone through institutionalization and has been extended in 2017 to recreational use. Now, there are corporate cannabis growers in the country.

Tons of opportunities are available

The cannabis industry in Canada is replete with opportunities for investors looking into trying out a new landscape. As it stands, the biggest and best option for cannabis investors looking out to break into the Canadian market is licensed production. This is because licensed producers enjoy a lot of exclusive rights. These rights cover not only the growth of Marijuana but also harvest and processing into extracts, flowers as well as edibles. Currently, there is a decent amount of producers with a valid license issued by Health Canada after a lengthy process of approval and these companies could generate billions of dollars in annual revenue.

What companies are the most viable for coming investors?

For investors just coming into the Canadian cannabis market to invest, it might be a lot helpful to know some of the notable companies in the industrial as well as their market capital. This is highlighted below:

  • Canopy Growth Corp. – $6.969B
  • Aurora Cannabis – $5.071B
  • Aphria Inc. – $1.807B
  • The Cronos Group – $2.844B
  • The Hexo Corporation – $656.233M
  • CannTrust Holdings Inc. – $195.117M
  • Namaste Technologies Inc. – $97.082M
  • OrganiGram Holdings – $549.118M
  • Emerald Health Therapeutics – $101.379M
  • The Supreme Cannabis Company Inc. – $238.736M

The Canadian cannabis market is on the rise as more brands are springing up every day. Therefore, the future is bright for any company that wants to offers the best Canadian cannabis.

Branding Cannabis 3

Branding Cannabis

Advice & Tips, Cannabis Marketing, Trends, , ,

Over the past few years, the Cannabis industry has witnessed lots of deciding moments and this is mostly due to the changes in all the regulations and laws on cannabis in a lot of countries. Some of these countries legalized it totally while some just made the already existing regulations concerning Cannabis usage more liberal. Consequent to these new laws and regulations, the Cannabis market has continued to become busier by the day, which means it is bound to be one of the biggest ministries in years to come. Besides, this means more efforts will be dedicated to Cannabis marketing and branding than before. However, the industry is still in early development, so certain challenges are inevitable.

Strategies and tactics

Strategies are very important in the Cannabis industry but not easy to get. A good amount of companies in the industry have exhausted a lot of money on marketing, but most of the effort has resulted in nothing but failure. What this indicates is that Cannabis branding demands beyond being different. It comes with certain challenges that are not present in other industries. Brand building requires consistency.

The successful Cannabis brands are the ones that are clear about their audience and they deliver to them accordingly. For instance, the brands make use of a sophisticated luxury concept and leverage on their quality product and image. On the other hand, others focus more or an artisan narrative by making use of experiences and tours in their dispensaries.

The importance of partnerships and influencers in the overall strategy can also not be overemphasized. By running influencer marketing campaigns through certain platforms, Cannabis companies can easily get around stringent advertising regulations of social media. In like manner, some brands have been partnering successfully with popular personalities to achieve the same result.

Establishing your brand in the marketplace

It is good to consider how to present your brand to the public. You must be conscious of your consumers and their view about your brand but this is a thing quite hard to achieve in the Cannabis industry. There are lots of misconceptions about the industry and its products so it is often quite tough for a cannabis brand to market itself to the public. Due to the fact that Cannabis is not legal in all places and is illegal by federal law, promoting it is sometimes still frowned upon.

For example, some of the most popular promoting channels such as Facebook and Google prohibit advertising services or products connected to the Cannabis industry. Thus, you don’t have the privilege of using the regular channels that you would if you were selling a different product or service. Therefore, you must contemplate the way to enter the market as well as the effective ways to promote your products or services within the existing restrictions.

The important thing to note here is that there are still certain ways through which your brand can be introduced and marketed to people. The channels to use include publications, websites that belong to the Cannabis industry as well as events, trade shows and social media pages of the industry.

What to look for in a web design company? 4

What to look for in a web design company?

Advice & Tips, ,

A lot of businesses today try to have a website that they use for the purpose of marketing their brands. This is a phenomenon that cuts through all industries, and the cannabis sector is not left out. The benefits are enormous as it makes your brand more visible and approachable to a wider range of audience. However, enjoying these perks will only be possible when the website is one of great quality and this is why you have to be very careful before selecting a web designer for the project.

