Franchise Marketing: the Ins and Outs
Your franchise may have to follow the main instructions of the franchisor, but that doesn’t mean you’re powerless
With local marketing, a branch of marketing for franchises, you can make your franchise stand out, attract more customers, and consequently increase sales.
That’s why we’ve prepared a complete article with tips and definitions to help you create a strategy for your business.
Let’s dive in!
How Does Franchise Marketing Work?
The main point that differentiates franchise marketing from others is: following the predetermined rules set by the franchisor.
In other words, elements like language, branding, communication, and other guidelines are already established, and the franchise must create its plan based on these.
When it comes to approval, some areas may be more strict than others, but all materials and campaigns are typically scheduled for the entire year. Any changes or adaptations by the franchise must be reviewed again by the franchisor.
What is the Structure of Franchise Marketing?
In franchise marketing, we can point out two types of structures:
- Institutional Marketing – This involves the brand, and the franchisor applies it using funds from the advertising budget.
- Local Marketing – Focused on actions to stimulate sales and attract customers, it is generally the responsibility of the franchisee.
How to Create a Franchise Marketing Strategy?
After exploring what Franchise Marketing is and its importance, it’s time to talk about strategies!
But pay attention, because here the strategies are divided between the franchisor and the franchisees to achieve even better results.
Follow along in the article to learn more!
Marketing Strategies for the Franchisor
Let’s remember that the goals of the franchisor, besides the success of its franchises, are to attract new franchisees for business expansion.
To achieve success with these goals, check out the strategies below.
Maintain a Marketing or Advertising Fund
It’s through marketing that the company consolidates its presence in the market, and this is no different for franchises.
However, to implement these strategic actions, the franchisee needs to pay a monthly fee to an advertising fund.
This ensures standardized communication, tone, and voice for the franchises, along with foundational actions that align and maintain brand consistency across all franchisees.
Build a Plan for New Unit Openings
Are you opening a new franchise? Then invest in a launch plan and don’t let it go unnoticed.
Consider both digital and traditional marketing, as well as administrative and operational aspects.
You might even consider some special promotions for the grand opening.
Invest in Branding and Institutional Communication
Remember, the brand is the most valuable asset of a franchise network, so it’s essential to invest in branding and institutional communication.
With aligned communication, along with interconnected campaigns, you build a strong and well-positioned brand.
Have a Marketing Action Calendar
Here, we’re talking about organizing your marketing plan.
Remember to include holidays, actions during specific periods, product launches, and promotions to create synchronized campaigns across all franchises.
Invest in Paid Media Strategies and Content Marketing
Do you want your clients to have access to quality, personalized content?
Then it’s time to invest in paid media and content marketing.
While paid media targets your leads at the right moment, content marketing educates them and piques their interest in your product or service.
Create Personalized Materials for PDVs
It’s essential for the brand that franchises have their communication, branding, and visual identity aligned.
That’s why it’s important to think about personalized materials for your points of sale.
Of course, there may be differences between stores, as each franchise will occupy a different space and cater to slightly different audiences, but having a variety of POS materials can help with standardization.
Include Relevant Information on the Website
We’ve put together a list of what your website needs to include:
- Contact information for units (addresses, phone numbers, email, WhatsApp, and where to find them);
- Information on how to become a franchisee;
- Available products and services;
- Franchisee area;
- Frequently asked questions (FAQs);
- Useful links.
Remember to invest in a fast and conversion-optimized website!
Participate in Fairs and Events
Event marketing will be your ally, franchisor.
You can invest in events, fairs, conferences, lectures, and even local gatherings to promote your brand and strengthen your networking.
Incorporate Your Franchisees into the Strategy
Don’t leave the success stories of your franchisees out of your strategy.
By showcasing the success of other franchises, your authority in the market grows, and you might even become a reference.
Also, value the ideas and insights of your franchisees and incorporate them into your global strategy.
Offer Training and Create Support Materials
Remember to empower your franchises. To do this, invest in training and support materials for franchise owners and employees.
This way, in addition to offering better customer service, the franchise will also foster greater employee engagement.
Marketing Strategies for the Franchisee
Let’s get started—the goal of the franchisee is to ensure success in their area of operation.
This goal involves attracting and retaining customers, so here are some strategies to achieve this!
Invest in Local Marketing / SEO
Through SEO strategies, you’ll ensure your franchise is found locally.
To do this, optimize your website, blog, and articles to appear right at the top when someone searches for a topic related to your business.
Also, make sure to keep your profiles updated on platforms like Google My Business.
