While many of the same tactics are used for Franchise Marketing and Marketing in general, there are clear-cut differences to keep in mind when you’re strategizing how to market a franchise.
Franchise marketing consists of a two-pronged strategy:
- Marketing franchise locations to increase revenue – this could be gaining new customers at your quick service restaurant, enrolling new children in your daycare,etc.
- Marketing to potential franchisors – the people who want to become a part of your franchise family and run a franchise business you’ve started, grown and established.
Marketing Your Franchise Location
One of the largest benefits of owning an established franchise is taking the systems and processes that have been tested, developed, and proven successful and then implementing them yourself. Marketing is all about testing and learning, so to have access to vetted materials,resources, and real life data is a great position to be in.
There will be some differences based on your specific location (community events and local publications, to name two), but overall, if you know that a franchise in location X has had great success with PPC through Google Ads and Social Media Ads, you can take those results and apply them to your franchise business. You’re at an advantage because you don’t have to start from scratch wondering what will drive revenue.
Many franchisors create documentation to share best practices with their franchisees. We worked with a national food franchise brand to create a Local Store Marketing Playbook. This playbook was given to each franchisee when they signed on. Each page details out everything they need to know, including all touchpoints for the retail location and marketing collateral, what the item is, how to order it, and how to use it. This helps ensure consistency for each franchise location.
Some of the key points covered:
- Brand Information: Colors, Tonality, Logo Usage, etc
- Internal Retail Marketing
- External Marketing
- Sponsorships/Community
- Digital Marketing
- Mass Media
Marketing Your Franchise Business
The largest difference between marketing your franchise location and marketing to a potential franchisee is that buying a franchise is a considered purchase. Franchises cost a lot of money, so purchasing one is not a decision to take lightly. Since buying a franchise takes time and a lot of research, you want to market accordingly.
To start, make sure your website is professional and conveys all useful information about your franchise offering. A video is a wonderful idea so each person can consume information in the best way possible. Business owners, their employees, and even their clients can answer questions in an informative, approachable manner.
Questions to consider answering:
- Why is your franchise better than other franchise opportunities?
- Why is your franchise better than your competitors?
- How much does your franchise cost?
- Who are the people behind the franchise?
- What type of franchisees would be a good cultural fit?
- What is the process for purchasing your franchise?
For example, we created a video for our client, Ducklings Early Learning Center, so their franchisees could tell their success stories themselves.
After ensuring your website is rockin’ and your lead generation strategy is on-point, you want to find a high-quality Customer Relationship Management tool (CRM) to keep all information from your leads in one place. A good CRM is valuable to ensure you’re keeping track of leads, monitoring your ROI, and triggering out emails at all phases of the purchase funnel.
If you’re an established brand, a national campaign that’s memorable will help with brand awareness and peak the interest of those looking for a good franchise opportunity. If you’re an emerging brand, you may not have the budget for mass media, but you can still run an effective campaign using a tailored digital marketing plan.
Maintaining consistent brand standards and communications with your targeted audience offers your franchise business a greater ROI and potential franchisees the opportunity to replicate that success in new locations. Working with an experienced, professional marketing agency can help business owners reach individual goals.
Whether you are in need of marketing your franchise location or marketing to potential franchisors, Elysium Marketing Group is here to help. We can assist both emerging and established franchise programs alike with our custom, tailored approach to your marketing strategy and creative. Contact us today to receive a free consultation!
