Chelsea Bates has always known that her purpose is to connect people. She is constantly seeking ways for her friends and peers to feel freedom in their interactions and empowered in their creativity and intuition. When you think of marketing, you don’t necessarily think of free-spiritedness or an emphasis on spiritual well-being, but that is exactly why Chelsea deserves ADCANN’s Marketer of the Year for 2024.
Keep reading to learn more about why you should vote for Chelsea!
Chelsea’s Path to the Cannabis Industry:
As Chelsea was finishing her Bachelor’s in Public Relations from the University of Florida, she was looking for a meaningful internship in an industry that she felt passionate about. Through serendipity, the will of the universe, and her proclivity for connection, she met a friend (who later became a coworker) at a music festival who helped her secure an internship at PufCreativ.
Both a fan of the plant and the people that come with it, Chelsea loved her internship so much that she asked to continue her career with the company. Since then, she has applied her love for community to all her marketing efforts.
Mastering Community Engagement
“Since my start at PufCreativ, I’ve deepened my expertise in community engagement and community strategy. My work centers around understanding who our audience is, what they care about, and how I can create a social media presence for our clients that reflects that. As a result, I watch our clients make a greater impact on our industry,” Chelsea shares.
“Now that I’m directing our social media department, I’m honored to have the privilege to guide our process from initial strategy to the execution of posts, to engagement, and finally observing the data analytics at the end of the month.”
Leadership & Collaboration
As a leader, Chelsea continuously emphasizes collaboration, service, and wellness, which are values that align with her personal beliefs.
“I’m a person that values collaboration in all areas of my life,” she says. “As an individual, I have my own expertise, my own perspective, and my own opinions, but so does everyone else. And there’s value in being curious about that. So as a leader, I bring that curiosity to collaboration with my colleagues and with our clients. I want to hear what you think, and I want your feedback. I believe that’s where true success is achieved.”
Aligning Values
Throughout her work, Chelsea has found that these beliefs also align with the cannabis industry as a whole.
“I believe that cannabis has the potential to and already is making the world a much better place,” she says. “We live in a state of the world where everything is go, go, go, and people are constantly stressed and feeling overwhelmed. I feel a call to being of service to my clients through developing a social media presence that allows them to reach their ideal audience, who is looking for healing. I feel connected to them on an emotional level because I believe it contributes to a better world.”
Tackling Social Media Compliance Challenges
As any cannabis marketer knows, working within the confines of social media compliance can be the most challenging part of the job. Not only does Chelsea account for potential flags and shadow bans, she works them into her strategies:
“My ultimate goal is to create a foundation for success for each of our clients. I achieve this by implementing strategies that prevent shadow banning, ensuring that their posts thrive and reach the right audience. Additionally, I have found content pillars to be quite impactful for our audiences because we’re providing them with value. Cannabis social media marketing is so much more than just sharing an image of your favorite brand; it’s about sharing content that genuinely improves your customer’s life.”
Chelsea’s Life Beyond Marketing: Sound Healing & Personal Growth
Outside of her work with PufCreativ, Chelsea is also an intuitive sound healer. During MJBizCon, she co-led PufCreativ’s Breathe & Heal Sound Healing Brunch with Anna Fae Henderson (the friend from the music festival!), where she shared her gift of healing with attendees.
“The Breathe and Heal event meant so much to me because I was given the chance to bring this other sector of alternative healing to our industry professionals. I’m privileged to do that every day in cannabis, but having the opportunity to bring it through sound healing struck a new chord in my heart.”
Chelsea finds that sound healing has helped her tune into herself, allowing her to be a better leader for her team:
“We are a walking, living, breathing instrument, and that instrument can go out of tune, especially when we’re dealing with a lot of stress at work. Sound healing essentially brings you back to your natural state of peace. When we live the majority of our day from that place, we show up better in our professional lives. Sound healing has been a core resource for me in being a leader at Puf because if I’m feeling stressed, I can take a break, retune my energy, and come back with a fresh slate to be the leader my team deserves.”
The Importance of an Authentic Mission
Ultimately, Chelsea believes that even though marketing is about outreach, it should come from a place within.
“The folks that are having the most success are those with a powerful, clear mission. And when that mission is backed by healing, care, and making the world a better place, you’ll go further. If you feel lost in the direction you want to take your brand, or if you’ve reached a plateau, my suggestion is to pause and come back to your ‘why.’ Why do you do this work? What experience in your own life backs your ‘why’? The more authentic we are in our mission, the more success we’re going to have,” she shares.
Vote for Chelsea for ADCANN’s Marketer of the Year 2024!
As you can see — the choice is clear! If you want to vote for Chelsea Bates for ADCANN’s Marketer of the Year 2024, you can do so through this link!
