NEWS & PRESS
Website Copywriting Tips for Cannabis Brands
A good copywriter can be the difference between a website that ranks high on Google, and one that appears after three or four minutes of scrolling.
They are the difference between getting the right person what they need when they need it and having potential customers go around in circles before bouncing.
In the cannabis space, your copywriter will also need to understand local and federal regulations, and be able to assuage first time buyers’ unique trepidations.
Your website will need:
– Homepage messaging that shows people they’re in the right place
– FAQs that factually address people’s queries
– Gripping product descriptions
– Three to five well-researched blogs per month
Writing good key messages for your homepage
How you talk about what you do extends beyond your tagline. Your website banner, header and navigation are some of your most vital digital messaging points. These ‘above the fold’ features may well be the first and only thing people read before they decide to buy. You’ll need to:
- Communicate what you do (so your visitors know they came to the right place)
- Deliver a simple brand promise that addresses what you’ll do for your customer
- Include a prominent call-to-action that shows your visitors what to do
Your brand promise or key message doesn’t have to shout about your strains or how cannabis will make people feel (read this piece about how to discuss the benefits of cannabis without actually talking about them). It can evoke a feeling or lifestyle.
For example:
Gossamer — for people who also smoke weed
Houseplant — The products on this page were designed for people who love things that are as beautiful as they are useful.
Edie Parker — When life is serious, your accessories don’t have to be. Pick your favorite Mini Lara Clutch hue!
How to create FAQs that people actually read
A good FAQ page will provide the best answers to the questions your audience is asking and put to bed any concerns they have about engaging with your brand for the first time. The Google algorithm rewards pages that offer value in the form of relevant problem-solving content.
It’d be easy to fill the FAQ with 10 — 15 generic questions off the top of your head. Get ahead of the questions your audience really wants the answers to by diving into what they’re typing in your search bar, looking into your chat logs, doing social listening on forums and social media, and speaking with your customer service team. You could also search similar brands on social media to see what questions people are putting to them.
Keep your answers to two to three sentences each and eliminate any words that aren’t necessary to avoid stuffiness.
Set a calendar reminder to review your FAQ each quarter as your business grows and evolves to make sure it represents what your customers can expect from you. And add relevant content if you run a big 420 campaign, or around big holidays like Christmas.
Tips for writing product descriptions
Well-written website product descriptions for cannabis brands enhance the credibility and trustworthiness of your brand, increase conversions, boost your site SEO.
Read descriptions from other consumable products that share your target audience, like wine, cheese, or chocolate. These sensory descriptions can help add punch to your copy. Which style keeps your attention? How have they sold the experience to you?
Product descriptions that speak directly to your target audience are the most effective. Ask and answer questions as if you’re having a conversation with them. Use their language and address them as ‘you’.
A particularly high end product might benefit from some J Peterson—style magic and place-setting, but most of the time, you’ll need to format the page like your reader is in a hurry. Present information in short chunks, and use bold text and bullets to draw your readers’ attention to the product highlights.
Ecommerce giant, Shopify, suggests avoiding ‘yeah yeah’ words. These are the things you might say when you have nothing else to say. Bland descriptors that don’t mean much and could be assigned to any product someone was trying to sell.
Good examples include:
‘This fantastic new ashtray design’
‘This excellent quality lighter will…’
They’ll make your writing sound insincere.
Blog content writing for SEO
Blogging hits a number of ranking factors that Google considers; if your content is constantly updated, adds value, and discusses topics relevant to your audience, you’ll see a real improvement in your organic search. Three to five 750 – 1,000 word blog posts a month is the sweet spot for many small to medium businesses.
Before your fingers touch the keyboard, make sure you know your audience well. Attention spans are short, and you need to make sure you’re giving them specifically what they need; nothing more, nothing less. What do they care about? How much do they already know about the subject? What do they need to know? What questions might they have about the topic? What action do you want them to take? (changing their mind is an action). Knowing your audience helps you to guide how you structure our work, what kind of language you use, what information you include, and how you approach each topic.
Every piece of content we create should deepen our customer’s trust in us. Especially in the cannabis space. Educational content marketing has the dual benefit of placing us as experts in the market and also lifting the fog on a sometimes maligned product. Learn more about how educational content can support your business.
Stay in the active voice. Sentences like ‘Simone paired the strain with an alcohol-free Rioja’ feel much more punchy and impactful than ‘the strain was paired with an alcohol-free Rioja by Simone’.
Write straightforwardly. Whether we know it or not, we all have a strong bias towards easily-processed information. Create cognitive fluency (how scientists describe the ease with which our brains process information – or flow) by removing roadblocks like tangents, jargon, unnecessarily long words, or switches in tense or between first person and third person through the piece. Simple language can still be expressed creatively or beautifully through similes, metaphors, placesetting, and storytelling.
Eliminate flabby words and phrases (Grow With Less has a list of weak words).
But the fact of the matter is → But
Due to the fact that → Because
Utilize your time → Use your time
With reference to → Regarding
You’re going to have to → You’ll need to
Use these writing aids to support brevity and clarity.
Enthuse Marketing offers education-based marketing for forward-thinking brands. Contact us today to learn how we can help you brand thrive.