Cannabis Graphic Design Tips

For Your Cannabis Company

Every penny counts for your cannabis business, and that means you need to be extra careful you are getting maximum value from all of your design assets. What can you do to ensure that your graphical elements, whether for your website, your products, your social media, or print marketing, are used effectively and you aren't wasting money that could be spent elsewhere?

One option is to partner with a professional marketing agency that specializes in premium graphic design for the cannabis industry. But if you aren't ready to take the plunge, there are plenty of options for individual services, whether from a free lancer or a full time design company, including logo design, web design, packaging design and other essential elements of your company branding.

Whatever you choose to do, it's important to research all of the possibilities and plan out how your new assets will fit into your overall marketing strategy. Here is an overview of tips for cannabis companies that want to get the most from their graphic design.

Form A Comprehensive Marketing Plan

A common mistake new business owners make is investing in marketing content before they have a clear idea of what their marketing approach will be. They figure they need a logo, so they pay someone to make them one. They decide they have to have a website, and they look for a web designer. Someone approaches them about advertising in their magazine, and it sounds like a good idea, so they make an ad. They know social media is important, so they start posting to Instagram and Facebook. But each of these endeavors is less effective than it could have been because there's no overarching strategy guiding the way.

Before you hire any graphic designer, or even assign someone on your staff to do it for free, you need to have a clear idea of what your marketing goals are and how you intend to brand yourself as a company. If you figure that out, then all of the decisions you make will be in support of these initial goals you have identified. Next, figure out who your audience and potential customers are and the best way to reach them. That will determine what marketing channels make the most sense for your business.

The more thought that goes into your marketing strategy, the more effective it will be in practice.

Create A Style Guide For Your Cannabis Company

One of the best ways to ensure consistency across all of your marketing endeavors is with a professional style guide. By establishing the tone and voice of your brand, it will be easier to work with designers and marketers of all sorts, whether they are in house or outside agencies. When they have questions about how your marketing should look, sound, and feel, just point them to the style guide.

While many business owners avoid investing in a style guide because they believe it's an unnecessary expense, it's actually a great way to save money. It not only avoids costly mistakes and poorly thought out decisions, it also makes the marketing content you create even more effective.

Partner With A Cannabis First Designer

It can be tempting to go with a big name marketing firm, assuming that they know what they are doing. But if they don't have a proven track record with cannabis, then you're going to be the company that watches them make all their mistakes as they figure the industry out. Because of the peculiar regulatory environment and the long history of stigmatization that accompanies cannabis, it's essential that you work with professionals that understand the industry, while also having established their bonafides in other areas.

This ensures you have the best of both worlds with your graphic designer. It will also allow you to avoid the cliches while creating a campaign that's fresh yet reflective of the true state of cannabis.

Create Graphics And Images That Are Usable On A Variety Of Platforms

Especially when you are starting out, versatility is extremely important. You want all of your graphic design assets to be useful in multiple ways. This means the poster you design for an upcoming event should also be appropriate for your website and social media, while the design assets you make for Instagram should be easily adaptable to Facebook and your website and anywhere else you can deploy them.

This is much easier to do when you have an overall game plan you're working from. Knowing what your marketing needs will be in the next 3-6 months allows you to plan out your design budget based around ticking as many of those boxes as possible with each project.

There’s a lot more that goes into great graphic design, but if you come up with a plan, partner with the right design team, and focus on getting the most out of your design project, you’re probably going to be successful.

For more tips and best practices, check out our cannabis blog.

Thanks for reading, and Happy Holidays!