If you want a more profitable dispensary, tighten margins and build compounding demand before you chase the next promo. The 10 steps below focus on the biggest money levers we see across dispensaries and cannabis retailers: local visibility, smarter tooling, higher conversion, and retention that protects your margin.
Use this as a checklist. Better yet, pick 3 steps to tackle this month, then stack the next 3. That’s how you turn “marketing” into a system that pays you back.
Table of Contents
- Build brand pillars you can repeat
- Make dispensary local SEO your daily habit
- Cut tech stack redundancy before you buy more
- Get full value from the tools you already pay for
- Reexamine contracts and margins, especially the boring ones
- Turn on retail media and collect revenue share
- Negotiate your dispensary revenue share
- Be surgical with paid media and attribution
- Audit SG&A with the same seriousness as COGS
- Upgrade conversion and retention before deeper discounts
- A practical 90-day rollout plan
- FAQ
Step 1: Build brand pillars you can repeat
Money lever: Conversion + loyalty
Every dispensary sounds “premium” and “friendly.” That is not a brand. Pick 1–3 brand pillars that feel specific and true, then repeat them everywhere: site copy, menu headers, emails, SMS, and even budtender scripts.
Do this:
- Choose pillars like “clean cannabis,” “best value,” or “community-first.”
- Turn them into default phrases your team can reuse.
Measure: review keywords, repeat customer rate, email click-through rate (CTR)
Watch out for: changing your message every week
Step 2: Make dispensary local SEO your daily habit
Money lever: Compounding demand
Local SEO is the bread and butter for a brick-and-mortar cannabis store. When your Google Business Profile stays sharp and reviews keep coming in, you win the map pack and the first click.
Do this:
- Fix citations (NAP consistency) across key directories.
- Optimize your Google Business Profile: categories, services, photos, FAQs, and weekly posts.
- Train staff to ask for reviews at the right moment, not at checkout chaos.
Measure: calls, direction requests, website clicks from GBP, review velocity
Watch out for: “set it and forget it” listings
Step 3: Cut tech stack redundancy before you buy more
Money lever: Lower overhead
A lot of cannabis retailers pay for overlapping tools. Sometimes a POS integration plus an email/SMS platform covers most “CRM” needs.
Do this:
- List every tool, cost, and what it truly does.
- Identify overlap (campaigns, segments, automations, reporting).
- Cancel what you do not use, then reinvest in what you will.
Measure: software spend as % of revenue, tool adoption rates
Watch out for: paying for “nice-to-have” features no one touches
Step 4: Get full value from the tools you already pay for
Money lever: Retention + AOV
Tools like AIQ, Springbig, Dutchie, Jane, and Klaviyo can drive serious gains when someone actually owns them. If nobody owns them, they sit idle.
Do this (quick wins):
- AIQ/Springbig: turn on abandoned cart, winback, and basic audience segments.
- Dutchie: build and refresh homepage carousels weekly (Staff Picks, Best Value, High Margin, New).
- Dutchie/Jane: enable product recommendations and cart add-ons where available.
- Jane Premium: use “no-code” controls so the menu looks like your brand, not a template.
Measure: repeat purchase rate, revenue per subscriber, AOV
Watch out for: sending the same message to everyone
Step 5: Reexamine contracts and margins, especially the boring ones
Money lever: Immediate profit
Payment solutions, pin debit, and vendor terms quietly eat margin. Many operators do not know their true per-transaction costs, and that is money left on the table.
Do this:
- Pull your last 60–90 days of statements.
- Calculate cost per transaction and effective fees.
- Benchmark alternatives and renegotiate.
Measure: cost per transaction, gross margin after fees
Watch out for: assuming your current deal is “standard”
Step 6: Turn on retail media and collect revenue share
Money lever: New income stream
Dispensary ecommerce menus get traffic. Retail media lets brands pay for sponsored placements, and you earn a cut with minimal effort once it is set up.
Do this:
- Explore sponsored placements through Dutchie or Jane if you use them.
- If you do not, consider alternatives like Surfside style commerce media options.
- Set rules that protect house brands and prevent ugly cannibalization.
Measure: monthly media revenue, category lift, AOV impact
Watch out for: letting ads bury your best-margin products
Step 7: Negotiate your dispensary revenue share
Money lever: More profit from the same ads
Many dispensaries accept whatever check arrives. You should negotiate because it is your digital shelf space.
