If you've gone out to eat, worked out at a fitness center, or stayed at a hotel recently, you've almost certainly patronized a franchised location of a business.
Franchised companies are multi-location businesses in which the owner—the franchisor—grants licenses to franchisees. These individuals purchase the right to do business under the franchisor's name, selling their goods and services. They operate the franchise locations using the company's brand, systems, products, and processes. In the franchise model, franchisees (the local franchise owners) pay fees to the franchisor, enabling business expansion with shared risks and rewards.
Franchised businesses can range in size from just a handful of locations to thousands. For example, multinational corporation 7-Eleven has more than 83,000 locations worldwide, according to Statista. Also according to Statista, there were an estimated 806,270 franchise establishments in the US in 2023.
The franchised business landscape is huge and growing. Marketing a franchised business effectively becomes even more important in such a competitive marketplace. Read on to learn about franchise marketing and get some tips for marketing your franchised business to customers and potential investors.
Types of franchise marketing
In the competitive franchising landscape, mastering marketing is key to success. There are 2 primary franchise marketing types: operational and developmental.
Together, these types of marketing contribute to a franchised business's overall success and sustainability.
Operational franchise marketing
Operational franchise marketing is focused on consumers. It aims to increase sales, support existing franchisees, and improve the performance of individual locations within the franchise network.
Operational franchise marketing may include national or local advertising, social media campaigns, and regional promotions tailored to specific markets. When you see a national advertisement for a fast food chain or a billboard for a local franchise, this is operational franchise management.
Operational marketing also involves providing ongoing training and support to franchisees, helping them navigate challenges and capitalize on opportunities.
Franchise development marketing
On the other hand, franchise development marketing aims to attract new franchisees and expand the franchise network by creating a compelling brand story, showcasing the success of existing franchise units, and highlighting the benefits of becoming a franchise owner.
Development marketing strategies may include advertising campaigns at both local and national levels, participation in franchise trade shows, and establishing an online presence. The objective is to generate interest from potential investors and entrepreneurs looking to become franchisees.
A strong development marketing strategy is essential for achieving sustainable growth and ensuring the continual expansion of the franchise network.
Why every franchised business needs a comprehensive strategy
In order to succeed, franchised businesses need a strategy that incorporates both operational and development marketing. A thorough and well-balanced franchise marketing strategy helps current franchise locations succeed and encourages the overall growth of the franchise system. This builds a foundation for profitability and prosperity that benefits the entire brand. A successful franchise marketing plan can help raise brand awareness, ensure the company’s optimization in search engines, and maintain brand consistency.
We’ve gathered a dozen ideas on how to maximize your operational and development marketing tactics for a robust and holistic approach to marketing your multi-location business.
Building the brand: Six ways to boost your operational franchise marketing
Effective operational franchise marketing builds a strong brand presence and drives business success. From leveraging social media to fostering local community engagement, these methods offer insights into enhancing brand identity, customer engagement, and franchise profitability.
Method #1: Choose the best channels
Whether it's online marketing or a campaign in more traditional media, choosing the best channels for operational franchise marketing is crucial for effectively reaching potential customers.
Do market research to understand your customers' demographics, behaviors, and preferences to gain insight into which social media sites, publications, and other channels best fit your target audience.
If your customer base skews young, you may want to prioritize social media marketing on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. Or, if your product is popular with young children, you might focus on parenting message boards and chat rooms.
Maximize digital marketing
Digital marketing strategies are very effective for enhancing brand visibility, optimizing customer engagement, and driving revenue growth. Explore the following options for your digital franchise marketing plans. You may decide that several—or all—of them make sense for your next marketing campaign.
Social media marketing
Integrating social media marketing into your overall approach is one of the most effective ways to maximize brand outreach and customer engagement. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok offer unparalleled opportunities to interact directly with target audiences, share promotions, and gather valuable feedback. Engage followers with interactive posts, share user-generated content, and leverage targeted advertising to reach potential customers in specific franchise locations.
Through content tailored for each social media channel, franchises can foster a sense of community among followers and use social media analytics for invaluable insights into consumer behavior.
Email marketing
For customers who have opted in to your mailing list, email marketing is a great way to deliver your message right into their inbox. You can target your whole customer list or segment your subscribers based on locations, purchasing patterns, and interests.
Email can be used to send discount offers, announcements about new products, and content of interest to your customer base.
Content marketing
Content marketing involves creating and distributing relevant content like blog posts, videos, and email newsletters to engage and educate customers. You can maximize your content marketing for a franchised business by creating relevant content about your product, company, or industry.
