Zach Santarsiero, Chief Marketing Officer and VP of Digital Marketing at CannaPlanners – Interview Series

Given the many restrictions on cannabis marketing and advertising across almost all digital platforms, it’s imperative that cannabis companies leverage search engines and efficient, effective search engine optimization (SEO) strategies to ensure success. One such professional who has built a career helping companies across numerous industries succeed is Zach Santarsiero, Chief Marketing Officer and VP of Digital Marketing at CannaPlanners.

So what subjects and courses did you study while receiving your Bachelor’s in Community Entrepreneurship from the University of Vermont? How did that differ from other subjects of Entrepreneurship, and how did your studies differ as well?

The major difference for me was Service-Learning courses. These were unique to my college (CALS, CDAE) and were very hands-on. I got to meet real business owners from my community, talk about their experiences, and then I got the opportunity to start my own pop-up business on campus. I learn best by doing, so this hands-on approach was huge for me and it’s what initially drew me to the program.

Prior to working for CannaPlanners, what industries did you work in, and what were the most useful lessons in entrepreneurship and team building that you learned then? 

I’ve worked in a lot of different sectors: restaurants, home services, eComm, solar, automotive – and every one of those jobs gave me a clearer view of how different businesses run, top to bottom.

Running a painting business through Collegiate Entrepreneurs was my first real taste of entrepreneurship. Going door to door to schedule estimates, closing deals, managing a crew, and taking risks when nothing’s guaranteed. That experience made the idea of entrepreneurship real for me.

After that, I juggled a few roles: bartending at Switchback and doing digital marketing part-time for SunCommon (solar) and Green State Gardener (e-comm). I was a sponge at these places, learning how startups scale, hire, raise money, and make decisions.

Eventually, I went full-time into SEO at iMarket Solutions – working with plumbers, electricians, and HVAC contractors. It was my first deep dive into performance marketing, and I saw how transferable SEO was across verticals. From there, I moved to Dealer.com to manage SEO for car dealerships. That’s where I leveled up: account management, scheduling, call structure, time blocking, team leadership – the way the managed services department is structured at Dealer.com is really impressive – it’s a brilliant business model.

That’s also where I realized: I could build something. Cannabis was maturing into a real industry. I saw the demand coming, and when I met Will Read at NECANN in May 2018, I pitched him on building out CannaPlanners’ marketing services. That’s where it all started.

When it came to successful marketing for plumbing, HVAC, and automotive companies, how did your duties change throughout those roles depending on the type of business? Did one industry require certain skills to be stronger than others? 

The simple answer is they didn’t change – no, it doesn’t. That’s what’s great about SEO. The same best practices apply no matter what industry or business you are doing the work for. 

Yes – your approach might be different. The keywords you optimize for will be different. The competition & their strategies will be different. The types of people – operators & customers – will be different. But the end goal and tools you use are the same.

When it came to successfully marketing those companies, how vital was optimizing and mastering local search and advertising? What common roadblocks did you hit in trying to market/advertise those businesses? 

It was crucial! Local SEO is a necessity for any locally operated business. Hundreds, maybe thousands of people are looking for products or services that you sell on Google everyday. If your business shows up when people are searching, it’s money in your pocket. 

For Plumbers it’s “Plumber near me”. For HVAC it’s “AC or Heating repair near me”. For car dealers it’s “Audi dealer near me” or “Used cars near me”. For Dispensaries it’s “Dispensary near me”. 

The roadblocks will differ depending on your industry. For example, in Plumbing/HVAC/Automotive – the roadblock is often ad spend. These are non-regulated industries where Maps & search results pages are going to be flooded with Sponsored Listings (Google Ads). So you have to compete with your competitors’ ad budget. In cannabis, the roadblocks are regulations. Google & Meta don’t allow advertising for recreational drugs. These roadblocks are what make us valuable as marketing service experts. We know how to navigate them most efficiently & effectively. 

What caught your professional attention about working with CannaPlanners? What excited you about marketing for the cannabis industry, and did you have any initial concerns? 

When’s the last time a brand new industry opened up in the United States? There is just so much opportunity and I recognized that early on before legalization really began. I knew retail dispensaries would need solid SEO strategies, and I knew how much businesses were willing to spend on these services in other existing industries. The timing was perfect and it seemed like a no-brainer.

From your experience in SEO and digital growth, what are the most common ways/methods that consumers/customers find dispensaries to shop at? 

Google search & maps are still the #1 way that customers find dispensaries online.

Given that CannaPlanners has worked with retailers and dispensaries across the nation, how have you had to customize your strategies based on the state in which the business is located?

Regulations, pricing & age/maturity of markets differ state to state which has a big impact on strategy. So we might have to avoid certain content or phrasing in some states while those things might not exist or just may be different in others. Ferries that travel over the ocean operate in federally regulated waters, which makes cannabis illegal to possess. So advertising to consumers to buy cannabis before getting on a ferry is technically not allowed. That’s just one random anecdote that came to mind – so you have to have these conversations with your clients and know what the do’s and don’t’s are.

The physical location of our client’s retail shop also has a big impact on strategy. For example, rural areas may see customers traveling longer distances and thus less frequently whereas urban areas may see the opposite. The result often is lower customer purchase frequency and higher cart sizes in rural markets vs higher customer purchase frequency and lower cart sizes in urban areas. This naturally has impacts on customer acquisition & retention strategies.

How do you ensure that your clients are digitally successful against Meta and Google’s many policies against cannabis advertising?

We lean into what works – like organic SEO & email/SMS/loyalty campaigns. Google & Meta can shut down your ads & profiles but they can’t take your email list.

What are the most stark differences in successful cannabis marketing versus marketing for other types of businesses? What issues surrounding marketing are unique to cannabis businesses?

In cannabis, you technically can’t run Google Ads or advertise on Meta – even your Instagram could get deleted overnight. That doesn’t typically happen to plumbers or pizza shops. Other industries can brute-force growth with ad spend while cannabis companies have to be more strategic. More organic, more human, more creative. 

What are some exciting future plans with CannaPlanners, and how do you envision the duties of the company changing if cannabis is rescheduled on the federal level?    

Our future plans don’t change all too much in a federally legal market – rescheduling might open up things like new advertising channels, banking options,  direct to consumer online sales, wholesale across state lines  – or it may not – it all depends on lots of factors that are pretty outside of our control. So we’re going to take the same approach we’ve taken from day one – doing what’s best for our client’s growth & success. We will keep doing what’s best for our clients, in whatever market conditions exist. That means prioritizing what works, organic SEO, email/SMS retention, smart web infrastructure, and staying nimble as the landscape shifts.

Thank you for joining us, Zach! For more information on CannaPlanners, please visit its website.