Thus, below are some of the things to consider when choosing a web designer for your cannabis business.

Niche-specific skills

Web designers exist in plenitude these days. In fact, you won’t have to stress yourself before seeing one around you. However, you have to understand that the cannabis industry is a very distinct one which means you cannot just apply any web development strategy or technique and expect to see desired results. Due to this, it is advisable that you go for a cannabis-specific designer that properly understands both the ins and outs of the cannabis industry.

Experience working with cannabis marketing

Having the skills is not enough, it is also important for you to consider the amount of experience your website designer has with marketing in the cannabis industry. Just as with skills, marketing in the cannabis sector is totally different from what obtains in other industries. For example, there are lots of online marketing platforms that prohibit cannabis. A well-skilled website developer with sufficient experience will know how to work around this kind of situation. He will also be well acquainted with all the cannabis marketing techniques and schemes available.

Reviews

Before you go ahead and hand over the job to any web development agency or professional, you should do well to know their track record with clients. This is easy to determine by checking out their reviews. If the agency has a generally positive list of reviews, then it means you are likely to be delivered a quality job.

On the other hand, where the reviews are predominantly negative, it is advisable to stay off such a professional, agency or company. Similarly, you should try to ascertain the customer’s retention rate of such agency or professional. Thus, even if the reviews are generally positive but they are terrible at retaining clients, then you might have to think twice before hiring such a web development company.

Long term establishment

When you are choosing a web developer for your cannabis business, try to go for a professional or agency with long term establishment. In other words, choose one that will still be around for a reasonable amount of years in case you need them later. This has to be said because lots of people are fond of giving the job to people who offer cheap services or a friend or family member doing the job as a side gig and might not be around later on if there is any problem at some point.

We put together these few pieces of advice to hopefully guide you in your selection for your next web design partner. Please email us hello@420webpros.com if you’re interested in getting the conversation started about your next project!

US Presidential Candidates stance on Cannabis 5

US Presidential Candidates stance on Cannabis

United States, , , ,

Over the years, the use of cannabis in the United States has increased acceptability. To ensure more liberal approach towards cannabis and its industry, it is imperative to look into the positions and attitudes of the different US presidential candidates in the coming elections towards this powerful plant.

Senator Bernie Sanders

Senator Bernie Sanders has stated clearly that the legalization of cannabis is one of his major objectives. He plans to effect this within his first 100 days in office with executive action. He also intends to expunge and vacate all previous convictions related to marijuana. Also, he intends to keep Big Tobacco off the cannabis market and has mapped out a plan to make sure that tax revenue gathered from marijuana goes to the people and communities plagued the most by the War on Drugs.

Donald Trump

Donald Trump is not just a presidential candidate in the United States; he is the current president. He has stated to be “100%” in support of the idea of legalization of medical cannabis during his campaign sessions prior to his 2016 election. However, he has generally been silent on the issue since he was elected. One thing is suggestive of his genuine stance and that is his appointment of now-former Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Notably, Sessions was probably the fiercest opponent of the marijuana legalization movement in Capitol Hill. Nevertheless, nothing is still fully established about Donald Trump’s stance.

Senator Elizabeth Warren

Senator Elizabeth Warren has a similar attitude as Sanders toward Cannabis. She has also claimed that, if elected as the president of the United States, she would leverage on executive action to strike marijuana off the list of controlled substances. However, this comes as no surprise, because she has co-sponsored a decent amount of cannabis reform bills such as the STATES Act and CARERS Act.

Joe Biden

A lot of people who know the former Vice President well enough will understand the fact that his position on Cannabis has become significantly liberal over the years. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he used to be one of the strongholds behind the War on Drugs.  Nevertheless, even though his campaign spokesperson told CNN in 2019 that he is in support of the idea of letting states make their own decisions, he has never said anything about changing federal policy.