In addition, you can provide valuable, localized content that resonates with each franchise's audience and provide it to the local franchisees for their use.
Continue traditional marketing
Traditional marketing channels such as print ads and direct mail are still important for helping local businesses reach a wide audience in their communities. These offline marketing channels can foster a sense of familiarity and trust among customers, particularly in areas where digital penetration may be lower.
Moreover, integrating traditional and digital marketing efforts can provide a more comprehensive and balanced approach, maximizing the franchise's visibility and impact and enhancing customer relationships.
Neglecting traditional channels could result in missing valuable opportunities to connect with potential customers and reinforce the franchise's presence in the market. Traditional marketing tactics work well alongside social media and other digital marketing strategies in order to reach the broadest audience possible.
Method #2: Develop a franchise brand strategy
The success of a franchise hinges upon a well-crafted brand strategy—a long-term plan that outlines how a brand aims to achieve its goals and connect with its audience effectively.
Your company's brand strategy should align with organizational goals, market demands, and consumer preferences. Developing a cohesive brand strategy is important to ensure that your online marketing, traditional marketing, and other tactics, like email newsletters, work together to support your franchise's plan.
Build your franchise brand guidelines
Consistent branding for all marketing efforts is crucial for cohesive and impactful marketing. Know your brand's core values, mission, and visual identity. Create franchise brand guidelines that are clear and simple and include them in your franchise marketing plan. The parent company and individual franchise locations should send a unified, consistent message about who you are and what customers can expect.
Communicate clearly with your franchise owners about maintaining brand consistency by making it clear how to use logos, color schemes, and typography to maintain a recognizable brand image, and don't forget to include examples. Many brands are instantly recognizable by their color scheme or the font of their logo. You and your local owners can work together to reinforce that recognition among customers and associate it with a great product or service.
Make sure to include guidelines for online presence, social media, and other digital marketing strategies. Regularly update the guidelines to reflect evolving market trends, ensuring that your franchisees effectively leverage the brand presence for local marketing.
Provide brand assets
Give local owners easy access to brand assets that they can use in their local marketing efforts. They can help maintain brand consistency across all franchise marketing if they have the right resources.
An easy-to-use repository of templates for marketing materials, logo files, direct mail templates, and other materials will help ensure a recognizable brand presence while allowing for localized adaptations.
Consider providing support and training about how to use the assets effectively. Local business owners wear many hats and may not have the time to master brand management software effectively. The more straightforward you can make your resources, the better for your traditional and digital marketing efforts.
Method #3: Support your franchisees' marketing efforts
In addition to national and regional advertising, your local franchise owners will almost certainly want to target their local customer base as well. You can help support their efforts by empowering them with knowledge, skills, and resources.
If you have a database of customer email addresses, you can share the emails of customers in local communities with franchisees. Local franchise email marketing campaigns are a great way to offer discounts, keep customers up-to-date on local sponsorships, and introduce new staff members.
Offer marketing training
Rather than leaving local marketing efforts up to each franchisee, provide information and training to help individual owners understand brand guidelines, audience insights, and effective marketing tactics.
Offer workshops, webinars, or corporate marketing specialist services to educate franchisees on digital marketing tools, social media advertising, and how to appeal to local audiences. Letting franchisees know they have resources and support will help address many local marketing challenges, benefiting the entire franchise network.
Amplify local initiatives
No one knows the local market better than your franchisees. Encourage them to tailor marketing campaigns to their target audience and to consider leveraging local events, sponsorships, and partnerships. Also, if you allow them to share successful strategies across the franchise network, you can boost their efforts with resources, funding, and success stories on your website.
Method #4: Optimize search engine results
Ensuring potential customers can find information about local franchises is just as important as building a strong overall brand.
All business locations should have a dedicated, well-designed landing page with accurate business information and customer reviews. Don’t forget to include local keywords, including the names of local neighborhoods and landmarks.
Regularly update company website content, employ responsive design for mobile users, and encourage positive online reviews to enhance online visibility and attract local clientele. This will ultimately boost operational success across the franchise network.
Localize your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts
Ensure that your franchise locations appear at the top of the search engines' results by using a local focus in your search engine optimization (SEO). Localizing SEO efforts for franchised businesses involves tailoring strategies to target the specific geographic areas where each franchise operates.
You can achieve this by optimizing website content with location-specific keywords, creating individualized Google My Business listings for each franchise location, and having a presence on local directories and review sites.
