Hit target
Hit target
Marketing guru Sarah Cook reveals how franchisors can help franchisees with local-level marketing to enhance sales
Every company wants to be the best that it can be through improving products and service, resulting in a happy growing flock of customers. Franchisors are no different in this desire, but due to the complexity of a franchise business, it means they are not always in control of marketing on a local level.
Marketing regionally or locally is usually in the hands of the franchisee responsible for that area. This is fine if you have proactive, energetic franchisees that understand the importance of a consistent brand message, customer service and the need to plan ahead to a budget. Not so great if you don’t!
If you have franchisees within your network that could do with improving their marketing, there are a number of things you can look at doing to help them.
Regular training
Communication is the key ingredient to a successful franchise network. If you can incorporate well organised and timely seminars and/or training sessions for your franchise network, you will be encouraging a marketing orientated culture.
A good example of where this happens is with Spettro, the franchise specialists in buildings insurance claims management, which offers organised seminars that include training with its growing franchise network of 30. This training offers information, skills and updates on industry techniques, new equipment and developments. The franchisees benefit from the support and guidance of the franchisors and this cements the relationship between franchisor, franchisee and the customer.Training sessions and seminars also allow your franchisees to share ideas of successes and failures, and this benefits the rest of the franchise network.
Local online campaigns
With a plethora of communication channels available, it is often a good idea to incorporate online marketing and networking into the marketing strategy.
As the internet is being used more frequently for business, utilising the possibilities for sharing your product information with different target audiences by region is becoming easier and cheaper. As well as straight forward pay per click campaigns, encourage your franchisees to use Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, blogs and regional online forums.
Moving away from cyber space into real space, many franchisees look for local affiliations with other companies. Cross-promoting products that offer true value to both companies and customers can be very effective and result in profitable campaigns.
Teaming up
Strategic affiliations have long since been an excellent way to accelerate business growth on every level. By thinking creatively and utilising links on a national level, franchisors can give their franchisees additional vertical and cross-sell opportunities on a regional and local level. An excellent example of this is FitKid’s link to the international children’s brand LazyTown, which is aired on children’s television across 150 countries. FitKid has teamed up with LazyTown to offer official LazyTown classes and parties across the UK. This is something that will significantly benefit FitKid franchisees.
Relationships
Many franchisors such as Envos, an environmental management franchise, include a tailored media list of contacts for each franchisee within the network.
Such lists can be used to build relationships on a local and regional level from day one, but are usually only available to larger organisations with significant budgets. This goes hand-in-hand with a training session on media and press training.
In helping franchisees understand what members of the media want, they are more likely to pitch a local story and be successful in obtaining valuable free coverage for themselves.
All franchisors have an image of their ideal franchisee and the type of qualities they will hold. The ability to communicate with people and network is almost certainly on every franchisors hot skills list. Networking on a local level is one of the most powerful forms of business development. Franchisors should always encourage their franchisees to book in at least one networking event per month.
Empower through planning
Why not try hosting your marketing strategy on Google docs so that everyone has access to it? We often host a proactive plan that takes the viewer through the company’s marketing activities, month by month. This enables the viewer (franchisee) to drill down into weekly tasks yet still see the larger picture through the 12-month strategy (and its clear objectives).
Being proactive, rather than reactive, allows for better budgeting and control of marketing activities that in turn provide vital information on the successes or failures of particular campaigns. Offering a range of support materials that can be customised to a local level, but systemised and accessed nationally, can aid planning and the chances of your franchisees improving their local marketing.
With a vested interest in achieving success, your franchisees should be willing to work with you to improve marketing communications and continue on the road to mutual growth.
