# Dispensary marketing plan

<span class="byline">by John Morabito · April 19, 2026 · 13 min read</span>

**TL;DR**
- Cannabis marketing is heavily regulated. NY OCM: no paid Meta/Google ads, strict age-gate, no health claims.
- Channel mix: SEO, Weedmaps, Leafly, email/SMS, organic social, delivery apps. Paid is narrow.
- Dutchie and Jane menus load via JavaScript. LLMs cannot read them. Most dispensary menus are invisible to AI search.
- First-party data (email + SMS) is the most durable asset.
- Winston runs the playbook with `tiktok-refresh`, `aeo-content-auditor`, automated local SEO.

## The reality of cannabis restrictions

- Meta: bans cannabis ads.
- Google: bans Search, Display, YouTube, LSA.
- TikTok: bans paid, aggressive on organic.
- X: limited organic, no paid.
- Programmatic (Fyllo, Mantis, Traffic Roots): allowed with geofence.

NY OCM layers: no health claims, age verification, no minor-appeal imagery.

## Channel mix (single location)

1. Local SEO + GBP (20-25%)
2. Weedmaps + Leafly (15-25%)
3. Email + SMS (10-15%)
4. Organic social (15-20%)
5. SEO content (10-15%)
6. Events (10-15%)
7. Programmatic display (5-10%)

## Local SEO + GBP

Category: Cannabis store. Services menu: flower, edibles, concentrates, pre-rolls, tinctures, topicals. 200+ photos. Weekly posts. 15-30 new reviews/month. Attributes filled.

## Menu SEO and JS-invisibility

Dutchie and Jane: JS-rendered. LLMs cannot read.

Fix:
1. SSR where platform allows.
2. Nightly static HTML shadow on your domain.
3. Product schema per item.
4. Strain and product landing pages.

Dispensaries that solved this show up in AI answers for "dispensaries with [strain] near me." Others are invisible.

## Weedmaps and Leafly

Full menu sync every 15 min. Store/staff/product photos. Detailed descriptions with terpenes. Review response in 48 hrs. Strategic deals during slow periods.

## First-party data

SMS and email at checkout with TCPA consent. Welcome flow, behavioral segmentation, monthly drop, reactivation at 30/60/90, birthday, loyalty. Mature programs drive 20-40% of monthly revenue.

## Events and community

Local partnerships, education nights, artist collaborations, sponsorships. Generate photos, list growth, press, word-of-mouth.

## Winston dispensary playbook

- Menu SEO + schema: agentic workflow with nightly static mirror. Nightly.
- GBP posting + Q&A: Claude + GBP API + compliance filter. Weekly.
- AI citation gaps: `aeo-content-auditor`. Monthly.
- Old TikTok/Reels refresh: `tiktok-refresh`. Monthly.
- Email + SMS: Klaviyo/Attentive + Claude copy. Weekly.
- Strain and education content: `winston-geo-article` with compliance filter. 2-4/month.
- Weedmaps/Leafly sync: platform APIs. Real-time.

Agentic layer compresses 4-5 person team into single-operator engagement.