Gone are the days of traditional advertising through media outlets like newspapers, magazines, radio and television. Although these channels still play an important role in franchise marketing, the world of digital marketing and advertising is coming to the fore. The reasons for this? The proliferation of the internet and its many many uses and applications such as searches, reviews, recommendations, price comparisons and so much more.
As a franchisor, it wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that you need a digital marketing strategy for your business. Why? Because a targeted strategy can bring you results much quicker and at much more affordable rates than traditional media would. You need to take advantage of the options offered by digital marketing for franchises so that you can reap the rewards.
Table of contents:
- Why your franchise digital marketing strategy is important
- Brand awareness of the parent brand
- Build brand and location awareness for franchisees
- Franchisee lead generation
- Customer acquisition, retention and engagement
- Drive more revenue
- Boost loyalty
- It’s cost-effective
- Increases audience reach
- It’s trackable and measurable and can be tested and refined
- Personalisation
- Conclusion
Why your franchise digital marketing strategy is important
Nowadays, an effective online marketing strategy is essential for franchise growth. A strong digital presence is a solution for companies to connect with the desired audience with more precision than ever before. Having a joint marketing and advertising strategy can help you reach new audiences, improve brand loyalty and establish a stronger brand identity.
However, those aren’t the only benefits that you can enjoy by investing in your online presence. Let’s take a closer look at the importance of online advertising for franchises below.
Brand awareness of the parent brand
Franchisors spend years refining their brand, intellectual property materials, their logo, brand voice and others to ensure that their brand is consistent across any channel it appears on. This consistency leads to trust in the brand.
But even more so, by having an online digital presence, you can also improve and boost perceptions of the parent brand through online activities.
Build brand and location awareness for franchisees
It’s not only the parent brand that can benefit from brand awareness. It’s franchisees as well. By creating local marketing strategy for each of your franchisees, you’ll be able to give them the right kind of support through the exposure they receive.
Franchisee lead generation
Lead generation refers not only to the acquisition of customers for your brand; it’s also about franchise lead generation. This refers to attracting the right type of people to be your future franchise partners as franchisees.
Many franchisors have budgets dedicated specifically to carefully finding and selecting the right potential candidates. And with the right strategy in mind, you truly can ensure that you draw in the right individuals to your business. This is a crucial component of your franchise recruitment process.
Customer acquisition, retention and engagement
Apart from generating leads related to new and potential franchisees, you can also play a strong role in driving customer acquisition, followed by retention and engagement.
All this can be done through a targeted marketing approach that looks at your ideal franchise buyer persona, tracks their online journey and caters to their unique needs in a non-obtrusive way.
If you are wondering how to create a buyer persona for your franchise, you might find our Ideal Franchise Buyer Persona Template helpful.
Drive more revenue
A solid online marketing and advertising strategy that is carefully and consistently implemented can also help drive more revenue.
On the one hand, you’ll have new franchisees, which will pay you the franchise fee and make the initial investment in your franchise opportunity. On the other hand, you’ll have new customers for your franchisees to serve, which will mean higher turnover for them, happier franchisees, more royalties received by you and therefore more overall business success.
Boost loyalty
Brand loyalty is a tricky topic to navigate and it can be even trickier to achieve. However, with some consistent effort and a strategy to follow, you certainly can improve brand loyalty.
The benefits of this are numerous. You can have more happy and satisfied customers who keep on returning to you for products or services.
It’s cost-effective
Contrary to popular belief, digital marketing doesn’t have to be expensive. There are numerous ways in which you can maximise your marketing budget for optimal results.
Once you have designed and built your website, focus on creating a consistent and prominent Google My Business listing.
Organic social media marketing doesn’t have to cost much either. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, for example, offer free ways for you to reach your target audience.
Increases audience reach
Another important reason why you need a marketing strategy is that this will broadly increase your audience reach – whether potential franchisees or customers.
The possibilities offered by the digital world are almost endless. And it’s a fact that most consumers these days are online, looking for the best offering. Make sure you stand out from the crowd and broaden your reach.
It’s trackable and measurable and can be tested and refined
The beauty of an online marketing or advertising campaign is that it is trackable and measurable. You can see results as quickly as a couple of days into your campaign. And if you would like to see improvements in your KPIs, you can always test new versions of your campaigns and refine them for even better results.
Personalisation
Another aspect related to the importance of digital advertising for franchises is the high levels of personalisation that digital marketing offers. It enables you to really hone in on what your customers and potential franchisees are looking for and then cater to their needs with your offering. Personalisation in advertising is crucial because generic ads are on their way out.
Conclusion
Whether you are implementing social media marketing for franchises or you are embarking on a lead generation campaign to attract new franchisees or customers – a detailed and clearly defined marketing strategy is crucial to your success.
If you’re curious about how to actually create and build your marketing strategy, there are numerous resources you can use. The benefits of a detailed plan of action are innumerable and we’ve covered some of them above.
Overall, your franchise would greatly benefit from a strong programme for broadening your reach, gaining more exposure and generating high-quality leads.
