A Beginner’s Guide to Franchise Marketing

There are several things you need to understand about franchise marketing. You can learn more on how to market your franchise by clicking here.

There are hundreds of thousands of franchises in the U.S. This lower-risk way of doing business makes sense to many people that want to be their own boss.

You might be wondering if it is right for you and how you’d get the word out about your business. Learning franchise marketing is a great way to put yourself at ease about getting a franchise or see it’s not the best fit for you.

Continue reading this article to learn more about the best marketing plan for a franchise.

Keep Your Finger on the Pulse

It’s easy for things to get lost in the mix, and this is especially true when you’re working with multiple locations. You might be dealing with problems you had no idea you had.

The best way to know what’s going on is to go right to your customer. No, you don’t have to find them and talk to them in person, but you can find out what they’re talking about on social media.

Whether your customers have a positive or negative experience with you, it’s likely they are talking about it on social media. Even if someone had a bad experience with your company, if you speak to them and fix things, it’s likely they will have a positive feeling about your company.

Build Your Online Presence

Getting the word out about your business online is a smart marketing move. Now, these franchise marketing services and others like them, know the importance of marketing and letting people know what you have to offer through online efforts and other means.

Besides being on social media, one of the important things you can do to let people know about you online is listing your business in directories.

People are already looking for what you have to offer, so shouldn’t you make sure it’s your business they find? Many business directories are free or very inexpensive, which makes this is a good part of your marketing checklist for your franchisees. 

Don’t Take Reviews for Granted

You might already know the importance of reviews, but don’t think people are just going to serve them up all of the time. Even if people have a great experience, they might not think about leaving your business a review.

When you’re a part of a franchise, you need to make sure you get people to leave reviews for you. When you get reviews, you’re able to showcase the good things about this specific location.

People understand that different locations might bring slightly different experiences, and that is why they head to the review section to see what they are in for.

Make sure to ask your clients to leave a review after their experience. You might ask them in person, but you could also send them an email or a text to ask after they’ve left your location.

Direct Mail

No, direct mail is not dead. In fact, direct mail is far from dead and still one of the most effective ways to get people to give you a call.

When you use direct mail properly, you can very closely target the people that might be interested in your business and what you have to offer.

Sales

When you want your franchise to be successful, you must have a well-trained sales department for each of your franchise locations.

Make sure the process is simple to understand, so you don’t confuse the owners. Most people that own franchises don’t want to do much thinking. Make sure it’s a pretty turn-key situation.

Some of the sales training you might need to consider are person-to-person sales, phone sales, and outgoing phone sales. Giving your franchise owners and their teams this training can make a big difference in how well their business goes.

While these are some of the most widely used ways of making sales, let’s not forget the advancements that are taking place with technology. You can now text, email, and do webinars to get new customers through the buying process.

Promotions

It’s proven that promotions get attention. Using promotions to get people to your franchise locations can be a good idea as long as everyone is on board. Many people hate to hear the “at participating locations” part of an advertisement.

Often, when people hear those words, they immediately assume their location might not have it, and unless they want to call, they won’t go to find out. To help avoid any confusion, make sure to post promotions on your location’s windows, so people know that you are doing the promotion.

You can do traditional promotions like buy one get one sales, free products, and more. Let’s not forget that you can also use the internet to hold sweepstakes and get people talking about your business and even sharing the contest with their friends and family.

Public Relations

Many franchises fall short with their public relations. Yes, you can still hold local events and help out in the community, but there are simpler things you can do as well.

Public relations often look like putting up a blog post on a relevant topic to grow your email list and brand awareness. Many people want to post on high-quality websites and become thought leaders to get attention for their businesses. This can work for franchises as well as non-franchises.

You’re a Franchise Marketing Pro

Now you know more about franchise marketing. When you’re good at franchise marketing, you can continue to work toward your goals and put in the necessary efforts to get attention for your business. No more second-guessing yourself required.

Do you want to learn more about business and other important topics? Continue reading our blog to learn more about other key topics.