The regulated industry has been growing rapidly lately and is projected to grow even more in the years to come. While this means that there is a higher demand for regulated products, it also means that the competition is tighter.

In addition to the ever-changing regulations surrounding these products in every state and country, differentiating yourself from the competition while ensuring you gain profit is another challenge for many dispensaries and brands.

Two ways to address these challenges are to implement direct-to-customer (DTC) marketing and to use collectible products at your dispensary.

What Is DTC Marketing and Selling?

As the term implies, DTC marketing (direct-to-customer marketing) is a type of business model in which a brand or businessperson directly markets and sells its products to its target consumers. 

This means the brand bypasses middlemen, third-party retailers, and wholesalers, which translates to more revenue for the seller.

What Are the Benefits of DTC Marketing and Selling?

DTC marketing and selling have both strengths and weaknesses. However, with the right strategy and the right tools like Alpine IQ Brands, you can seamlessly reap the benefits of DTC marketing:

1. Lower costs and higher revenues

The most obvious advantage of selling directly to customers is the financial benefits. As we mentioned earlier, since there are no middlemen in the transaction, the costs are lower and your revenues will be higher.

This also means that brands can sell more affordable products to their customers without compromising the quality.

2. More control over the quality and the customer experience

Directly selling to your customers also means more freedom in defining the customer experience, from how you market your products to customer acquisition, the checkout process, and the post-sale customer service, to name a few.

3. More personalized approach to your customers

With the right tools, you can gain insight into your customers’ behaviors and preferences, at the very least. This means you can make more targeted and personalized strategies for your brand.

Being able to communicate directly with your customers also adds a human touch to each interaction, whether online or in person.

How Can Alpine IQ Brands Help You with Your Loyalty Program?

As we mentioned before, directly selling to your customers can be challenging if you’re starting out with your regulated industry business without the proper tools. 

The most challenging part is that it can be difficult to gain traction independently without the help of a third-party platform. Aside from customer acquisition, a solid customer retention program is also essential to fuel your DTC strategy.

Luckily, Alpine IQ, the leading provider of AI-powered marketing technology for dispensaries, recently launched Alpine IQ Brands. This product suite is a frictionless bridge, empowering regulated industry brands and their respective retail partners to achieve shared objectives. 

With the Brands Platform, you can reap the benefits of DTC marketing through our collectible products and loyalty program features — and much more:

1. Custom product QR codes

With Alpine IQ Brands, every product in your catalog can become an interactive collectible. How does this work?

• You generate a custom QR code for each of your products through our QR generator
• Each time your customer makes a purchase, they can earn loyalty points
• Each point earned from your collectible products can then be converted to rewards

Collectible products can be in any form and are effective ways to build brand awareness and loyalty. Some of the most common forms of collectible products are the following, but they can be as customized as you wish to fit your unique brand and goals:

• store merchandise
• shop incentives
• discounts
• gift cards

2. Loyalty points

Some products are rare and more challenging to locate, especially in niche businesses. Product rarity can be a good motivating factor for customers to stay loyal to your brand.

Rewarding your customers with loyalty points when they purchase these products gives them an incentive to keep coming back for more. 

3. Retailer gift cards

On a related point, motivate your customers even more by converting their loyalty points into rewards. As we mentioned, rewards can take any form, as long as they’re valuable to your target market.

If you have partner retailers, Alpine IQ Brands can also enable you to convert points into retailer gift cards, incentivizing them for continued patronage.

Amp Up Your DTC Marketing with Alpine IQ Brands

Collectible products are just one of the many features included in the Alpine IQ Brands Platform, but they are easily one of the most beneficial. Brand awareness and customer loyalty are two of the biggest factors in defining a brand’s longevity, and with Alpine IQ Brands, you can seamlessly achieve this.

Through our robust platform, we can collaborate to create compelling content that facilitates brand presence and customer loyalty and leverage AI-powered analytics to make more informed decisions about your strategy.
If you want to learn more about how Alpine IQ Brands can improve your dispensary business, contact us now for a free demo!