The Fatal Five: Top-5 Marketing Mistakes Killing Franchise Development Companies In 2021

As the 21st-century corporate world has found itself getting more and more competitive thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors over the course of the past year, it has become even more important for franchise development companies to get their marketing strategies right from the very beginning. If this doesn’t happen, these companies risk falling behind their competitors, losing out on valuable profits and the chance to grow their client base. While many mistakes can be made by franchise development companies in terms of marketing strategies, some are more common than others and eventually lead to tremendous losses in terms of profits as well as reputation. To ensure these critical marketing mistakes don’t happen to you and your company, here are the top five marketing mistakes made by franchise development companies, a group we have termed the “fatal five.”

Relying Only On The “Franchise” Tab

For many franchise development companies, using only a “franchise” tab on the main website is perhaps the biggest mistake we see on a regular basis. In most cases when this tab is clicked on by potential franchisees, they are met with only a minimum amount of information. When this occurs, it then becomes the responsibility of the potential franchisee to directly contact the franchise company for more detailed information. As a result, it becomes easier for them to lose interest in what could be an excellent business opportunity. To get better results with a digital marketing strategy, it is better for franchise development companies to have the “franchise” tab go to a full website that contains much more information. Known as inbound marketing, it offers an excellent ROI in most cases.

Forgetting About Location-Specific Marketing

When franchise development companies are examining various marketing strategies, they tend to only think about national strategies, rather than also taking the time to consider how combining national and local strategies can pay off in both the short and long-term. As a result, many of these franchise development companies lose out on the untapped potential of location-specific marketing. While there’s nothing wrong with focusing on national advertising, smart franchise development companies know having a location-specific mentality will also pay off in big profits. To do so, franchise development companies start by building a social media presence and joining online business directories. Once this strategy is adopted and implemented, customers will see logos, slogans, and colors that they instantly recognize and associate with a franchise. This, along with receiving excellent products and services, sets the stage for customers to establish long-term relationships with a franchisee.

Sales Team Always Selling To Prospects

In today’s digital age, franchise development companies need to know that their sales team does not always have to be selling to prospects from beginning to end. Since those interested in a franchise can do significant amounts of research on their own, they don’t feel the need to have a salesperson constantly trying to educate them each step of the way. Since the job of franchise development companies is to provide accurate information, it’s best to develop a marketing strategy that emphasizes answering questions and solving problems, rather than one focused exclusively on selling. Upon doing so, franchise development companies will begin to see potential buyers be much more open to what they are selling.

Using Inconsistent Marketing Materials

If there is one thing potential franchisees love to see from any company with whom they may be considering purchasing a franchise, it is consistency. From the moment they click on a “franchise” tab to start exploring the possibilities, they want to see information they feel they can trust. Unfortunately, many franchise development companies make the mistake of using inconsistent marketing materials, which leads to a number of unnecessary problems and loss of revenue. When inconsistency exists within marketing, customers can sometimes become confused as to just how much a franchisee is actually connected to the national chain. As a result, the trustworthiness and reliability a franchisee needs to be successful disappears before it barely got started. Thus, for franchise development companies to avoid this critical mistake, it is always best to make sure all social media activities and other marketing materials integrate easily within any established marketing guidelines.

Combining Franchise Marketing With Consumer Marketing

If franchise development companies want to see poor results in their marketing efforts, combining franchise marketing with consumer marketing will ensure this happens. While initially it may sound like a good idea, more and more franchise development companies are beginning to realize these two areas are vastly different from one another. As an example, let’s take a look at yogurt. For a person who is interested in purchasing a yogurt franchise, they may have numerous questions about the business end of yogurt. However, if a consumer has questions about certain types of yogurts, the information needed will be very different. Thus, if all information is grouped together, the end result is alienating not only consumers who may look elsewhere for what they want, but also doing the same to potential franchise buyers.

While it is always possible to learn from one’s mistakes, committing too many mistakes in today’s competitive business climate can spell disaster for many franchise development companies. To get the best results, it is smart to work with a digital marketing agency that has significant experience in making sure these mistakes either never happen or are quickly corrected, such as us here at ClickTecs. Working with businesses of all types and sizes, we can put our years and years of web marketing experience to work for you immediately. If you would rather be one of those franchise development companies that enjoys success rather than failure, contact us here at ClickTecs. To do so, you can visit us online at clicktecs.com to fill out our online request form for more information about our services. Or if you like, you can pick up your smartphone and call us at 866-311-7189. By getting started today, you’ll avoid the marketing mistakes that could doom your business tomorrow.