Every business needs the same thing: more visibility. However, marketing a franchise has a unique challenge: maintaining brand consistency while also creating content that caters to and attracts a local audience. This juggling act can leave even an experienced marketer wondering where to start or how to improve.
We’re here to help. An effective franchise marketing solution not only gets your franchise in front of new customers but also builds engagement, which, in turn, boosts client retention and revenue.
Here, we share five franchise marketing solutions to add to your marketing plan. Let’s get started.
Location-Specific Social Accounts
First, make sure your franchise location has your social accounts set up. Not only do customers in different locations have different preferences, but having location-specific social accounts allows the franchise to cater their social content to their own community.
For example, an HVAC franchise location could offer a maintenance special during a heatwave happening in their community.
Franchisors can focus content on building the brand and ensuring company-wide messaging, and franchisees can focus on attracting local clients. Furthermore, a social media presence dedicated to each location can enable franchise owners to focus on building community engagement by responding to comments and collaborating with their local audience.
Remember, your marketing should leverage targeted ads to get more eyes on your franchise. Use demographics, interests, or online behaviors to show your ads to your potential new customers within each franchise location's service area.
Creative Content
One of the easiest and fastest ways to boost your SEO and increase visibility for your franchise is to create content your audience wants to see. Each franchise location can put out its own content as long as it has the approved messaging of the overall franchise brand. Having different or conflicting messaging causes confusion and dissatisfaction for customers.
Localized SEO and even influencer marketing can also be a way to build SEO efforts and improve rankings to not only increase your digital reach but engage local customers with your brand as well.
Here are some ideas for implementing creative content into your franchise marketing solution.
Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing can complement bigger marketing efforts, offering a more personalized and targeted approach to your local audience. Influencers’ tight-knit communities foster authentic connections, leading to higher trust and increased engagement.
Think creatively about how to proposition your value to influencers. Do you have a new line of protein-packed healthy smoothies coming to your smoothie shop? Consider partnering with a local health or fitness influencer to help spread the word. For additional content, incentivize influencers to attend a grand opening and offer a discount code for their audience.
Influencer marketing allows you to connect with your local audience more personally and get a pulse on what is happening in your community. Make sure your social media accounts are up to speed so the influencer can tag you, increasing your audience and creating content you can re-share.
Utilize Localized SEO
You’ve created valuable content for your local market. Now, make sure your potential customers actually see it. An essential franchise marketing solution to implement in your franchise marketing plan is localized SEO. Simply put, local SEO is where you focus on improving your rankings and visibility on local search results, like Google Map Pack. For example, someone who searches ‘outdoor lighting companies near me’ will receive localized SEO results.
So, how do you make sure each franchisee is at the top of these localized searches? Through strategies to increase your local search engine ranking.
Each franchise location should have the following:
- Dedicated website
- Updated location information on all business profiles
- Location-specific keyword usage
- Local reviews and testimonials
- Local directory listings
Using local SEO will increase your visibility and help guide visitors to convenient locations near them.
Update Your Google Business Profiles
When people search Google for local businesses, websites aren’t the only results that show up. Setting up a Google Business Profile (GBP) is one of the simplest and most effective marketing solutions for franchise locations.
Today’s customer is accustomed to getting the information they want quickly in one concise snapshot.
You’ve likely done a Google search for ‘places to eat near me’ or a similar search. Google returns a list of locations based on your current location. These listed businesses have taken the time to set up their GBP and are one step closer to attracting new customers.
Much like a dedicated website, each franchise location should have an optimized Google Business Profile to boost visibility. A GBP provides pertinent information at a quick glance, displaying information about your franchise, including opening and closing times, contact details, or website links.
A fully optimized profile allows potential customers to learn about and engage with your franchise.
That profile needs to include-
- Business name
- Address
- Hours of operation
- Up-to-date contact information
- High-quality images and/or videos
Encourage and respond to any, but especially negative, reviews left on your profile. Write and post content on your profile to improve traffic and SEO rankings, and finally, respond to any questions left on your GBP site.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is one of the oldest and most effective communication methods, which should be part of your franchise marketing solution. On average, email marketing drives a Return On Investment (ROI) of $36 return for every $1 spent.
The efficacy of email marketing is unmatched, but how can you use it in a way to stay engaged with your local community? Use email lists to send out exclusive promotions and upcoming events to local customers to encourage repeat business.
In addition to sharing information about your franchise, consistent emails will keep your business top of your customer’s minds.
Community Involvement
Whenever possible, look to engage with your local community. Community involvement creates valuable connections and helps spread brand awareness.
Consider how your franchise can help align with your brand and mission. If you run a local tee shirt company, sponsor a Little League team with your logo on the back of the jerseys. If you run a local running shop, sponsor a race. These natural partnerships will expose new customers to people who are already interested in your niche.
Fuel Your Growth
Creating a strong franchise marketing solution requires effort and consistency. When you can tailor your marketing strategy to your local demographic, you’re more likely to grow your visibility and, in turn, grow your business.
Looking for more help? At Scorpion, we help scale your franchise to drive more customers and more revenue. Get started with our digital marketing experts today.
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