Over the past several months, the Budtenders Association has held working meetings with cannabis brands across Canada. We spoke directly with the teams responsible for brand strategy and retail execution to understand how operational pressures and resource allocation shape decision-making on education and outreach marketing.
In every conversation, we discovered a clear trend: Brands are prioritizing investments that offer measurable feedback loops and clear outcomes. Teams are under increasing pressure to demonstrate measurable learning returns on educational outreach spending, and that pressure is directly influencing investment decisions.
It’s no longer enough to show activity; the need for measurable learning is reshaping how the industry invests. The challenge is tracking how education or sampling efforts are being understood at retail, including patterns in brand recommendation rates from frontline staff and stronger product recognition among customers.
As a result, familiar outreach strategies that fail to yield actionable insights or clear learning indicators are being deprioritized, and budgets are tightening around what can be tracked and understood. This marks an unmistakable shift in what’s being phased out, what’s gaining momentum, how retail education and engagement spending is shifting toward programs that combine activation with learning. Here’s what we’ve learned about how brands are managing their budgets heading into 2026.
Budgets are more Focused
What we’re hearing: Brands aren’t cutting spending. They’re scrutinizing it.
As 2026 begins, one of the strongest signals emerging across the industry is how budgets are being managed and evaluated. Early-year budgets are conservative, and more importantly, decisions about future spending are increasingly tied to proof of impact. The result is a tighter, more deliberate approach to budget allocation.
Instead of broad or open-ended investments, brands are prioritizing initiatives that offer measurable feedback loops and clear outcomes with the focus shifting from spending for presence to spending for insight and informed decision-making. Brands want to know: “What information will this generate that we don’t already have?”
Demonstrated learning is the benchmark. There needs to be tangible evidence that investments are generating insight into retail dynamics, staff confidence, and shopper decision-making. If a program cannot deliver new insight, it is increasingly difficult to defend, and in many cases, seen as neutral, if not risky. Brands are still investing, but the current market has shifted expectations with limited tolerance for programs that feel familiar but fail to generate insight.
Sampling and Events Have Weak Data Capture
What we’re hearing: Brands are reporting that sampling and event-based strategies are no longer delivering the same results they once did.
The current market has shifted expectations. While sampling remains important, there is limited reporting on how these efforts influence downstream behaviour, including purchases and product recommendations. Simply attending events does not provide the feedback brands need to optimize future programs or justify continued spend. The challenge is understanding how these programs relate to recommendation patterns and decision confidence.
Sampling still matters, but it’s no longer enough on its own. Budgets are shifting toward initiatives that pair activation with measurable insight to better understand brand recommendation patterns and product recognition among customers. The priority is programs that combine outreach with education, data tracking, and evaluation to provide actionable feedback for more effective investment.
Retail is Going Digital, and Education is Moving With It
What we’re hearing: Digital menus and internal retail platforms play an increasingly central role in how products are presented and recommended.
Retail environments are changing. Less physical shelf space has fundamentally changed the retail environment and the expectations placed on cannabis brands, particularly in how they support staff who interact directly with customers. Retailers are asking for education and marketing that fits within their internal online systems, and increasing their expectations of how cannabis brands support staff education.
Brands are expected to deliver learning programs that are informative, accessible, measurable, and adaptable. Marketing is no longer effective when limited to printed materials. This means providing digital modules, learning tools, and compliant materials tailored to specific staff roles and individual retailers. The challenge is that many brands don’t have the infrastructure to deliver this kind of education or the systems in place to measure its success.
The Biggest Gap: Decision Insight
What we’re hearing: There is a lack of visibility into decision-making at the retail level.
Throughout these conversations, one gap surfaced repeatedly: Brands do not know why their products are being recommended, what limits follow-through at the shelf or on the menu, or how education relates to staff confidence.
Outreach strategies that distribute products or provide education without capturing measurable feedback are not sufficient. Capturing data on what shapes recommendation patterns, decision follow-through, and confidence is how brands can make informed decisions. Teams must be able to refine their strategies and show the value of their outreach efforts. Without this information, outreach and education spending is uninformed.
Activation without insight is not in the budget. Brands are looking for ways to engage retail and consumers while also capturing information that can guide future decisions. Closing this feedback loop better positions teams to respond to the changing expectations of both retailers and consumers.
Where Spend is Moving in 2026
What we’re hearing: Brands are deprioritizing broad sponsorships, awareness-only campaigns, and long-term partnerships without benchmarks.
Broad sponsorships and awareness-only campaigns are being deprioritized and long-term partnerships without benchmarks are facing increased scrutiny. Annual budgets are prioritizing retail staff enablement, digital education, and initiatives that connect in-store presence with actionable insight.
Shorter cycles, clearer metrics, and measurable outcomes are becoming standard expectations and shaping where investment is moving. The underlying driver across these shifts is confidence. Brands want confidence that their investment produces learning that strengthens decision confidence at the retail level.
What This Means for the Cannabis Industry
Success will not necessarily come from being the most visible or the most active. It will come from being the most informed. Brands that understand what shapes recommendation patterns, what limits decision follow-through, and what retail staff need to feel confident will be better positioned to compete.
For the industry, this marks a meaningful shift in how brands allocate spending in 2026. Outreach strategies that distribute products or provide education without capturing data on what drives recommendations, conversions, and confidence are no longer in the budget when teams can’t refine their strategies, and demonstrate the value of these outreach efforts. For brands navigating these changes, these insights are not optional. They drive informed investment and builds long-term resilient growth.
At the Budtenders Association, our role is to support this evolution. We work with brands to educate retailers more effectively, capture real-world insight, and replace fragmented efforts with measurable signals as part of our commitment to a more informed, effective cannabis industry.
If you’re curious about what brands like yours are prioritizing this year, we’re always open to a conversation. Our Brand Health Index supports smarter investment decisions by revealing measurable insight into what shapes recommendation patterns and decision confidence at retail.
Book a 15 Minute Signal call with the BTA.
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