Overview

Social media really can make or break a brand. For The High Rise Co, the power of YouTube lead to a company with an insanely widespread consumer base.

Owner of the 420 media platform and cannabis lifestyle brand Erin Coffey, a native Californian and skateboarder, shared his journey into this business, along with his top marketing tips for a growing brand that you won’t want to miss out on.

Click play to listen above. Scroll down for a deep dive into show notes.

About this Episode:

The High Rise started six years ago when Erin saw a couple of his friends creating their own T-shirt brand and decided he wanted to follow suit. Now, High Rise TV, which was born out of the cannabis lifestyle clothing brand, has more than 170,000 subscribers and the videos are viewed by as many as 50,000 people.

“I saw a lot of other brands doing it, but they were doing it very in your face, pot leaves everywhere, and smoke weed and stoner and kinda crazy. So I kinda wanted to take the approach to, you know, let’s make the stoner stuff, but let’s also make the subtle stuff that other people can wear,” Erin told Brandboom’s Amy Zhou on the podcast.

And for an industry that is rapidly expanding (North American marijuana sales are projected to top $20.2 billion by 2021), Coffey not only built a brand that consumers love, but he also utilized social media to build a fan base along with his market.

“The first couple of years was a lot of YouTube, a lot of Facebook. And then as Instagram rolled around, we got on Instagram.

"Fast-forward to today, and I would say about a year ago, we really started messing with the paid advertising as far as doing Instagram paid ads and Facebook paid ads. And I literally just went 100% into that for about six to eight months. I’ve really, really been able to dial that in pretty crazy.

"I would say 90% of my marketing budget and focus is on paid Instagram advertising,” Erin said.

So what does Erin say when it comes to tips for new brands? Here are his top five secret sauce strategies for new and developing brands to try…. NOW.

Have a niche.

“With the Facebook targeting, they make it so easy and so dialed in for you. You can target literally down to the T. So, you know, if you own a golf company, you could target golfers. If you own a basketball company, you can target Kobe Bryant’s fans or whatever it may be. So with us, obviously, it’s 420-friendly, so I know exactly where my niche is and I know exactly where my target is.”

Test it all out.‍

“The variables that you want to test are obviously age groups, locations, keywords, landing pages; really all it is is testing. It’s testing, testing, testing until you find what works, and then you just do more of that.”

Pay close attention to imagery.‍

“It really comes down to, you need a captivating image. You need to capture their attention when they’re scrolling and you have that 0.001-second window to capture them to stop on your image. So you want to make sure you have a nice, clean organic image. Maybe it’s a lifestyle image of an influencer wearing your stuff, or maybe it’s a short video.”

Just do it!‍

“The other thing is to just over deliver. Just do it. Go above and beyond because then you’re gonna shine that much brighter than the next guy that’s only doing the bare minimum.”

Embrace the mistakes.‍

“Really learn from your mistakes. Don’t think about things too much. You know, you’re gonna make mistakes. You’re gonna mess up. We all do. It’s just if you can learn from that and improve upon that to not make that happen again or do better the next time. So, kind of common sense, basic information, but really what it comes down to, in my opinion, is just learning from your mistakes and improving constantly.”

The High Rise just signed a new deal with Leafly (aka the yellow pages of marijuana) and produces a podcast titled the “Doobie Talk Podcast.”

As the company continues to expand, brands everywhere can take Erin’s advice to heart and soon they’ll be well on their way to success as well.

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The High Rise Co.: https://thehighriseco.com/

HighRise TV: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheHighRiseCo/

Erin’s Podcast: Doobie Talk Podcast

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