Studio Vault Monthly

HighDef Studio March 23rd, 2026 We are 30 days out from 4/20 ↓ That’s enough time to do real work. It’s not enough time to overhaul your loyalty program, rebuild your customer segments from scratch, or fix six months of neglected marketing in one push. But it is enough time to do the things that will actually move the needle on the holiday — if you start this week. Here’s what’s realistic. Wake up your lapsed customers now. Anyone who hasn’t bought in 60 to 90 days is worth a “we miss you”...

HighDef Studio February 23rd, 2026 4/20 is coming fast ↓ Last month I sent a checklist on how to make 4/20 pay off after the rush. This month is the part nobody wants to talk about. The biggest day of the year generates a ton of sales. It also generates a ton of customer data that most teams never actually use. Here’s the question worth sitting with before April gets here: If 4/20 is bigger than last year, will you be able to tell why and build on it? A busy register is easy to see. What’s...

HighDef Studio January 26th, 2026 4/20 is coming. Here's how to make it pay off after April 20th. ↓ 4/20 is always closer than we think. You are already juggling promos, inventory, staffing, and vendors, so I’ll keep this short and focused on one thing: How to make 4/20 pay off after April 20th. Here are five simple ways to turn 4/20 from a one-day discount event into something that actually supports your loyalty program and repeat visits. 1. Decide how you’re splitting 4/20 between new and...

HighDef Studio November 19th, 2025 As the holidays draw closer and marketing messaging gets more and more intense and multi-platform, I’ve been thinking a lot about omnichannel marketing and how that comes into play in the cannabis industry. ↓ Here’s what’s been on my mind: When it comes to real omnichannel marketing, you’ve got SMS, email, push notifications / app, in-store, social media, maybe even paid ads. That’s great. But resizing your email creative and slapping it into an SMS is NOT a...

HighDef Studio October 26th, 2025 A little while ago, I ran a poll on LinkedIn asking what you see as the biggest problem with dispensary loyalty programs. ↓ The top responses might surprise you. (They sure surprised me!) 49% said the rewards aren’t worth it 23% said staff don’t promote the program 20% said the tracking isn’t there 9% said structure is the issue Nearly half of you said that the rewards leave much to be desired. Rewards are often set up without strategy. Points per dollar...

HighDef Studio September 29th, 2025 Almost spooky season (and I have ideas 👻) ↓ It’s almost spooky season! Living in Arizona, I don’t really get into the fall vibes THAT much, what with the hot weather all year round and all here in AZ, but it’s my favourite holiday outside of Thanksgiving.. I’ve been working in cannabis marketing and retail for almost a decade. In that time, I’ve seen plenty of campaigns pop and flop. I’ve had time to see what works and what doesn’t, and also had plenty of...

HighDef Studio September 15th, 2025 Before You Fix Loyalty, Check Your Positioning ↓ In my first newsletter to you, I mentioned how I thought that market research was underused. If your loyalty program isn’t performing, it’s usually not about the platform or the points. The real problem often shows up much earlier, at what’s commonly known as the positioning level. A lot of dispensaries skip market research because they assume it's either too complex or not worth the time. But without it,...

HighDef Studio August 25th, 2025 7 Lessons I Learned Building a Course for Dispensary Marketers ↓ Creating my new course, “Clarify Your Dispensary’s Market Position in 10 Steps,” taught me more than I expected. I built it because most dispensary marketers don’t actually know who they’re competing against. They look at proximity, not patterns. They guess what makes them different, instead of studying what customers actually respond to. This course walks teams through a real market research...