Right now’s Social Pulse: Retail Version visitor Roman Nunez, advertising director at Kana Dispensary, brings an interesting mix of tech startup expertise and inventive artistry to the hashish business. His distinctive method to genuine advertising in a closely restricted business provides beneficial classes for any retail marketer going through challenges with laws, platform limitations, or viewers focusing on. Don’t miss this episode as he talks with host Agorapulse’s Chief Storyteller Mike Allton.
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What are among the most stunning limitations that you just encountered whenever you first bought into this hashish house?
Roman Nunez: You’re basically working in an fascinating house in hashish. You’re doing one thing that’s federally unlawful, and concurrently, you’re seeing advantages in your neighborhood.
You’re serving to folks with ache, with stress, PTSD—you’re doing the proper factor, however for some motive, you’re not allowed to inform the world about it. So it’s an fascinating place to be in. Plenty of challenges, such as you talked about earlier, that we will’t do something about on social media.
So it’s been navigating that path with Meta to see what we will put up. So we will do issues like we will foster our neighborhood, may speak about our occasions, can do instructional stuff.
There are methods round it with out particularly promoting your product. A whole lot of it has to do with training and fostering that neighborhood.
How did you outline your model voice?
Roman Nunez: As a child, rising up within the nineties, I’m nonetheless a Nike head. I’ve all the time loved manufacturers like Nike. I’m interested in manufacturers which have easy, easy designs.
I believe Chanel is among the best-looking manufacturers. Like, simply all the things they do is so easy. There’s not quite a lot of fluff or element. Apple: It’s similar to you have got that image; it’s very clear. I’ve all the time been a minimalist in that approach, and I’ve all the time been interested in that. There’s one thing left to the creativeness with that.
So, once we began the model, for me, it was about being iconic and having an icon like these manufacturers that I used to be interested in. So I began with that and began making an attempt to construct our model voice.
And so I got here from Yelp, too. Yelp all the time has this enjoyable model voice, so I wished us to be enjoyable, but in addition as a result of it’s a black-owned enterprise, it’s in Oakland, I wished to have just a little little bit of authenticity in the place we come from. So, once we converse to our audience, we’re just a little extra acquainted, if I can say it like that.
We’re simply going to be your mom-and-pop native retailer. So, we work together with our—we name ’em our can of fam. We name one another household. When folks stroll into the shop, they really feel like they’re at house. So, we simply attempt to foster these tight relationships as a result of we will’t promote such as you talked about.
A whole lot of it’s about making folks really feel like they’re a part of a household.
Mike Allton: As a storyteller, I really like the way you’re weaving in all these crucial components: your voice, your type, your tradition. That’s now all part of not solely who you’re, however it’s part of the messaging, and it’s mirrored in all the things that you just’re doing on-line, which is terrific, and that’s why you guys are having a lot success in constructing neighborhood. I do know most of the retailers listening would possibly face some kind of restriction, possibly not the identical ones that you’re, possibly not as extreme as hashish.
What are some common rules that we may speak about from a restrictive advertising perspective?
Roman Nunez: Yeah, a giant one is the common precept of selling in our house is listening.
I believe {that a} large piece that typically different manufacturers miss is listening to your constituents. I spent a while simply bud-tending. I’ve had just a little little bit of expertise, however not loads, as a result of I simply wished to pay attention and perceive our shopper’s voice.
So simply take that point to take heed to your clients, get suggestions, give all of them the shape, and surveys can reward them, get these evaluations, do an excellent job, and take heed to what they need and what they’re saying.
I believe {that a} large a part of advertising is knowing what your shopper base needs, what the opposite manufacturers aren’t providing, and what the opposite shops that they might go to simply aren’t doing for them.
I attempt to faucet into that and see how we could be higher and fill these gaps.
May you give an instance of a artistic advertising answer you’ve applied regardless of limitations?
Roman Nunez: Truthfully, man, the perfect, largest instrument we do—and in each enterprise, that is most likely going to be true at the moment—is amassing these emails, amassing these cellphone numbers, getting that gold out of your clients since you use that to section your SMS advertising, your electronic mail blasts. You could possibly attain out to clients who, for instance, now we have clients who are available that like edibles.
