GrowGen CEO: IgniteIt Events Drive More Business Than Any Other Marketing Spend

In an industry where time with top operators is scarce and real insights are even scarcer, cannabis industry executive Michael Salaman says IgniteIt’s Market Spotlights have become an invaluable stop on the company’s outreach calendar. The tightly focused events, held in key regulated cannabis markets across the country, offer rare opportunities for direct conversations with leaders shaping the future of cannabis cultivation.

Salaman, the CEO of the Colorado-based cannabis cultivation supplies and services vendor GrowGeneration, says that “We’re very disciplined on how we spend our marketing money, and how we acquire customers, and where we acquire customers, and what events we attend.”

Events That Deliver

After considering the options, GrowGen chose IgniteIt’s Market Spotlight events in California, Ohio, and Washington, D.C., to introduce its cultivation products to the cannabis industry. Salaman also finds the focused gatherings to be a great way to learn from executives in the field, both on a one-on-one basis and through the curated schedule of speaking appearances and panel discussions.

“I could tell you, bar none, that the IgniteIt forum and that platform have delivered more business to GrowGen than any other marketing spend and any other outreach to do business development,” Salaman said in an online interview. “Patrick and Elliot have done a tremendous job bringing high-level executives together around panels that are educational.”

IgniteIt Events Feature Prime Networking Opportunities

IgniteIt’s Market Spotlights also offer plenty of opportunities to mingle with the executives, industry insiders, policy experts, and other cannabis professionals in attendance, making it the perfect place to forge new relationships and nurture existing ones.

“It’s a way to connect with the broader industry—customers, associates, colleagues. It’s a great event for our staff; it’s team-building for us,” says Salaman, adding, “It’s been very rewarding on that front.”

Salaman sees two primary facets to the value of IgniteIt’s Market Spotlight events for GrowGeneration. With the company’s products on display and representatives ready to interact with event participants, Market Spotlights are a meaningful way to reach out to potential customers. In addition, they give GrowGen a forum for learning from others in the industry at the grassroots level.

“It’s a platform for us, certainly, to participate as GrowGen, to get our messaging out,” he says, “but it’s equally as important for us to listen and learn what other companies are doing, what our customers are doing, and where they’re going.”

Look for Michael Salaman and the GrowGeneration team at the next Market Spotlight in New Jersey. More information coming soon.