What does your to-do list look like as a franchise business owner? Odds are, growing your business is one of your top priorities – and we’re here with the practical tips you need to do just that.
In this guide, we’re sharing some of our best franchise marketing strategy ideas to help you meet (and exceed!) your goals in 2023 and beyond. We’ll cover some core principles and trending marketing strategies, so you can stand out in a crowded market and drive sustainable growth.
What is a franchise marketing strategy?
First and foremost: exactly what is franchise marketing?
A franchise marketing strategy is a franchisor or franchisee’s plan to promote a franchise brand and its products or services. A franchise marketing strategy aims to generate leads and sales, increase brand awareness, and ultimately drive revenue growth for the franchisor and franchisees.
Franchise marketing strategies typically include various tactics such as advertising, public relations, social media marketing, email marketing, content marketing, and local marketing efforts. It’s important to note that a franchise marketing strategy needs to balance the need for consistency in brand messaging across all franchise locations while allowing some flexibility to cater to the local market.
Effective franchise marketing strategies often prioritize local SEO efforts, as this can help attract nearby customers to individual franchise locations. Franchise marketing strategies may also involve co-op advertising, where franchisors and franchisees share advertising costs to promote the brand.
Overall, a franchise marketing strategy is crucial for building brand awareness, attracting customers, and driving revenue growth for franchise businesses.
How to Improve Your Franchise Marketing Strategy
For any franchise, marketing is essential for driving growth and profitability. However, marketing for franchises comes with unique challenges, requiring a specific approach that sometimes differs from typical advertising tactics.
To help you overcome these challenges and make 2023 your most successful year yet, we’ve compiled some top tips for franchise marketing. From prioritizing local SEO to leveraging social media, here are some helpful hints for effectively marketing a franchise and attracting more customers to your locations.
Emphasize your digital presence.
The digital age has brought about significant changes in the way businesses operate, and franchise businesses are no exception. Having a robust online presence is now more important than ever before. It enables businesses to connect with their customers where they spend most of their time, which is online.
As a franchise owner, it’s crucial to intentionally cultivate your digital presence using tactics that allow you to reach your target audience effectively.
- Social media marketing is a powerful tool that franchise businesses can use to build brand awareness, attract new customers, and engage with existing ones. The various social media platforms available have unique features and audiences, making it essential to choose the ones that work best for your business. For instance, Facebook and Instagram are great for many businesses, while LinkedIn is specifically ideal for B2B franchises.
- Within the realm of social media, influencer marketing is a powerful way to increase brand awareness and reach new audiences. By partnering with influencers, you can tap into their followers and leverage their credibility to promote your franchise business. In order to effectively leverage influencer marketing, it’s essential to choose influencers who align with your brand’s values and target audience.
- Paid search campaigns on Google or other search engines are another excellent way for franchise businesses to increase their digital presence. These campaigns allow businesses to appear at the top of the search results for specific keywords related to their business, making it easier for potential customers to find them. It’s a highly effective way to reach customers who are actively searching for products or services related to your business.
- Apart from these digital marketing efforts, franchise businesses can also leverage other online platforms to increase their digital presence. For instance, you can use email marketing to send newsletters, promotional offers, and other updates. Video marketing is another creative and engaging way to showcase your products or services and illustrate how you can benefit customers.
Focusing on improving your digital presence is critical for all franchise businesses in 2023 and beyond. It enables your business to connect with your customers online – which is where they spend most of their time.
Prioritize local SEO.
As a franchise business, your marketing efforts should focus on attracting customers to your physical (local) locations. Local SEO (search engine optimization) is a powerful tool for achieving this goal. Although this is a concept that has been introduced previously for 2023, it has only become increasingly crucial to any franchise strategy.
Local SEO involves using a variety of tactics to optimize your website and online presence to increase your visibility in local search results. In other words, with a successful local SEO strategy, your business will be found by users searching for relevant products and services near them.
Here are some strategies for prioritizing local SEO in your franchise marketing:
- Develop a local SEO strategy: Before implementing any local SEO tactics, you need to have a clear plan in place. Start by identifying the local keywords and phrases that your target audience is searching for. This will help you create content and optimize your website accordingly. You should also research your competitors’ local SEO efforts to identify areas where you can improve.
- Create location-specific landing pages: Your website should have a landing page for each of your franchise locations. Each page should be optimized with relevant local keywords and provide information specific to that location. This will help Google understand that your business is relevant to a specific geographic area, which can improve your local search ranking.