Do this:
- Ask for terms in writing and compare options.
- Push for a fair split. As a baseline, 50% revenue share is a reasonable place to start the conversation.
Measure: effective rev share %, payout consistency
Watch out for: treating media income as “bonus” instead of strategy
Step 8: Be surgical with paid media and attribution
Money lever: Cleaner acquisition, less waste
Paid media can work for a dispensary, but only if you avoid the classic trap: paying to “acquire” shoppers who already buy from you.
Do this:
- Exclude existing customers from acquisition campaigns where possible.
- Favor channels with clearer intent signals (search, retargeting with tight rules).
- For CRM reporting, shorten attribution windows and focus on direct click-to-purchase behavior.
Measure: new customers, blended CAC, store traffic trends, incrementality tests when possible
Watch out for: crediting ads for sales that would have happened anyway
Step 9: Audit SG&A with the same seriousness as COGS
Money lever: Sustainable profitability
Retail labor impacts throughput and experience, so protect it. But corporate SG&A often grows around work that never ties back to revenue or margin.
Do this:
- Map every non-retail role to a business outcome and a scorecard.
- Separate “important” from “urgent.”
- Outsource specialists when it costs less than full-time headcount plus taxes and benefits.
Measure: SG&A % of revenue, cost per initiative, time-to-impact
Watch out for: busywork that never gets measured
Step 10: Upgrade conversion and retention before deeper discounts
Money lever: More profit without more ad spend
Discount addiction trains shoppers to wait. Strong merchandising and loyalty economics let you drive repeat purchases while protecting margin.
Do this:
- Menu merchandising: rotate featured collections weekly (New Drops, Staff Picks, Best Value, High Margin).
- Loyalty strategy: use points, multipliers, and VIP perks instead of blanket deals.
- Found money flows: run abandoned cart and winback automations (often triggered within hours when configured properly).
- Refer-a-friend: turn loyal customers into acquisition.
Measure: repeat rate, gross margin after promos, AOV, cart completion rate
Watch out for: repeating the same promo calendar with no learning loop
A practical 90-day rollout plan
Weeks 1–2: Fast savings and foundations
- Brand pillars + staff scripting
- Google Business Profile + citations + review habit
- Tech stack audit and contract benchmarking
Weeks 3–6: Conversion and retention wins
- Segments, abandoned cart, winback
- Menu merchandising refresh (carousels, recommendations, cart add-ons)
- Review system training for the floor team
Weeks 7–12: Scale what works
- Retail media setup + negotiated rev share
- Paid media exclusions + tighter measurement
- Quarterly SG&A review tied to outcomes
FAQ
What are the top 3 steps to start with if I’m overwhelmed?
Start with the moves that create the fastest “profit stack”: (1) Local SEO + reviews, (2) contract/fee benchmarking, and (3) abandoned cart + winback automations. Together, they drive more inbound demand, reduce silent margin leaks, and recover revenue you already earned.
How do I know if my marketing is actually driving incremental sales?
Treat attribution like a clue, not the truth. Exclude existing customers from acquisition campaigns when possible, tighten CRM attribution windows, and compare results to a baseline. If sales hold steady when you pause a channel, it probably wasn’t incremental.
What metrics should I track weekly to manage profitability?
Track a simple weekly scorecard: Google Business Profile actions (calls/directions), review velocity, repeat purchase rate, AOV, cart completion rate, gross margin after promos, and software spend as a % of revenue. If a tactic doesn’t move one of these, it’s probably noise.
How do I improve retention without relying on deeper discounts?
Use loyalty as a lever, not a giveaway. Push points multipliers, VIP perks, and targeted boosts for strategic categories instead of blanket markdowns. Then support it with winback messaging so lapsed shoppers return without a “race to the bottom.”
What’s the fastest way to increase conversion on my ecommerce menu?
Upgrade merchandising before you buy more ads. Rotate weekly collections (Best Value, Staff Picks, High Margin, New Drops), add recommendations/cart add-ons, and make sure your menu feels like your brand. Small changes here can lift conversion and AOV quickly.
Want Heady to pressure-test your plan?
If you want a second set of eyes, Heady can benchmark your local SEO, tech stack, menu merchandising, CRM automations, and revenue share terms, then build a 90-day plan based on your actual numbers. Contact us today!