From Q4 2019 to Q1 2020, online conversations around cannabis tinctures grew 54%. Though the category still has a small share of social conversations around cannabis (only 5.7%), this growth indicates potential for brands to interact with consumers newly getting into (or getting vocal about) tinctures.
To start, what do consumers have to say about tinctures? Over a quarter of social media conversations around cannabis tinctures are about medical topics, and two of the most popular hashtags for tinctures are #cannabiscures and #mmjpatient. This is consistent with our cannabis consumer data, where tincture users are 25% more likely to be a medical patient than the average cannabis user. Additionally, tinctures are often one of the first cannabis formats available in medical markets, making it a typical entry point to for medical users.
The growth in conversations around tinctures, however, was not fueled by posts about medicinal use: from Q4 to Q1, the topic of intimacy grew over 500% and the topic of sleep grew 200%. The growth in topics around intimacy could likely be due to Valentine’s Day falling in Q1, but this large increase could be indicative of consumers expanding uses of cannabis products to meet both physical and emotional need states.
Using Social Data on Tinctures to Drive Customer Engagement
Knowing the conversations consumers are having about their products allows brands to meaningfully engage online. For example, tincture brands can add value to their online presence by crafting content relevant what consumers are talking about: with a spike in conversations about sleep, a tincture brand could create content on nighttime drink recipes to make with their product. Brands can meet consumers where they are instead of attempting to forge a new topic to capture interest.
One of the fastest growing new tincture launches in Q1 was a Purple Punch Indica tincture from the brand Chemistry. While this tincture isn’t specifically promoted for sleep, one of the promises it makes is, “no gnarly hangovers […], just a sound night’s sleep.” With the topic of sleep growing last quarter, this brand is well positioned to market its new tincture to consumers already talking on social media about how they use tincture to get to sleep.
From the topics on consumers’ minds, to the products getting the most social attention, social listening can be indicative of how a product meets consumer needs, thus allowing brands to find where their products really fit within the ever-growing cannabis market.
Last Updated: 5/19/20