- Optimize your Google Business Profile listing: Your Google Business Profile (GBP) listing is crucial to your local SEO strategy. Make sure your listing is complete and accurate, including your business hours, contact information, and photos. Encourage customers to leave reviews and ratings on your GBP page, as this can improve your local search ranking.
- Get listed in local directories: Many online directories list local businesses, such as Yelp and Yellow Pages. Make sure your franchise locations are listed in relevant directories, as this can improve your local search ranking.
Use local structured data markup: Structured data markup is code that helps search engines understand the content on your website. Using local structured data markup can help search engines identify the geographic location of your business and improve your local search ranking.
By prioritizing local SEO in your franchise marketing strategy, you can attract more customers to your brick-and-mortar locations and increase your overall revenue.
Conduct continual research, assessment, and analysis.
It’s essential to continually research, assess, and analyze your marketing campaigns to ensure they are effective. You can adjust your campaigns by measuring your return on investment (ROI) and gathering feedback from customers and competitors alike.
- Research: To stay on top of the latest trends and tactics in franchise marketing, it’s important to conduct ongoing research. This can involve subscribing to industry publications, attending webinars and conferences, and networking with other franchise professionals. By staying informed and up-to-date on the latest developments in the industry, you can identify new opportunities for growth and stay ahead of the competition.
- Assessment: Assessment involves measuring the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns. You can gain valuable insights into your campaigns by tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) such as website traffic, social media engagement, and conversion rates. Use data analytics tools to measure your ROI and track your performance, regularly assessing your marketing campaigns to determine what’s working and what’s not.
- Analysis: Once you’ve assessed your marketing campaigns, it’s time to analyze the results and gather feedback from customers and peers. This information can help you make data-driven decisions about how to adjust your campaigns for better results. Look for patterns in the data, identify areas where you’re underperforming, and seek out feedback from customers, marketing experts, and other franchise professionals to identify areas for improvement.
Embrace new technology and trends.
As technology continues to advance, there are exciting new trends and innovations that franchise businesses can embrace to improve their marketing efforts.
Here are some tech-savvy ideas to consider in 2023:
- Augmented reality (AR): AR allows customers to experience your products or services in a virtual environment, which can be a powerful marketing tool. For example, a furniture store could use AR to show customers what a couch would look like in their living room before making a purchase.
- Virtual events: With more people working and socializing from home, virtual events have become more popular than ever. Franchise businesses can leverage virtual events to connect with customers, showcase new products, and generate leads.
- Video marketing: Video marketing has been growing in popularity for several years, and it shows no signs of slowing down in 2023. Consider creating video content to promote your franchise, such as product demos, tutorials, or behind-the-scenes glimpses of your business.
- Social commerce: Social commerce allows customers to shop directly from social media platforms like Instagram or Facebook. Franchise businesses can leverage social commerce by creating shoppable posts, using influencer marketing, and offering exclusive promotions to their social media followers.
Don’t discount traditional marketing assets.
While digital marketing is becoming increasingly important, traditional marketing assets still play a significant role in franchise marketing. Traditional media, such as direct mail, billboards, radio spots, and TV commercials, can be effective in reaching local customers.
- Direct mail: Direct mail campaigns are an excellent way to reach potential customers in your local area. It’s essential to have a clear message and call to action in your direct mail piece to encourage recipients to take action.
Billboards: Billboards are a traditional form of advertising that can be effective in reaching local customers. It’s important to choose a high-traffic location and a clear message to capture the attention of passersby. - Radio and TV commercials: Radio and TV commercials can effectively reach a broad audience. Choosing the right time slots and channels that align with your target audience is important.
- Local events and trade shows: Participating in local events and trade shows can help increase your brand recognition and build trust with local customers. It’s an excellent opportunity to showcase your products or services and connect with potential customers.
- Networking: Networking with other local businesses and professionals can help increase your brand recognition and build relationships. Word-of-mouth marketing is still valuable for acquiring new customers and building trust.
Need a Franchise Marketing Agency? V Digital Services is Here for You!
If you want to upgrade your franchise marketing strategy, partnering with a professional is one of the best moves you could make for 2023. We provide a comprehensive portfolio of franchise digital marketing services at V Digital Services to support your needs and goals. Depending on your top objectives for 2023, we’ll collaborate with you to create and implement a franchise marketing plan that delivers meaningful results for your business.
For more information about how to market a franchise business effectively, connect with V Digital Services today!
Phot Cred: 4 PM production/Pasuwan/GaudiLab/oatawa