Marketing advice
Is biggest always best?
What should you put in to a franchisee recruitment advert? Fiona Corallini reveals
Whether people discover franchising via their daily newspapers, an acquaintance, a franchisee who they know, or by actually going along to a franchise exhibition, how you present your franchise to them in print or online is the key to successful franchisee recruitment.
Is big beautiful?
Will a prospective franchisee look at the biggest most colourful ads because these ‘obviously' represent a company that is willing to invest money in attracting the right person? Or will they be more discerning than that, and look at the small ads, as this shows them companies who are careful and prudent with their money and will invest it carefully all of the time? The simple answer is that a very small proportion of these two assumptions are true.
When a potential franchisee first looks at adverts in the franchise sections of their daily newspaper (or in specialist franchise magazines) what do they see? Well a wide variety of adverts for a start, and some will appear more attractive to them than others! But which one is offering them the best franchise opportunity? Is it the slick, well-designed ‘corporate look' quarter page; the one representing a name they know from everyday life or a new brand name, or is it the simple lineage advert?
The ‘printed' franchise market place
Let's look at what publications or websites your potential franchisees may be reading. If, for instance, they are a Sunday Times or Times reader they will know that the majority of advertisers run lineage adverts so the decision as to which ad represents the best franchise is easier; there will, usually, only be a few boxed or ‘display' ads and a smaller section to hunt through, so the bigger and smarter the advert, the more noticeable it will be. Smart advertisers will adapt their adverts for each different franchise platform they use.
Advert content
Over the years, companies have used a wide range of tactics to attract the right people but ultimately it usually boils down to a few key points:
- An eye-catching ‘hook' or headline.
- A well-designed advert.
- Intelligent use of the space booked - do not try to fit an essay into a 50mm deep x 2 columns wide (63mm) advert - KEEP IT SIMPLE.
- A clear description, ‘in a nutshell', of what you are offering.
- A clear description of who (type of person) you are looking for
- The cost - this filters your response to those who actually have the required capital.
- When running adverts for long periods of time keep the message and the branding consistent.
The ‘Online' franchise market place
Ah the wonderful World Wide Web...we all go there for a variety of reasons and it provides potential franchisees with a wealth of research materials to aide in their search.
Here are two simple guidelines to help you to attract the right candidates:
1. Adverts with the key points of the opportunity listed in bullet points are easier to assimilate than the very ‘wordy ads' and ‘usually' mean that the advertiser has thought about getting the message across clearly and succinctly.
2. Stick to the same rules/pointers for printed adverts and don't write long essays just because you have more space to play with. Keep it simple and between 600 and 800 words with good, relevant images.
We hope that you are successful in your franchisee search and whether you ultimately go for the ‘Big Fish' or ‘Little Fish' approach, remember that in the wonderful world of franchising there is ample room for all sizes of business; make sure yours is one of the good ones.
ARC Media Associates Limited are an independent advertising agency that specialises in franchisee recruitment for a number of major franchisors, as well as being able to assist franchisees with their regional advertising needs. Founder Fiona Corallini has been involved in franchising since 1987 and she and her colleagues have a wealth of experience to draw on for established and new franchisors.
