Franchise marketing is the backbone of any successful franchise operation. When your franchise has a strong marketing strategy, you attract customers and potential franchisees. There is a reason massively successful franchises like McDonald’s invest as much as they do in their marketing strategy. Nevertheless, the world is in a rather turbulent place right now, which means that consumer attitudes are shifting. The most effective marketing strategy for franchises has changed as a result. So, what should your franchise do?
Contents
What Is Franchise Marketing?
The Key to Franchise Sustainability
Franchises must invest in marketing if they are to grow. One-off businesses can get by on word of mouth alone, but franchises need to project a unified brand image in order to create consistent brand awareness. As anyone who’s played a game of telephone as a kid knows, word of mouth tends to change the story from person to person. Therefore, your marketing strategy and expenditure are fundamental to your franchise’s success.
However, one wrong move can alienate your entire franchise base. Your marketing doesn’t just affect you as the franchiser, it also has a direct impact on your franchisees. As this study revealed, choosing the right marketing strategy will directly affect the sustainability of a franchise. Choose poorly, and your franchisees will loathe you. Good decisions, however, benefit the entire organization.
Social Media Reigns Supreme
So, what strategies should franchises use? These days, if you’re not leveraging social media, you’re committing corporate suicide. As this study shows, using social media has a positive effect on brand recognition and brand familiarity and makes people more likely to pull the trigger and make a purchase.
Contrast that with the older methods of using emails to market directly to consumers. Plenty of franchises still rely heavily on email. Nevertheless, data shows that this method is falling woefully behind. Nearly a third of the emails surveyed in this longitudinal study went straight to spam, and many more received little attention. You need to be where the people are. TikTok, for instance, is the fastest growing social media platform at the moment and has just recently enabled ads.
Cause and Effect
Simply spamming social media networks isn’t going to be enough to move the needle on your franchise. Customers care about caring these days. Although, it might surprise you to learn that this trend has been in the making for nearly 30 years. A long-term meta-analysis of research on corporate social responsibility in franchises proves that even though social responsibility implies additional expense, it pays dividends in the long run.
What’s your franchise’s cause? What do you care about as a franchiser? What do your franchisees want to support? Answer those questions and the customers will come. Daniel Brian Advertising has put this method to the test and proven its power.
A Modern Approach
Franchises need to branch out beyond the classic TV commercials and email campaigns of yesteryear. Today’s consumer wants a cause and they want it on their app of the month. Choosing the right strategy in collaboration with your franchisees will ensure the sustainability of your franchise and growth going forward.
