5 KPIs that All Cannabis CEOs Should Know
Community Spotlight on our Founder Erica Vallejo
iFreshly Digital founder, Erica Vallejo talks about her professional journey in this interview by Voyage Austin. She discusses how she grew the business; a process that started with a need to provide for herself and her child and was fueled by her passion for helping businesses reach their ideal clients and desire to be a strong role model to her daughter.
We are thrilled to align our professional energy with the Cannabis culture we are so passionate about since the article’s publication!
Joining the cannabis marketing community is more than just an ingenious savvy business move for iFreshly Digital; it represents the alignment of our passion for the Cannabis community and our professional energy.
As the number of recreational marijuana states increases and we know that marijuana legalization is on the horizon for many more of us, we seek to spread awareness about the marijuana plant and destigmatize its consumption!
Read about our journey and let us know about yours in the comments!
We look forward to connecting.
Best Books about Cannabis
Happy World Book Day! We are big proponents of learning and reading and know that we don’t know everything there is to know about the magical plant we call cannabis.
Cannabis goes by so many names and has quite a history.
So where does one start if they want to start learning more about Cannabis?
Minorities have created the culture behind Cannabis, but for decades that has been behind closed doors, and now that legalization and decriminalization is spreading throughout the US and across the world, Cannabis dispensaries are looking for ways to reach the community where they’re at.
If you’re not a consumer of cannabis, knowing the culture can be difficult, especially having to deal with your own implicit biases.
It’s our goal to be able to combat stigmas, stereotypes, and roadblocks and help everyone in the United States get access to medical and recreational Cannabis.
The people are going to do it either way, so it’s all about using this important natural resource to help our economy in a sustainable and equitable way.
That being said, make sure to do your research!
Books, books, books!
Read as much as you can. Consume the latest news, and become a part of the community and politics.
As a professional, I’ve shied away from making a political stance and hide my knowledge of Cannabis culture, however becoming a public part of the Cannabis industry, it’s pretty impossible to not make a stand.
Social justice, equitable access, etiquette and more!
Are there any books you’d recommend to Cannabis CEOs to get a bigger understanding, whether you’re a seasoned black market pro, or relatively new to the White, legal market?
These are a few that are on our list and it’s growing:
Other recommended books to look into:
rollingstone.com/product-recommendations/books/best-books-about-weed-870807/
iFreshly Digital Listed as one of Top Texas Advertising Agencies?!
As humbling and honored as it’s been, we’d like to announce that we’ve gotten selected to be listed as one of the Top Texas Advertising Agencies by DesignRush!
This business of ours has grown over the last several years, and we are so excited that we are getting recognition in the industry, especially in a city and state like Texas with some stiff competition!
We are excited to see what opportunities come our way, and can’t wait to continue serving Austin, Texas, and beyond with all your Marketing and advertising needs!
Check out our profile on DesignRush and don’t forget to contact us if you’d like to discuss how we might be able to help your business!
Search Engine Optimization
Local Search Engine Optimization
Have you ever asked yourself, “what is search engine optimization?” What’s the difference between regular SEO and local SEO? Do you know the difference and are you paying the right agency to do it? Do you know how to reach your local market if your business depends on geographical business? If you’re not optimizing locally and already running Search Engine Optimization (SEO), then you’re hurting yourself drastically.
Help Customers Find You When They Need Your Services
People automatically hop on Google if they don’t have a personal referral for a service or product they’re needing. Even if they do, they’re researching the company to make sure the referral they’ve been given is competent and a good fit for them. 96% of people use online reviews from multiple sources to decide what business they want to choose as their provider. The magical thing that happens when you pair reviews with search engine optimization and do it with an agency that has your best interest in mind, your business will start growing because you’re being seen more often by your target market. Your reputation and your strategy revolving around this fact about human behavior will help you reach your ideal client because they’ll be contacting YOU instead of having to chase them. Imagine all the time you’ll get back in your life! What’s the price to pay if you ignore it?
Optimizing Your Website for Sales and Ranking
Do you know how to optimize your website to rank highly by Google and other search engines? Are you telling a story for your potential customers as well as the robots scraping your website deciding where you should be ranked? If you’re not optimizing your current content, and adding more content consistently, you know, keeping things FRESH, you’ll become irrelevant.
When you’re irrelevant with a bad reputation, Google pushes you down in search engine ranking results and drives down revenue. Do you know what Search Engine Optimization is and why you need it for your business? If you don’t have both a long term and short term marketing plan for your business, then you may be shooting yourself in the proverbial foot. Don’t wait until you’re stressing about where your next client is coming from.
Your business depends on people being able to find you when they need your services. With a sea of options, what will make you stand out from the crowd? Do you have the data you need to create a marketing plan to generate a consistent flow of paying customers? If what you’re doing now isn’t working, you may need to turn your marketing strategy around.
Review Spam
What's Review Spam and How Does it Affect Your Business?
Google Review Spam
Have you ever seen local guide icons next to people’s names when they’re referenced on google? Well, there’s a reason why, and that’s because Google has decided to give rewards to people for leaving reviews. This helps encourage people to leave reviews for businesses.
Cool, right? People get fast and easy rewards for making fast and easy reviews on their platform. Some of those local guides will go through a list of businesses and rate them. From 5 stars and below. It’s great when you get a random 5-star review, but there comes a problem though…..what happens when your business is hit with a bad review from a review spammer that has never visited your business or has never contracted your services?
The outcome is lowered ratings, and a bad reputation online. Oh no!! How do we fix it? There are multiple ways to address it, but if you don’t manage your business online reputation at all, those spam reviews can damage your reputation online and potentially offline when people you’re networking with see bad reviews about you.
So what do you do?
A. You can leave it alone since you don’t want to rock the google boat (spoiler–not the correct answer)
B. You can address it and report the review
C. If images are allowed, report those as well.
D. Create a system for addressing review spam and requesting new reviews from actual customers.
The correct answer: D
If you don’t know where to start, iFreshly Digital can help you push the bad reviews down, and get new raving reviews from your customers. We can help you address the review spam as well so that Google is more likely to take it down. What are you waiting for?