December is the prime selling season for Canadian cannabis retailers. While holiday shopping peaks in late December, cannabis advertising faces strict compliance rules that non-regulated retailers do not. This guide shows you how to navigate those restrictions and launch compliant holiday marketing campaigns that boost sales.
Compliant cannabis retailers use three proven tactics to capture holiday sales. First, deploy in-store promotions and online ecommerce platforms for cannabis sales, which have measurable ROI and comply with Canadian regulations. Second, use cloud-based inventory systems and programmatic advertising to target age-verified customers. Third, plan a 30-day integrated marketing campaign starting before peak shopping days in mid-December.
Cannabis retailers can boost seasonal sales by integrating compliance, inventory management, customer data, and multi-channel marketing into a single planning framework.
Cannabis Advertising Rules in Canada
Cannabis retail compliance built for dispensaries starts with understanding five core restrictions. Canadian advertising law imposes five core restrictions on cannabis marketing:
- No details about price or distribution
- No promotion that could be appealing to young persons
- No testimonials or endorsements
- No real or fictional representations of people, characters, or animals — that means no Santa, elves, or reindeer!
- No lifestyle marketing
Cannabis retailers may use exceptions for informational, point-of-sale, and brand-preference promotions if they meet these conditions:
- Promotions are addressed and sent to an individual who is 18 years of age or older and identified by name
- Promotions are available in a place where people under the age of 18 are not permitted by law
- Promotions are delivered through telecommunication (text, online, email, etc.) so long as reasonable steps have been taken to prevent access by a young person.
Four Compliant Holiday Marketing Tactics for Cannabis Retailers
Feature Special Edition Holiday Product Launches
Do a little research into the brands you carry. Chances are they are all launching some specialized cannabis products with a Christmas flare. Whether that’s gift boxes, 12 Days of Christmas sets, or just updated packaging, these are must-haves for your holiday shoppers.
For example, one of the big-ticket items that took off last year was advent calendars. Quite a few of Canada’s cannabis brands launched holiday-themed advent calendars that consumers gobbled up.
Successful Holiday Product Examples
Other hot ticket holiday-themed cannabis launches in 2021 included 12 Joints of Christmas by Citizen Stash and Candy Cane Redees by Redican.
Once you’ve placed your pre-holiday orders, show this inventory off! Ensure these limited-time-only items are loudly and prominently displayed around your store. Think in high-traffic areas, at the till, and on product inventory tagging system for dispensaries.
Target Age-Verified Customers with Programmatic Advertising
Online advertising is one of the few areas where Canadian cannabis retailers can shine and shine compliantly. And the best way to get your name in front of the most people is through programmatic marketing technology.
As per Adjust, “Programmatic advertising is the use of automated technology for media buying, as opposed to traditional (often manual) methods of digital advertising. Programmatic media buying utilizes data insights and algorithms to serve ads to the right user at the right time, and at the right price.”
Programmatic Compliance for Cannabis Retailers
As a cannabis company, you can employ compliant programmatic marketing to ensure that their ads appear only on websites open to cannabis content and only to users over the legal age. You can even go further with this technology to target users based on their age, gender, salary, and other available datasets.
There is no better way to get your brand and products in front of hundreds of thousands of people at the click of a button — all while ensuring your Christmas campaign stays compliant.
Update Inventory Displays with Digital Signage
Digital signage saves costs by eliminating yearly printed display purchases and allows weekly or daily updates with new holiday promotions.
Digital signage allows retailers to update Christmas promotions and graphics weekly or daily, keeping displays current with seasonal inventory. Rotating digital content boosts customer engagement more effectively than static printed signage.
Digital Signage Boosts Retail Sales
And digital signs actually help your customers. According to one assessment, “90% of buyers find videos played on a screen helpful in making their purchase decisions.” And after installing digital signs, 80 percent of stores reported a 33 percent increase in sales.
Worried about keeping it up to date? TechPOS’s cloud digital signage solutions for retail integrates into your inventory system. Meaning it’s always up to date with what you have in stock and that latest holiday drop. At the click of a button, any inventory changes or price adjustments are automatically updated across all systems — including your digital displays.
Segment Email Lists by Customer Demographics
Cannabis retailers who collect customer emails at the point of sale can launch targeted email marketing campaigns during the holiday season. Email addresses are valuable assets for direct-to-consumer outreach, especially during peak December sales.
Email marketing generates measurable ROI: 72% of consumers prefer promotional emails to other channels. For cannabis retailers, email is a customer analytics tools for cannabis retailers that regulatory compliance permits.
Timing Email Campaigns for Peak Sales
Strategic segmentation improves email campaign ROI. Cannabis retailers should segment customer lists by age, gender, purchase history, and other available data to determine which products appeal to each demographic group.
Product recommendations differ by demographic: female millennials and older male customers respond to different cannabis product categories, price points, and messaging.
Timing drives holiday sales performance. The week before Christmas sees peak cannabis purchasing: Cannabis Business Times data from Headset and Leaflink showed a 26 percent sales increase in that final week compared to earlier December.
Email campaigns should intensify one week before Christmas, highlighting last-minute gift products for personal use and workplace gifting occasions.
Optimize cannabis retail hardware and systems by monitoring open rates, click-through rates, and follow-up engagement metrics throughout the holiday season.
Email marketing delivers measurable ROI: retailers report 3800% return on investment, making email data valuable for optimizing other promotional channels.
Build Your Holiday Marketing Strategy Now
Holiday marketing planning must begin before November to ensure campaigns launch in early December. Tools like Klaviyo and integrated inventory and display management enable retailers to execute coordinated campaigns across email, in-store displays, and online channels with minimal manual effort.
Our complete cannabis POS systems for dispensaries helps you plan ahead, capture customer attention while in store, and stay in touch with them throughout the holiday season.
We offer an omnichannel user experience that combines essential retail hardware with smart integrations to help you increase sales and take advantage of the latest innovations. Want to find out more? Schedule a demo today.