A rising number of Americans may be trying something new this holiday season thanks to growing acceptance of CBD among consumers and advertisers alike. And that’s a good thing for local economies and the many small businesses fueling CBD growth.
The market for CBD products has exploded in recent years and is expected to exceed $24 billion by 2023, according to experts at the Brightfield Group.
With many online shoppers among the 40 percent of U.S. adults interested in trying CBD, some experts believe that CBD will soon become as common as aspirin in households across U.S.
CBD Retail a High-growth Market
Founder of CBD Marketing Hub Larry Berg
There’s also significant growth among CBD retailers, such as Mother Earth Natural Health, which Crain’s Detroit Business recently reported is expecting year-over-year sales growth of 300 to 400 percent this year.
Powering growing acceptance and awareness of CBD brands is Larry Berg, a longtime Detroit-area executive, Crain’s 40 under 40 cohort, former Sr. VP of $2 billion marketing services company Valassis and founder of CBD Marketing Hub, a Michigan-based marketing company specializing in the CBD market.
His company is among those helping CBD businesses move from Main Street merchants to the larger economy via highly-targeted marketing campaigns like the many that took place over what is commonly called Cyber Weekend — which includes Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions.
Research Driven Marketing for CBD
Recently, Berg’s CBD Marketing Hub along with its partners CBD.io and Target Insyght’s nonprofit arm Insyght Institute released the first-ever CBD Confidence Survey, which found that 55 percent of the survey’s respondents were involved in Black Friday and/or Cyber Monday specials.
That’s important, according to Berg, who notes that the stats signal growing acceptance of CBD’s place in the mainstream market, its positioning among consumer-packaged goods (CPG) and, most importantly, advertisers’ willingness to accept CBD ads.
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“As the CBD landscape continues to grow, companies are finding new avenues and media to participate in this growth,” says Berg. “Cyber Weekend was an opportunity to launch, educated and engage with consumers and bring CBD companies to the forefront so people see the industry as it matures.”
Cyber CBD Sales And Small Business
Digital sellers like CBD Marketing Hub clients saw a huge lift in activity as a result of Cyber campaigns, Berg says.
“In a three-day period alone, we helped our clients reach 15.4 million consumers,” Berg adds.
Companies say their 2019 “Cyber Weekend” events, which started late on Thanksgiving and continued through Monday, proved important in terms of gaining exposure in what some retail observers call one of the most important three-day shopping sprees on the calendar. They also saw traction in securing relationships with curious consumers who dipped a proverbial toe in CBD products because of their discounts or special offers.
The big holiday discounts bring big benefits, according to Jared Ballard, brand director for Hemplucid, a Utah-based CBD company that is concentrating efforts in high-growth markets. Hemplucid has been doing Black Friday and Cyber Monday advertisements for four years.
“People get excited about our Cyber Weekend sales because we bring our prices down to half,” Ballard says. “We find we get a huge return rate from customers, which has been fantastic.
“Customers come in with these sales, they get to know our product and they get a feel for who we are as a company. We retain between 75-80 percent of them (after the sales),” Ballard adds.
More CBD in holiday packages and in homes throughout the America is good news for nationally based small businesses – and a clear signal that there’s additional growth ahead.
Photo courtesy of CBD Marketing Hub and Shutterstock.
The article CBD Ads Go Mainstream, Propelling Small Business Growth by Mark S. Lee first appeared on Cannabis & Tech Today.