Franchise Owner Marketing Attitudes & Usage
Franchises owners often face many challenging tasks. Running a winning franchise marketing system is only one example. Yet, it is vital to attract new customers and drive revenue to a business.
Franchisors and franchisees must work together to optimize recognition and engagement across locations. Corporate must provide best practices, guidelines, and recommendations for tools and vendors. Franchise owners call the shots about strategy and execution.
Understanding Franchise Owner Marketing Attitudes and Usage
The evolution of marketing technology has brought many advantages to the table. It has allowed franchisors and franchisees to reach more customers than ever before. But how do franchisees feel about the effectiveness of franchise marketing these days? Scorpion surveyed 349 franchise owners to get some first-hand insight. Here's what we found.
Surveyed Population
Of the surveyed franchise owners, 224 own only one location while 125 of them have more than one. As for regions served, 86 of the respondents are located in the east, 106 in the south, 95 in the midwest, and 72 in the west. Only 3 of them own national or international locations.
The majority of the respondents have under five employees working at their locations. The poll also revealed 78 have between six and ten, 74 have between 11 and 20, and 89 have 21 or more.
Marketing Channel Usage
Many different resources can help successfully promote a franchise. Franchisees can take advantage of online and offline platforms to advertise their business. According to Scorpion's poll, digital marketing proved to be the most popular. It's an effective way to generate brand awareness and communicate with the customer.
Digital Marketing Vendors and Tools
Online marketing has significantly grown in the last 10 years. This has given franchise owners a higher chance to reach their target audience. There's a clear dominance of digital marketing over other more traditional channels. The number of digital vendors and tools becoming available has also increased. As a result, numerous small businesses and franchisees are using many suppliers simultaneously. They may feel that doing this might further help them meet their online marketing goals.
Up to 59.6% of franchise owners are hiring at least two online marketing vendors at a time. Moreover, 67.1% of the single-location respondents use two or more software as a service (SaaS) tools. These resources help them manage and track their marketing efforts. Multi-location franchise owners maintain the tendency of using more than three.
Digital Marketing Performance and Satisfaction
As stated above, the majority of the surveyed franchise owners use more than one vendor. They also take advantage of two or more SaaS tools. Over 90% of them recognized hiring a franchise marketing agency was not a waste of resources. It proved to be, at least, a tad helpful when crafting strategies to achieve their marketing goals.
A good 31% of the respondents think they're making the most out of their SaaS marketing solutions. Yet, a whopping 69% of them think they're overpaying for underutilized tools.
Main Franchise Marketing Frustrations
At least 59% of the respondents recognize their digital marketing suppliers' usefulness. But, only 14.9% of them claimed to be 100% satisfied with their performance. This happened regardless of how helpful their vendor was. The disconnect may lie within the main marketing challenges franchisees often face — which are attribution and conversion.
Sometimes vendors fail to prove which of their actions are actually showing results. That's when franchise owners could feel like their efforts are being ineffective. In consequence, they may underestimate the benefits of hiring a franchise marketing agency.
Marketing Synergies and Incongruencies
Many respondents have one thing in common. They believe search engine optimization, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, and website development are effective. Yet, most of them would like these elements of their strategies to work better together.
Consolidated Services vs. Point Solutions
Most of the surveyed franchisees agreed that they'd want to work with only one vendor. Moreover, those respondents already doing that would like to keep it that way. They perceive hiring only one supplier as more practical. It's the first step towards consolidating and optimizing strategies.
The Verdict
Over 90% of the respondents have displayed their preference for digital marketing. This method is the undisputable champion when keeping a brand relevant in 2023 and beyond.
Scorpion can help you merge your marketing efforts and get a better attribution. We can offer you a more holistic view of what's working in your particular market. To learn more on how we can guide you on the latest franchise marketing trends, reach out through our site.