Michael Bloomberg

The former New York City Mayor used to crack down on violations against cannabis. Between 2002 and year 2013 that he was in office, there was a huge rise in the arrests for cannabis-related activities but he was always voting proposals that canvassed for fines and court summonses instead of arrests for possession of Cannabis in small amounts.

Pete Buttigieg

Buttigieg who used to be a Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, also claims to work with and support lawmakers in Congress for the legalization of Cannabis at the federal level. Just like Bernie Sanders, Buttigieg has talked about the social injustice occasioned by the War on Drugs and he intends to tackle those problems head-on if elected into office.

Your Brand's Social Media Presence Is Important, here's why. 6

Your Brand’s Social Media Presence Is Important, here’s why.

Advice & Tips, Social Media, , , , ,

We are in the age of the internet. Almost everything today can be carried out through the machinery of the internet and one of the key features of the internet is the existence of social media. A lot of brands, companies and businesses continue to jump on the train of using social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. They are using these platforms to further their goals and objectives, and the results have been positive for most. Of course, the cannabis industry is not left out. Many cannabis brands have a huge social media presence that they utilize to market their brands.

As a result of this, we have decided to talk about the importance of social media presence for your canna-brand.

To understand the behavior of your customers

Part of the importance of having a huge social media presence as a canna-brand is that it lets you understand the behavior of your customers. Social media serves as a channel through which you can access customers directly by connecting to them. As you do so, you get to know more about them and their behavior. This is especially true for certain social media platforms that allow you to import the contacts of your customers and maintain regular communication with them. Through this avenue, you can easily inform them about current deals, promotions among many other things.

To get feedback

As a person or agency involved in the cannabis business, everything should not be limited to just promoting your brand, especially on social media. One positive for you if you have social media presence is that you can easily get feedback from your clients. The feedback you get will help shape the decisions you make and directions you tread as you continue with your brand business.

To provide topnotch customer support

Having a good social media presence is a form of customer support for your cannabiz. If you can properly and politely attend to your customers’ needs, answer their questions and listen to their opinions about your brand through your social media platforms, then you have done a significant part of what customer care entails. You engage them, respond to their inquiries and show them that you genuinely care. I mean, isn’t that the essence of receiving feedback in the first place. Thus, when you have a social media presence, you can easily show your clients that you are taking steps to correct the negative things they dislike and complain about your brand.

To ensure brand humanization

Humanising your brand can be quite useful for boosting sales and increasing marketability. There is just this special feeling that customers have when they know that the people attending to them are real. When you humanize your brand, you are bound to get more engagements. One of the major platforms through which this brand humanization can be achieved is through social media. Through the instrumentality of social media, some notable ways to put this into place include holding contests, connecting with your followers, giving cannabis deals, making surveys and a host of others.

With the points listed, it is obvious that any business that is not taking advantage of social media is doing itself a huge disservice. We can help change that here at 420 Web Pros. Contact us to get started.

Cannabis Friendly Credit Card Processors - Square Now Allowing CBD Transactions 7

Cannabis Friendly Credit Card Processors – Square Now Allowing CBD Transactions

Advice & Tips, CBD, Credit Card Processors, , ,

Accessing basic financial services has been a mirage for most corporations and agencies involved in the cannabis business. This is particularly more painful considering the fact that these financial services are easily available to businesses and brands in other industries and sectors. This challenge extends over to even those that sell products that consist of CBD derived from hemp that has already been legalized in the States through the Farm Bill. Lack of access to these basic financial services also includes the inability to have bank accounts and process the credit cards of their customers.

Square’s new initiative

The latter problem, which relates to the inability of cannabis brands and product sellers to process the credit cards of their clients, now seems to be an issue to be forgotten. This is because of the new initiative of the payment processing service called Square. Due to Square’s quietly launched pilot program, you can now easily find a solution to the problem. According to the spokesperson for the processing service, Square is presently involved in overseeing an invite-only beta for certain CBD products.

This initiative is quite an interesting one, especially when you consider the fact that it is coming after several years of the company’s refusal to work with companies in the CBD industry. Notably, the company was asked about the rationale behind the launch of the program. The spokesperson of Square responded that the company watches the changing public policies and, as such, tries to create fresh opportunities for customers.

