March 3, 2022
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Chris Cohen, president of Square Grouper 360, leverages his television and cannabis industry experience to provide strategic consulting services for large mainstream media companies to help them streamline advertising sales for the cannabis and hemp industries.
Cannabiz Media recently spoke with Chris to learn about the hurdles of advertising in the cannabis industry as well as how he uses the Cannabis Market Intelligence Platform to support sales and business development initiatives for MNI Targeted Media (a division of Dotdash Meredith), a company that provides targeted media planning and buying services for a variety of industries, including cannabis and hemp.
Chris works with MNI Targeted Media to help them navigate the cannabis industry and get the word out about the services they provide. “The first thing I did when I started working with MNI was bring in Cannabiz Media,” says Chris. “I’ve known about the Cannabis Market Intelligence Platform since it started – I’ve been in the industry for a while. I knew exactly what the Cannabis Market Intelligence Platform could do.”
MNI was still very new to the cannabis industry when Chris started working with their team. He shares, “They couldn’t tell you where companies were headquartered, which sales reps to assign what accounts – they have 25 account executives across the country. MNI subscribed to the Cannabis Market Intelligence Platform, and I started putting lists together for every account executive across the country.”
Chris understood that MNI’s clients typically spend $10,000 a month or more on advertising, so finding the right cannabis companies was very important. “They were calling on those small cannabis companies and getting nowhere because the buy-in is so large,” explains Chris. “I took the Cannabis Market Intelligence Platform, figured out how many states a lot of the target audience for MNI’s services were, and I was able to put account lists together for the sales reps.”
For Chris, being able to find exactly who your target audience is and segment them into niche groups is just one of the things that makes MNI’s subscription to the Cannabis Market Intelligence Platform so important. He explains, “The way I did it, I really separated everything out. A company with multiple locations anywhere in the country is a definite target for MNI. Brands are a big target right now – especially brands going direct to consumers online. They need traffic to their websites, and that’s what MNI does the best.”
Once audiences are identified and segmented using the Cannabis Market Intelligence Platform, Chris finds the right people within each company for MNI’s sales reps to connect with. “We want to talk with the top people in each company because they’re not leaving,” he says. “We don’t want to spend a lot of time with buyers who leave after three or four months and you have to start all over. Getting above that level is really important, and we can do it using the Cannabis Market Intelligence Platform.”
In addition to phone outreach to the right people, Chris helps MNI Targeted Media use the Cannabis Market Intelligence Platform to send email marketing campaigns. “We use the Cannabiz Media platform exclusively for email marketing,” Chris shares. “We’re sending more personalized emails. Showing that you actually looked at the company’s website and know a little bit about the company’s business before reaching out makes a huge difference. We’re also concentrating on doing one-to-one outreach instead of just sending email blasts to thousands of people. It’s really working to get appointments for the sales reps.”
Chris will continue working with MNI Targeted Media to build their business in the cannabis industry. He says, “MNI isn’t a legacy operator. They’ve been in the cannabis industry for a couple of years. They’re prepared, but it’s really about continuing to establish relationships and long-term partnerships.”
In addition to growing within the cannabis industry, Chris will help MNI as the company looks to enter the hemp industry. “We actually made a pivot at the end of 2021, and we’re really going to take a look at the CBD category,” shares Chris. “We’ve been using the Cannabis Market Intelligence Platform to reach out to CBD companies. We’re looking at all the retailers and brands. Anybody who has a website selling online is a target of ours.”
For more information about Square Grouper 360 and MNI Targeted Media and to hear additional insights from Chris, follow the link and listen to Cannabiz Media’s recent Cannacurio podcast episode featuring Chris as the special guest.
To learn more about how subscribing to the Cannabis Market Intelligence Platform can help your business like it helps Square Grouper 360 and MNI Targeted Media, follow the link and schedule a free demo.
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