A franchise marketing strategy is your blueprint. It forms the framework for the approach you plan to take to reach your goals.
Your strategy – or blueprint – keeps you focused on what you want to achieve. It gives you a clear vision of your goals and how to measure your results.
Lead generation is a key goal for many franchisors like you who want to grow their business. If you’re launching your franchise business concept, build awareness about your brand through online marketing.
Are you an established franchise operation? The right strategies can set your business model apart from others in the industry, or help reach a goal to drive more visitors to your franchise website.
Marketing tactics are the steps you take to reach your goal. Well-planned marketing strategies use more than one tactic to reach the right audience.
Digital advertising and social media are hot spots for connecting with your prospects. Email marketing, content marketing and public relations open up opportunities to engage audiences. SEO gives you the tools to jump ahead of your competition.
Here’s a franchise marketing strategy introduction to steps that will help you reach your ideal prospects and get them engaged with your brand.
1. Define your franchise brand identity and your brand story
You know your company better than anyone. How you got started, challenges you’ve overcome along the way, significant milestones. Most important, you know your brand – the values, mission and purpose that define your franchise business.
Turn your tale into a compelling story that grabs your target audience. Help prospects understand what your business is all about and what makes your concept different from other franchise opportunities.
Make your prospect the central character and spell out challenges they face. Relate your own experience – those true pain points – that drove you to pursue your dreams.
Bring your story to its natural high point – the solution your opportunity offers. Give your prospects reasons to believe they can go beyond where they are now and change their future as a part of your team.
End your story with a clear, concise call to action. You’ve piqued their interest. Give them an easy way to learn more – and stay connected with your brand.
2. Identify your target audience
Do you know where your prospect is? Is he buried in his phone 18 hours a day? Or is she following topics trending across social media? Your ideal candidate may choose videos or clips that spark interest and demand attention as their go-to source of inspiration.
Today’s information-rich landscape is filled with multiple pathways to deliver your story. The key is to know where your audience is spending time and meet them there.
Savvy opportunity seekers go beyond traditional advertising and news sources for their information. They turn to blog posts, video content, podcasts, e-books and other online marketing resources to explore options throughout their decision-making process.
Follow organizations like the International Franchise Association and the Canadian Franchise Association to spot the latest franchise investors trends shifts.
It takes time to find the right outlets for your message. And it takes more time to craft the right messages that will capture attention from people you want to move through your sales process. Even tracking data and response rates can seem like a 24/7 job at times.
Using an external franchise marketing firm can make all the difference in getting your story out there. The franchise agencya knows every aspect of franchise marketing and public relations inside and out.
3. Broadcast your story through the main franchise marketing channels
No one size fits all when it comes to marketing franchise opportunities. Your prospects need to find your story on the channel that’s right for them.
The key to an integrated marketing strategy is to maintain a consistent story across all channels.