The important thing here is that this secretly launched program by Square is coming at just the right time for all CBD brands and businesses. The entry of Square into the CBD terrain can even be described as a kind of federal legislation that guarantees better and wider access to basic financial services for cannabis businesses in gaining ground in Congress.

Reactions and responses

This initiative by Square has received lots of favorable reactions from everyone in the CBD industry. For instance, Morgan Fox, the director for media relations at the National Cannabis Industry Association, has commended the step taken by the payment processing service. According to him, the initiative is a forward-thinking one that is launched by one of the forward-thinking agencies. These agencies are doing well to fill the gap created by all the outdated federal policies on banking.

Furthermore, he was of the opinion that they are also helping to properly address the challenges posed by the lack of basic financial services in the cannabis sector. In addition, he stated that lawmakers should capitalize on this initiative by taking heed and opening the space to every financial institution.

This initiative by Square is one that promises to be the start of many more to come. It is only expected that a lot of other payment processing services will follow suit by opening more and better opportunities for the processing of CBD transactions. Therefore, the future is truly promising for this sector.

The Importance of Wireframing a Large Project 8

The Importance of Wireframing a Large Project

Advice & Tips

Web development comes in many phases and one of the most important of them is wireframing.  This process is a necessary one that must never be skipped on a large-sized project no matter how tempting it is. Before seeing the results and traffic on a website through reports, it is of great essence to create a website that is properly designed and user-friendly.

Although you might be tempted to skip wireframing and go-ahead from the information architecture and design brief into the design process, it has many perks that can go a long way in determining the success of your designs. Take the time to learn more about wireframing and its importance.

What are wireframes?

Before proceeding to highlight the benefits of wireframing, it is important to briefly define it for those probably not familiar with it. A wireframe can be described as a low-fidelity visual representation of the layout design of a website. It is sometimes referred to as an outline, blueprint or skeleton. Usually, it represents the fundamental page layout structure, the navigational school of the website’s pages as well as the main components of the site.

Let’s take a look at the benefits of wireframing, especially when the project is a large-scale one.

  • Layout and structure development

A lot of companies start building a website with an exhaustive range of ideas in relation to the content and features they would love to include. With the help of wireframes, a designer can easily determine the elements to be incorporated into every page as well as the functionality requirements that must be put in place for those elements.

  • Creation of an informational hierarchy

Another benefit of wireframing a large project is how it lets corporations and businesses forget about colors and styles. This allows them to focus on the more important elements of information and navigation. When handling a more complex project, website developers determine what they want users to do anytime they visit their site through the instrumentality of wireframing. In addition, they also get to establish the information that has to be provided in order to move their users along to the appropriate pages and get the information they are looking for.

  • Time-saving

We cannot talk about the benefits of wireframing a large project without touching how time-saving it is. In fact, it is one of its biggest benefits. Although this benefit isn’t an immediate thing, it becomes obvious in the long run. So, while it might take more effort to set out a few days to make a complete wireframe set, it will eventually save time throughout the lifecycle of the project.

  • Attention on user experience

Wireframes help to draw attention to the function and basic structure of a site. These are the elements that make an impact on user experience. As such, when a designer of a large project overlooks wireframing, they can easily get immersed in the elements of making a website appear good; thereby, forgetting things like functionality, user experience etc. that are more vital to design.

Enjoy all these benefits by ensuring that you do not skip wireframing during your next big web project.

Your logo represents your brand 9

Your logo represents your brand

Advice & Tips

As the cannabis industry is experiencing steady growth over the past few years, lots of cannabis brands are designing various logos. These logos come in different shapes and designs. While some brands have gotten it right, others have chosen ineffective logos.

If you would like to choose a logo for your cannabis brand, you should understand what your logo says about your cannabis brand.

Your logo represents your brand

Your logo says a lot about what your cannabis brand represents. These representations include the mission statement of your brand, the products that you are offering, and lots more. Therefore, you should pick a good logo that is able to explain so many things about your brands to your existing or prospective customers.