Learn more: Website Optimization: Is It Better to Focus on SEO or Conversion?
Be Present on Social Media
Social media is one of the main communication channels with your customers, as this is where they are most active.
So, it’s important to be engaged, providing support, answering questions, and interacting with them.
This way, you’ll not only understand your customers better but also earn their trust.
Build a Contact Base (Mailing List)
If you’re thinking about how to deliver personalized content to your customers, email marketing is the answer.
With it, you can create a unique strategy for each persona, and in return, they’ll provide essential information for future contact—it’s a two-way street.
Also read: 7 Steps to Create an Email Marketing Strategy That Converts
Use WhatsApp to Promote Launches and Offers
Did you know there are over 2 billion active users on WhatsApp worldwide?
In Brazil alone, 99 million people use the app, which is present on about 91% of Brazilian smartphones.
So, your franchise can’t miss out on this channel.
Take advantage of it to send personalized messages about promotions, launches, special dates, and even coupons.
If you’re unsure how to approach your customers on this channel, don’t worry because Leadster is here to help.
We already have several ready-to-use articles for sales on WhatsApp!
Learn more: 14 WhatsApp Sales Strategies: How to Sell More and Better Through This Channel
Create a Loyalty Program
Do you have frequent customers? Reward them! Create a loyalty program.
This gives your audience another reason to buy from your franchise, while also showing that you care about your customers and want them to keep coming back.
Invest in a Good Customer Experience
Remember that the customer experience doesn’t end with the purchase. Think about pre- and post-sales actions.
So always focus on clear communication, whether in person or online.
Additionally, always be ready to assist and answer questions.
🔎 Learn more: Types of Marketing - 39 Strategies for Your Business
The Importance of a Marketing Plan for Franchises
The marketing plan is essential in all market areas, and franchises are no exception.
Through it, you can unify the brand’s voice and standardize communication processes.
To better understand its importance, we’ve outlined three key points for you to consider:
Alignment with Network Standards
A marketing plan allows you to standardize the objectives of all units.
This way, the work is done in greater harmony, resulting in better outcomes.
Simplifies the Expansion Process
With a well-structured marketing plan, your strategy will perform better, making your company more attractive and increasing interest from those wanting to open new units.
Franchisees Will Thank You
Nothing benefits local marketing more than having a larger plan to guide it.
With a marketing plan, you can guide and simplify the work of your franchises since there will always be a reference point for them.
🔎 Also read: 10 Online Chat Platforms for Generating Sales and Building Relationships
Frequently Asked Questions About Franchise Marketing
Now that you know which strategies to follow, let’s address some frequently asked questions.
Maybe we’ll clear up some of your doubts too?!
What are the types of franchises?
We can mention here the three main types of franchises. Let’s go through them:
Product or distribution franchise: The objective here is to market one or several models of products that have already been selected by the franchisor and distributed in a specific way. Example: clothing brand.
Service franchise: Here, the franchisor has greater control than the franchisee over their franchise. The goal is to market a service or a set of services while maintaining the rules and regulations established by the franchisor. Example: hotel chains.
Mixed franchise: We are talking about franchises that aim to simultaneously market a product and a service. Example: restaurants and fast food chains.
How is Profit Made in Franchise Sales?
In Brazil, the profit percentage of a franchise ranges between 12% and 15%.
To illustrate: If your store has a monthly revenue of $60,000 and the projected net profit for the month is $12,000, your operation will have around 20% profitability.
What Trends apply to the Franchise Market?
Some trends we will see in the franchise market include:
- Greater alliance between franchisor and franchisee;
- Personalities as brands for franchises;
- Greater use of technology;
- Investments in financial education.
How to Transform your Business into a Franchise
The first step to transforming your business into a franchise is to start with the bureaucratic aspects and the business plan. Then, you should:
- Produce your manuals and training materials;
- Formalize and sell the franchise;
- Create a relationship management system.
These are just the basic points to get your franchise started. To delve deeper, access this e-book from Inova.
How to Attract New Franchisees?
To attract franchisees to your franchise, you need to:
- Define the personas with the appropriate franchisee profile;
- Develop and test each desired communication channel;
- Create campaigns;
- Invest in a sales funnel to convert leads into franchisees;
- Form an exclusive sales team for the franchisor;
- Analyze what leads are saying about the offer to your sales team;
- Use the franchisee network to leverage your results;
- Maintain communication with leads.
Now you have all the information to create an effective marketing strategy for your franchise from scratch.
Don’t forget to check out Leadster’s 14 day free trial, no credit card required.
