7 Lessons I Learned Building a Course for Dispensary Marketers

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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 process—auditing competitors, mapping shopper behavior, and identifying brand gaps they can own.

But here’s what I learned along the way:

1. Structure matters​
   A clear 10-step framework made it easier to teach, and easier for retailers to implement.
2. Real-world > theory​
   People don’t want an abstract brand strategy. They want to know what to fix when customers are choosing the shop down the street or skipping them altogether.
3. Everyone’s guessing​
   Most teams haven’t done a competitive audit. They don’t know what their market looks like, what their customers expect, or why someone leaves for a competitor.​
4. Retail teams are busy​
   The course had to be tight, actionable, and something a manager could complete in under a day.​
5. Positioning isn’t about slogans​
   It’s about understanding what drives repeat business —and building systems that support it.​
6. Market research is underused​
   Competitive analysis feels overwhelming. I broke it down into steps teams can actually complete without hiring a consultant.
7. “Retention” doesn’t mean points​
   A loyalty program is just a tool. What matters is the system behind it —and whether it aligns with your brand and goals.

If you’re building (or fixing) a dispensary retention strategy, this course was made to help. Reach out for access.