So what I’ll do is I’ll section that group and attain out to ’em with custom-made digital belongings which might be geared toward bringing these clients again via our door. We’ll inform ’em about contemporary drops, issues which might be occurring, instructional stuff. So, I just like the segmentation facet of understanding what clients need and advertising to them straight slightly than simply utilizing blanket options.
I might say our largest success has come from electronic mail and SMS advertising and utilizing these segments to surgically get in there and ship the proper message to the proper folks.
Now you additionally talked about in-person occasions. Inform me what these seem like.
Roman Nunez: You realize what’s humorous is the problem is there too with these occasions. Once we first opened, we had an enormous yard. It’s stunning. There’s grass, there are picnic tables. So we had been using that and having a good time. However finally, now we have some neighbors, and so we’ve had DJs again there. Some folks within the neighborhood simply don’t need us there as a result of we’re a dispensary, so that they have this concept of what we could possibly be, and so I spent quite a lot of time going to the neighbors saying, “Hey, we need to invite you to our yard. We’re having a barbecue, this and that.” However that finally turned out to not work as a result of then finally, we had allow points again there. And so we mentioned, “Okay, let’s reset. Since we will’t simply do no matter we wish in our yard, let’s now strategize instructional stuff.”
So now we have in-store demos with a few of our manufacturers, and we’ll have them are available they usually’ll arrange their little desk with informational stuff and simply join so the purchasers join with the manufacturers straight. We do in-store demos, and that does assist. I imply it, if folks aren’t anticipating it they usually are available, typically they get launched to a brand new model.
So, having a few of these manufacturers that we feature from a retail perspective are available and do an in-store demo? Say, possibly we’ll have a meals vendor come and simply make tacos for a couple of hours. It value us 500 bucks or one thing. However a few of these interactions could be lifelong clients that we’re taking good care of, and communities are in our title, in our model title. So we like to simply do stuff to present again to the neighborhood as an alternative of a few of these restrictions.
However so far as occasions, yeah, it’s quite a lot of in-store demos. We do have Oktoberfest on our block that shuts down the road yearly in October. And there are music and meals distributors, and it’s an opportunity for most of the people to get launched to us. So we benefit from the competition that occurs on our road yearly. It’s in Oakland, California. It’s known as Oktoberfest, sometimes the final weekend of October. And only a ton of music, and it’s enjoyable. So, I encourage anybody to swing by Kanna in case you occur to be in Oakland throughout October.
How do you keep model authenticity whenever you’re always having to seek out these workarounds and different channels?
Roman Nunez: The model itself, now we have our ethos, which is the hashish neighborhood and since these three pillars are what we stand on. So long as we’re offering the perfect high-quality, secure, examined merchandise, so long as we’re giving again to our neighborhood and taking good care of those that deal with us, and so long as we keep true to our trigger, I really feel like these issues are going to face out. These issues are going to get us throughout the end line. They’re going to assist us hit all our targets.
So long as we’re doing that, I really feel like we’re headed in the proper course. All our advertising choices are based mostly on that. We’ve got quite a lot of charity stuff on the books so far as simply cleansing up our neighborhood, doing trash pickups, and getting folks on board with that.
Staying true to who we’re, I believe, goes to be the perfect advertising instrument we’ve bought.
What about your tech startup expertise?
Roman Nunez: The tech stuff, techniques knowledge, that taught me all that stuff. So I’m bringing that to Kanna. In truth, hashish operators aren’t all the time from that background. So for me, coming in there, there was quite a lot of work to do. I’m like, “We have to arrange our knowledge.”
You realize what I imply? Probably the most beneficial factor we bought is knowledge. So, taking all that understanding of our clients’ age, demographics, and all that good things, that’s what we used to do at Yelp. You realize that in my earlier expertise, I began just a little firm known as Eat24. That was just a bit startup, and it bought large enough to the place it was acquired by GrubHub after which finally by Yelp. It modified fingers. So, we constructed this enterprise from the bottom up. What I discovered from that have is simply perceive your knowledge, get your knowledge, put it in a pleasant format, like no matter instrument you employ, just remember to have all of your dashboards arrange so you may learn what’s occurring, inform that story, and chart your path.
However that’s what I dropped at this expertise: understanding how beneficial that knowledge is and leveraging that to finally flip that into income.
Roman Nunez: It’s so on-line stuff, like I mentioned once we promote occasions, we’re all the time saying, “Tag your pals!” We’re doing stuff like beginning to use this merchandise known as a hashish bouquet, the place as an alternative of simply getting some in a jar, it’s really on a stick. It seems like a bouquet.
