Going Digital for Franchise Development

The internet has changed franchise development just like it’s changed everything else. And while it may be difficult for the old guard to imagine signing a life-changing franchise deal based solely on online research and interaction, it happens almost every day.

Today’s post foregrounds the value of “going digital” as part of your franchise development strategy. Read on to learn some shocking statistics that underline the need for online franchise development tactics in 2017.

Franchise development candidates spend enormous amounts of time online.

88% of adults in the US have a mobile phone with internet capabilities; 57% have a laptop; and 19% have a tablet.

So how does this impact advertising for franchise development? Consider that the average tablet user spends 13.9 hours per week on their device, and less than 25 minutes per week browsing newspaper ads, YellowPages, and classified listings. Where would you rather direct your ad budget?

With such an active online audience, it’s clear that internet is undoubtedly the most cost-effective advertising vehicle for franchise development.

The internet is now the world’s most powerful economic driver.

According to Forrester Research, more than half of the dollars spent in US retail were influenced by web advertising in 2016. But the internet’s commercial influence doesn’t end with small-scale retail purchases: increasing amounts of people are negotiating big business purchases online. In fact, a large percentage of franchise development occurs online, either through targeted advertising, direct prospect outreach, or website conversion.

People trust online reviews more than family recommendations.

This sounds like a stretch, but it’s true; a Search Engine Land report stated than 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Moreover, a significant number of these respondents indicated that they prefer online reviews because of their volume and impartiality.

This can be a good or bad thing depending on the state of your online reputation. Unfortunately, it only takes a few negative reviews from disgruntled ex-franchisees to drag your name through the dirt and deter prospects from signing on in the future. For these reasons, digital reputation management strategies are a must in 2018.

Email campaigns are more effective than ever for franchise development.

Email opens on smartphones and tablets have increased by over 80% over the last six months, according to a Litmus study. This is partly due to increased confidence in the capabilities of anti-spam tools, which makes users less likely to dismiss email “cold calls” as potential phishing scams or viruses.

With this in mind, the value for email marketing is clearly greater than ever. Investing the time to craft a single, high-quality outreach template can put you in contact with thousands of top candidates with a few clicks of a mouse.

You do not need to spend all day online to see franchise development results.

Franchisors hear internet advertising and assume that they’ll need to chain themselves to their computers to churn out enough content to get noticed.

That’s nonsense.

In fact, Track Social reports that posts are negative correlated with engagement. One brand found that posting 3+ times per day decrease their engagement by over 25%. In other words, the more you post, the more likely your audience is to turn you out, which makes internet advertising for franchise development more about quality than quantity.

Take the time to craft a single engaging post, email outreach blast, or targeted ad campaign, rather than hammering out dozens each day, and you’ll take your franchise development to new heights.

Learn more about digital franchise development at https://clicktecs.com.