Increase Your Dispensary's Cannabis Email Open Rates & CTR
Cannabis Email Marketing
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2025-03-27
In this article:
Think your dispensary emails are performing well? Most cannabis retailers we work with are surprised to learn they're leaving 30-40% of potential revenue on the table through underperforming email campaigns.
Despite restrictions on cannabis advertising, email marketing remains one of the few direct channels you control completely, making your open and click rates genuine business drivers.
Understanding email performance can seem technical and time-consuming for dispensary owners. However, simple tweaks can transform a struggling email program into a consistent revenue generator.
Let's cut through the jargon and focus on what matters: getting more eyes on your emails and more clicks to your offers.
The average email open rate across all industries hovers around 21.5%, but cannabis businesses operate in a different reality with an industry average of 16.1% according to OmniSend. Due to industry-specific challenges like increased spam filtering and platform restrictions, cannabis email marketing typically sees lower benchmarks.
For cannabis dispensaries, a reasonable open rate typically falls between:
15-18%: Acceptable performance
18-25%: Strong performance
25%+: Exceptional performance
Remember that these numbers vary based on list quality, audience engagement, and sending frequency. A smaller, highly engaged list will almost always outperform a larger but less segmented one.
Your open rate serves as an immediate health check for your cannabis email marketing strategy.
Low open rates often indicate:
Your subject lines aren't compelling enough
Your sending frequency is too high (fatigue) or too low (forgetting)
Your list contains inactive subscribers or incorrect email addresses
Deliverability issues are sending your emails to spam folders
Your sender name or from address lacks recognition
High open rates suggest your audience finds value in your communications and anticipates your messages. This engagement creates a positive feedback loop with email providers, improving future deliverability.
Your subject line is the storefront window of your email—it either draws people in or turns them away. For cannabis dispensaries, effective subject lines:
Create urgency without appearing spammy ("Today Only: Member Special" vs. "ACT NOW!!!")
Avoid trigger words that might flag spam filters ("free," "sample," "cannabis," "weed")
Personalize when possible with the subscriber's name or preferences
Keep the length between 40 and 60 characters for optimal display
Learn more about writing effective subject lines in our guide to writing email subject lines customers want to open.
Timing matters significantly in email marketing. Our data shows cannabis emails typically perform best:
For Weekends, we usually see mid-morning (10 am-11 am) perform well while people are out and about
For Weekdays, we usually see early evening (6 pm-8 pm), a time when many customers may be on their way home from work
Within 14 to 21 days of a customer's last purchase
Test different send times with your specific audience to find your optimal window.
Generic batch-and-blast emails consistently underperform compared to targeted messages. Segment your list based on:
Purchase history (flower buyers vs. edible enthusiasts)
Purchase frequency (weekly visitors vs. occasional shoppers)
Engagement level (active vs. at-risk of churn)
Local events or promotions (for multi-location dispensaries)
List hygiene directly impacts deliverability and, consequently, open rates. Implement a quarterly cleanup process to:
Remove hard bounces immediately
Reengagement campaign for subscribers who haven't opened in 3+ months
Remove chronic non-openers (6+ months of inactivity)
Even the best subject line won't matter if your email lands in spam. Enhance your email deliverability by:
Using a reputable ESP with cannabis-friendly policies
Setting up proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
Warming up new sending domains gradually
Avoiding URL shorteners and excessive links
Balancing text and image ratio
While open rates measure initial engagement, click-through rates (CTRs) reveal how compelling your content is. For cannabis dispensaries:
1.5-2%: Minimum acceptable performance
2-3.5%: Good performance
3.5% +: Excellent performance
Remember to calculate CTR based on emails opened, not emails sent, for the most accurate performance assessment.
Your CTR provides direct feedback on your content's relevance and value. Low CTRs often indicate:
The disconnect between the subject line promise and the email content
Offers that don't resonate with the recipient's interests
Poor visual hierarchy or unclear call-to-action
Content that appears generic rather than personalized
Mobile rendering issues
Understanding these email marketing metrics helps you refine both content and strategy over time.
Your call-to-action should be unmistakable and irresistible:
Use action-oriented language ("Shop New Arrivals" vs "Click Here")
Limit to 1-2 primary CTAs per email
Make buttons large enough for mobile tapping (at least 44x44 pixels)
Use contrasting colors that stand out from your email design
Position your primary CTA "above the fold" when possible
Generic content yields generic results. Personalize based on:
Recent purchase history ("Restock your favorite strain")
Browsing behavior ("You viewed these products")
Loyalty tier or point balance ("You're 100 points away from VIP status")
Location-specific promotions or events
Over 40% of cannabis emails are opened on mobile devices. Ensure your emails:
Use responsive templates that adjust to screen size
Feature scannable content blocks with a clear hierarchy
Include adequately spaced touch targets
Load quickly, even with limited connectivity
Look professional in both light and dark modes
Continuous improvement comes from systematic testing:
A/B test one element at a time (headline, imagery, offer, CTA)
Start with the elements that most directly impact clicks
Give each test an adequate sample size for statistical significance
Document learnings for future campaigns
Implement winning variations as your new control
The most successful cannabis emails deliver genuine value:
Educational content about products or consumption methods
Early access to limited releases or events
Exclusive content not available elsewhere
Personalized recommendations based on preferences
Content that solves problems rather than just pushing products
While open and click rates provide valuable feedback, they're stepping stones to more meaningful metrics:
Conversion rate (clicks that result in a purchase)
Revenue per email (average sales generated per campaign)
List growth rate (new subscribers minus unsubscribes)
Forward/share rate (viral potential of your content)
These metrics connect your email performance directly to business impact and ROI.
Improving your cannabis email marketing performance isn't about flashy tactics—it's about consistently applying proven principles while respecting your audience's attention and interests. Focusing on relevant content, strategic segmentation, and ongoing optimization can steadily improve open and click-through rates. Implementing these strategies can seem overwhelming for dispensary owners already stretched thin by operational demands. That's where partnering with a cannabis-specific email marketing agency becomes invaluable.
At The Cannabis Marketing Agency, we specialize in creating and executing email strategies tailored explicitly to dispensary audiences. Our clients who have a strong marketing opt-in rate will typically see 30-40% increases in email revenue within the first three months of working with us.
Ready to transform your email marketing from an afterthought into a profit center? Contact our Cannabis Email Marketing team today for a free email performance audit.
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hello@thecannabisadagency.com
