Key takeaways
- Start from the symptom you feel, such as fewer first visits or deal shoppers who never return, and look for the cause underneath it.
- With THC ads off Google and Meta, most of the diagnosis is about channels you own: profile, menu, loyalty list and follow-up.
- You leave with five ranked moves, each with a measure and a rough date, whether or not you hire us.
- Bring twelve months of new-customer counts and loyalty numbers from your POS. They make the diagnosis specific.
A marketing consultant for a dispensary should work like a good diagnosis: start from the symptom, find the cause, and prescribe the few moves that matter. Our free growth consultation does exactly that. We review your Google profile, website and menu, loyalty list and follow-up, and you leave with your five highest-impact next moves, whether or not you hire us.
What a growth consultation covers
It covers every step between a customer's first search and their third visit, because that is where a dispensary grows or stalls. Most owners arrive with a symptom. The job is to find the layer underneath it.
| What you notice | What we check | A common hidden cause |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer first-time customers than last year | Where you appear on the map for "dispensary near me" from the streets around you | A newer store with fresher reviews and photos, or holiday hours that never reached your profile |
| Deal shoppers who never come back | What happens at checkout on a first visit | First-time buyers leave without joining loyalty, so nobody can invite them back |
| Menu traffic but few pre-orders | How the online menu syncs with your POS, and the pre-order flow on a phone | Items listed in stock that sold out hours ago, or no "ready for pickup" message |
| A ringing phone during the rush | Missed calls by hour, and what callers ask | Hours, parking and payment questions going unanswered while budtenders serve the line |
| Placement fees on menu platforms | New customers by source in your POS | No source is captured, so nobody knows what a placement is worth |
Paid ads take up little of the hour. Google and Meta both refuse ads that promote THC products (Google's policy, Meta's policy), so the diagnosis concentrates on what you own. If anyone has pitched you a way around those policies, we will explain plainly why it puts your accounts at risk.
What happens in the session
- Confirm your goal For example revenue growth or new locations
- Review what you run now Google profile, website, ads and follow-up, live
- Your five next moves In order, with rough timelines
- Decide what happens next If we are a fit we say so. If not, you keep the plan.
What you leave with
You leave with five moves, ranked by impact, each with a measure and a rough date. Specifically:
- The five moves in order, and why each one sits where it does.
- What each move needs: your staff's time, a vendor, or budget.
- What to measure for each: first-time customers, loyalty sign-ups, pre-orders picked up or repeat visits.
- What to stop, if something is costing money without bringing customers in.
A sample list for a single-store dispensary, shown to illustrate the format, not as a promise for yours:
- Sync the online menu with the POS often enough that sold-out items disappear before anyone drives over.
- Enroll every first-time customer in loyalty at the counter, with consent recorded.
- Put 4/20 hours on the Google profile and every menu platform weeks ahead.
- Publish a first-visit page that covers ID, payment and parking.
- Send a win-back message to regulars who stopped coming in.
The plan is yours to keep. Owners who want to run it in-house often start with the comparison of hiring, agencies and doing it yourself.
Who runs it
The diagnosis is led by Trevor Shirk, who founded VETS Growth Marketing, rather than a sales rep working from a script. He is a U.S. Army veteran and former Ranger-qualified engineer officer, with more than ten years in digital marketing and business strategy.
What that means for you is one person reading the whole path, from the map to the counter to the loyalty list, instead of a specialist who only sees their own channel. What your state's cannabis rules allow in an ad, a text or a promotion is a question for your compliance lead or attorney. We will flag where it matters and leave the legal call to them.
How to prepare
- Pull first-time customers by month. Twelve months from your dispensary POS shows your real 4/20, holiday and product-drop peaks.
- Pull the return rate. Of last quarter's first-time customers, how many came back within a month or two? Your loyalty platform may report it directly.
- Export loyalty and consent counts. Active members, how many joined on their first visit, and how many have agreed to email or texts.
- List what you pay for visibility. Menu and directory placements, sponsored listings and print, each with its monthly cost.
- Share read access where you can. Viewer access to Search Console and analytics is enough for the review. For the Google Business Profile, screenshots of the performance page and the edit history work if you'd rather not add anyone yet.
- Write down one sentence. The thing that would change the business most if it were fixed next month.
How VETS Growth Marketing helps
If you want us to carry out the plan, we scope each move as a project with an outcome and a date, run it in accounts that stay in your name, and report in first-time customers, repeat visits and cost per new customer. If you would rather run it yourself, you still keep the plan. The dispensary marketing overview shows how the channels fit together. Book a growth consultation, bring twelve months of first-time customer counts, and we will start from the month that worried you most.
Sources
- Dangerous products or services policy, Google Advertising Policies Help
- Advertising Standards: Drugs and pharmaceuticals, Meta Transparency Center
- Tips to improve your local ranking on Google, Google Business Profile Help