Franchise Marketing Systems – See Bigger and Faster Business Growth
Franchising is an ideal business venture because it can eventually lead to passively generated income. Imagine, for a moment, the scope of work required to run a small business. A single individual may be responsible for paying bills, delivering invoices, fulfilling orders, managing customer satisfaction, and even cleaning the business facilities! This requires an enormous magnitude of labor.
On the other hand, a successful franchisor leaves the customer contact, product sales, services, facility management, and other “daily grind” tasks to the franchisees. The franchisor can focus on big-picture tasks like expansion, product or service development, or the creation of a new franchise marketing system. The franchisee, then, receives support from the owner’s franchise marketing systems and, in turn, delivers a percentage of the profits to the franchise owner. Even though the franchisor is not actively devoting time and energy into daily operations, he or she can still generate profits from the successful franchises managed by his or her franchisees.
Don’t Forget About Marketing!
Passive income is a tantalizing dream and one that is well within reach. What is often forgotten in the dreaming process, however, is the massive amount of work required to transform a business from a single entity to a franchised system of businesses. Franchisors may anticipate the rigorous financial and structural planning required, but they often neglect the importance of franchise marketing systems. Without a franchise marketing system in place, investors and entrepreneurs will never hear of the exciting new business opportunity being offered by the franchisor.
An advertising agency for franchise businesses can help to bridge this preparation gap. Franchise ad agencies will guide business owners through the process of creating, marketing, and jump-starting a new franchise. With a franchise marketing system in place, business owners can accomplish tiered marketing goals, expanding brand recognition and generating investor interest every step of the way. Franchise marketing doesn’t have to be overwhelming. It doesn’t have to break the bank. It doesn’t have to be a “one step forward, two steps back” situation. With a team of professionals, anyone can see bigger and faster franchise growth that takes a business owner one step closer to the passive income dream.
Abandon the Piecemeal Approach to Marketing
Probably the most beneficial thing about franchise marketing systems is their ability to completely abolish the piecemeal approach to marketing into which so many inexperienced franchisors stumble. Business owners who never think about marketing until the glaring lack of business growth is staring them in the face are often left to scramble. They read a few internet articles about franchise marketing, hastily throw together a website, and create a Facebook page. Then, they sit back in confusion and wonder, “What next?”
It’s easy to tell if businesses are lacking franchise marketing systems simply by visiting the business website or social media page. Is content created inconsistently, produced in short bursts with long gaps of silence in between? Does the website look professional? Is it clear and concise? Is it informative? Does it command attention and communicate authority?
What about the social media pages? Businesses with a piecemeal marketing approach create social media accounts in a flurry and then let them stagnate. Information is posted on one network but forgotten on another. The tone of voice or brand identity may not be consistent across all social networks. These are all symptoms of stumbling into the marketing world without a plan, a methodical and predictable franchise marketing system, in place.
The Benefits of Developing a Plan at the Beginning
An advertising agency for franchise marketing will help business owners develop this system from the get-go, and there are countless benefits of starting with the end in mind. Franchise marketing systems cover all the bases and establish new marketing goals that are specific to the franchise opportunity rather than just the business.
Here’s why this is so crucial: marketing a franchise for sale is quite different from marketing a business. To begin with, the target audience is drastically different. Consider this example: an auto mechanic shop that offers low-cost, high-quality service may target a population of consumers on the lower end of the income scale. Content will be centered on saving money, free services, and getting more bang for one’s buck.
This strategy would be terrible, however, for an auto mechanic shop that is marketing its franchise for sale. All of a sudden the niche audience changes completely. Now, content needs to be directed toward entrepreneurs and investors with plenty of disposable income that needs an investment home. The marketing strategy changes, and franchise marketing systems spell out how and when this change needs to occur.
Short-Term and Long-Term Goals
Marketing systems will also help franchisors create short- and long-term goals, and they will provide tools and systems used to monitor the achievement of these goals. Setting out on the franchise journey without goals is a recipe for discouragement. Business growth is slow and steady. It can be difficult to evaluate, on a day to day basis, whether marketing efforts are truly accomplishing anything.
By working with franchisors to create specific and achievable goals, an advertising agency for franchises can help to alleviate discouragement and frustration. Creating goals is only half the battle, though. Unless there exists a system for monitoring goals and determining whether or not they’ve been achieved, the goals serve no function. A franchise marketing system will include subsystems like CRMs, or customer relationship management systems. This will help franchisors monitor variables like sales team member performance, customer relationships, and industry contacts. With a goal-monitoring system in place, franchisors can quickly recognize tactics that aren’t working and invest in new marketing strategies. Blindly embarking on an expensive marketing campaign without any way to test its effectiveness can sink a business into the ground in a matter of months.
Good franchise marketing systems will also assist in systematically creating lead lists for a franchise. A new franchise opportunity may require over a hundred investor leads for every one franchise sold. Generating massive lead lists, then, is a key factor in franchise success. Relying on ad agencies and marketing companies is critical for effective lead generation and lead management.
Travel with a Map
Without a doubt, a franchise marketing system serves as a road map, guiding a franchisor from the dream to the reality. The more detailed, all-encompassing, and structured this system is, the better it will serve the franchisor. Preparing for the unexpected, evaluating the current market, predicting the future market, embracing changing marketing tactics, and creating incremental marketing goals is all a part of the marketing system creation process.
It sounds overwhelming, true, but franchise marketing systems are actually quite straightforward and easily followed. Once created, they actively work to prevent a franchisor from becoming overwhelmed when he or she is entrenched in the day’s marketing activities. It’s no surprise that more and more business owners are seeking out advertising agencies, like ClickTecs, for help in creating these systems. Tapping into ClickTecs’ wealth of experience, breadth of knowledge, and valuable resources will help franchisors see business growth that is bigger, faster, and easier to achieve.
About the Author : Jamshaid (Jam) Hashmi
A serial entrepreneur with extensive background in franchising and interests in multiple online business channels, Jamshaid (Jam) Hashmi has played an instrumental role in the franchise development and success of a renowned international franchise company. His most recent entrepreneurial interests include launching ClickTecs, a Digital Marketing company specializing in Search Engine Marketing and Social Media Marketing as well as Website and Mobile Application development. In 2007 he co-founded WSI Search Result, an online marketing company that supplies services to Internet Marketing Consultants. A sought after public speaker, Jam has been the featured keynote at many franchise conferences and international summits. He regularly trains ‘C’ Level Executives and supports both new and seasoned business owners on Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media Optimization, Mobile Marketing, Brand Reputation Management and Conversion & Measurement through web analytics. When he’s not scaling the heights of the Internet world, Jam ‘unwinds’ on extreme thrill-seeking adventures from the jungles of the Amazon to the highest summits. His passions include working with NGOs on humanitarian missions to areas around the world affected by disasters and poverty.