So what we do is we use that and say, and make a intelligent Instagram put up about it. Not promoting it essentially. However it generates likes and re-shares, and it will get these good metrics moving into our social, so making an attempt to be distinctive.
Folks know our budtenders now from social media. They’re like, “Oh, like I see you on there!”
It’s creating little superstars behind the counter, simply having enjoyable. It’s important to have enjoyable. It must be genuine. We’re not making an attempt too onerous.
I believe that’s the important thing. Don’t be sure that no matter your advertising messaging you’re doing, whether or not it’s on social media or in your electronic mail, newsletters, no matter, simply be genuine, be enjoyable, and be lighthearted about it, as a result of I believe typically if you will get too severe and get within the weeds there.
Mike Allton: Yeah, that sounds unbelievable. And I really like that you just’re bringing your workers into your social presence.
It’s one thing we talked loads about in a earlier episode with Dierbergs Markets. They’re a grocery store chain right here, native to me in St. Louis. They usually’re placing their butcher on their TikTok account. They’re placing them, all of the produce man, whoever, so when people come into their shops, they’re making these neighborhood connections.
How are you at present measuring the precise enterprise affect of all the things that you just’re doing on social?
Roman Nunez: We made a acutely aware effort to not attempt to take a look at these KPIs as this; we’re utilizing social media to push our enterprise. I steered away from that at first. I’m like, “We’re restricted. We technically can’t put up.”
Social media, let’s not lean on that to get gross sales. Let’s lean on that simply to construct neighborhood. If it does get a sale and does generate enterprise, that’s unbelievable. I take a look at the information, in fact, and it doesn’t are inclined to translate to income particularly.
It’s extra like a brand new buyer comes up, and we’ll begin seeing new clients are available. So, these are the KPIs that I monitor: the important thing efficiency metric is bringing folks via the door, and finally, that does result in income. However I monitor quite a lot of stuff. However I attempt to not lean on that to construct a enterprise. I attempt to lean on that simply to foster neighborhood. And we don’t do quite a lot of reductions. We discover that we do loads higher with on a regular basis low pricing and offers. So we’ll have bundles and offers, and we’ll run promos with some promotional gadgets and purchase two, get one.
We’ll do quite a lot of that as an alternative of providing quite a lot of reductions. After which we’re treating folks like household. So if we’re doing that, then we’re not resting a lot on social media as a result of we will’t, but in addition as a result of it’s higher, I believe, to relaxation on your online business practices and wonderful customer support. So far as transferring the needle on income, that’s what I’d say.
What sources or communities have you ever discovered to be simply probably the most beneficial?
Roman Nunez: Yeah, in our business, now we have totally different seminars and webinars that you would be able to attend, that I’m all the time on. And it simply talks about what’s happening within the business, finest practices, new stuff like that. I do quite a lot of that stuff.
Simply to maintain up with what developments and what’s occurring within the business. However so far as advertising through social media I rely just a little bit on a few of our, like I mentioned, youthful, extra savvy as a result of it’s nearly foolish on the market, and in case you take a look at different dispensaries and different hashish corporations, quite a lot of ’em are like a shadow ban and blocked, and you’ll’t even discover it, so for us, let’s have enjoyable.
Don’t miss out on retail insights, recommendation, and experiences from specialists in each episode of Agorapulse’s Social Pulse: Retail Version, hosted by Mike Allton.
Let’s be sure that we’re bringing pleasure to folks once they see our posts; they giggle or giggle or get one thing out of it. However we don’t take our income, we don’t put it within the fingers of social media like I discussed. It’s simply extra of a instrument to indicate that, “Hey, we’re having enjoyable over right here. It’s an excellent time at Kanna. Come on via that.”
Mike Allton: I couldn’t agree extra. You guys are doing it proper. The opponents are doing it unsuitable, which is why they’re getting banned and blocked, and shadow-banned and so forth.
They’re making an attempt to skirt round these guidelines to make a quick buck slightly than create that long-term technique of constructing relationships, constructing neighborhood.
Thanks for studying the highlights from this episode with Roman Nunez. Don’t overlook to seek out the Social Pulse Podcast: Retail Version on Apple or Spotify, the place we’re digging into the challenges, successes, and tales of social media and neighborhood professionals within the business, similar to you.