Your logo shows the uniqueness of your brand

If designed properly, your logo can go a long way in showing everyone the difference between your cannabis brand and other brands offering similar products. When it comes to visual attractiveness, a logo provides you with a perfect opportunity to give your brand a competitive edge over others.

However, designing a logo that tells people that your cannabis brand is unique can be really difficult. A lot of cannabis brands have bland, uninspiring logos. It is cliché for them to have leaves and a few other designs that do not say anything about how the brands are different from others. Well, if you want your logo say something about the uniqueness of your brand, you need to hire professionals to do it for you.

Your logo can tell people about the use and target customers of your product

People use cannabis for various reasons and these reasons can determine the brands they want to patronize. You can make use of your logo to tell people about the use of your cannabis product and draw the kind of customers that you want.

For instance, for medical marijuana users, their major concerns are good health and alleviation of pains. You can use your logo to convey your message to this type of user. A white, clean logo with some fresh leaves can present your brand as a health-oriented cannabis brand.

If you want to draw high-end cannabis users to your brand, your logo can also come to your aid. A sophisticated yet simple logo that exudes elegance and leisure can do the magic for you. Of course, if eco-conscious users are your target users, you should add some greens and leaf to represent the environmental friendliness of your products. In case you will be selling for a wide range of customers, you can incorporate a few elements that can attract your different customers.

Conclusively, your logo forms an important part of the branding of your cannabis company. So, learn how to make it say the right thing about your brand.

In view of this, you can get some help from the professionals at 420 Web Pros. They can put you through on how to choose the best logos for your cannabis brand.

What Are Some Cannabis Events I Need To Attend In 2020? 10

What Are Some Cannabis Events I Need To Attend In 2020?

Events

The cannabis industry is an unpredictable one. It constantly evolves but one way to keep up with this is through cannabis events. However, the importance of these events goes beyond this as they also help to build relevant relationships and connections to promote your products and services with your target audience. Indeed, they are the keys to cannabis culture.

Since 2020 is almost here, we have decided to provide all cannabis investors and enthusiasts some of the events to look ahead to in the cannabis industry.

MJBizCon

The MJBizCon is a professional cannabis conference particularly suitable for potential investors. All interested cannabis investors, whether institutional or accredited as well as high net worth people use the platform provided by the event to analyze trends and issues critical to investing strategies.

Issues pertaining to cannabis branding, packaging, promotion, cannabis logos, etc. will be well discussed at the event. The conference comes next in December 2020, starting on the 16th and ending on the 18th. It holds inside Las Vegas Convention Center with an expected 31,000 attendees.

Emerald Cup

Emerald Cup is a gathering that every cannabis enthusiast should never miss. It is a casual event where you are likely to see a real culture type stoner. It is Northern California’s number one destination when it comes to the promotion of cannabis culture. Despite its casualness, it still has a reputation for being the largest and most respected outdoor cannabis competition on the planet. The next one comes up from February 26 to 29, 2020. You need to be a part of this special event.

High Times Cannabis Cup

The High Times Cannabis Cup is renowned for its legendary status as the world’s leading cannabis festival. Founded in 1988, it is the longest-running event that promotes cannabis culture.

Typically, the cup allows judges from different places throughout the world to sample and then vote for their favorite marijuana varieties. They decide the Cannabis Cup overall winner, best new product, best glass, best booth, best Naderhash, and best hash. The event runs in many different states and countries. The next one is the Cannabis Cup Bright Side Festival which is holding from January 9th to 13th, 2020. The proposed venue is The Jewel Paradise Cove Resort, Runaway Bay, Jamaica.

Annual New England Cannabis Convention

The New England Cannabis Conventions consist of a collaborative approach towards discussing important industry issues related to Cannabis packaging, branding, culture, etc. Indeed, it often results in a high return of investment for not just the exhibitors, but also the attendees and the sponsors.

The event has never for once failed when it comes to developing new ideas and strategies as well as growth and networking opportunities. The one up next is holding at Hynes Convention Center, Boston MA from March 20th to 22nd, 2020. After this, there would be a series of follow up events: One in April 2020 in Reno, followed by another in May in Utah. Afterward, we will be having the next one more in May and another one in June. Both events hold in Vermont.