Regularly monitoring and analyzing local SEO performance and search results allows for refinement and optimization of local SEO efforts to ensure you're reaching the target audience in each franchise's location.
Ensure that customers can find your stores
Every business owner knows that getting those customers into your stores is the key to business growth. In addition to having individual pages for each franchise location with accurate business information, you can boost your image while also elevating search rankings by using Google business profile listings and encouraging satisfied customers to leave positive online reviews on social media.
Additionally, engaging on social media channels and local community events can improve brand visibility and local search rankings. This is where direct mail can also be a handy tool. Sending coupons with local franchise information means that even customers who aren't very tech savvy can find you.
Method #5: Understand your audience
Getting to know your business's target audience is important for franchised businesses. Having a clear understanding of your customers helps align your brand identity with their needs. In addition, with diverse markets and customer preferences, tailoring strategies to local demographics fosters customer loyalty and boosts profitability.
Employ social listening
One easy way to learn about what your customers are saying online is to use social listening. This is the act of monitoring online conversations on social media platforms, message boards, or review sites to understand audience sentiments, trends, and brand perceptions.
Social listening enables franchised businesses to track mentions, sentiments, and feedback across various platforms. This valuable data provides insights into customer preferences, concerns, and emerging opportunities, allowing franchisees to tailor their marketing strategies accordingly
Moreover, franchisees can engage directly with customers, addressing issues promptly and building relationships through personalized interactions. By actively listening and responding to social media conversations, businesses can enhance brand reputation, foster customer loyalty, and drive business growth across local markets.
Do market research
Market research is essential for understanding local dynamics and consumer behavior. Surveys, focus groups, and demographic analyses can help you gather insights into your target audience's preferences, needs, and purchasing habits, allowing you to tailor your marketing strategy.
Additionally, analyzing competitor strategies and market trends provides valuable benchmarks and identifies opportunities to set your brand apart. You can use a market research tool or service, use free resources like social media surveys and customer feedback forms, and observe industry trends through online publications and forums.
Method #6: Keep communication open
Maintaining open lines of communication between the franchisor and the local franchisees is pivotal for fostering collaboration, ensuring alignment with brand guidelines, and maximizing the franchise's overall success in a dynamic market environment.
Make franchisees part of your Marketing team
Once someone invests in your company to become a franchisee, think of them as a valuable member of your Marketing team. With their understanding of the local market and community dynamics, these franchisees possess invaluable insights that can inform targeted marketing strategies.
Encouraging every franchise owner to contribute ideas, share successful practices, and provide feedback enhances marketing strategy success across the parent company.
Recognizing and rewarding franchisee contributions encourages active participation and commitment to marketing initiatives. For example, you could invite local franchisees to contribute blog posts as part of your content marketing strategy and include their perspective in your email marketing.
Franchised businesses can leverage their local knowledge and enthusiasm to drive brand awareness and growth by making franchisees integral to your traditional or digital marketing. You might even create a national marketing board that includes both corporate employees and local franchise owners to help boost creative and integrated franchise marketing strategies.
Use the right tools
Take advantage of technology to help you keep in touch with your team of franchisees by implementing a centralized platform for sharing marketing materials, brand guidelines, and social media marketing best practices.
In addition, interactive tools such as webinars, forums, and virtual meetings foster engagement and allow for real-time feedback. By embracing these tools, franchisors can strengthen relationships with franchise owners, optimize marketing efforts, and ultimately drive business success.
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Expanding your reach: Six ways to make your franchise development marketing more effective
Effective development marketing drives growth and expansion in the competitive franchising landscape. Even though you have a great company, there are numerous options for potential franchise owners to consider.
According to Statista, in 2023, franchises contributed approximately $859 billion to the US economy. Your franchisees are a critical part of that, and having the most motivated, qualified, and enthusiastic team of local owners helps ensure your overall brand success.
Consider building a database of potentially interested owners and using franchise email marketing to highlight your company’s growth opportunities, positive brand image, and attractive options for potential investors.
Keep reading for more ideas for growing your network of successful local franchisees. From harnessing the power of social media marketing to refining your targeting approach, each method can help attract qualified prospects and foster overall growth. Explore these proven methods to enhance your development marketing and build a strong team of local business owners.
Method #1: Use existing franchisees
Your current franchisees are powerful assets in franchise development marketing. Owners whose businesses are profitable and who feel like a part of a successful brand team are some of your best assets for spreading the word to new potential investors.
Implement an employee advocacy strategy in which current franchisees act as ambassadors for your brand. Featuring them in social media posts, email marketing messages, and other online marketing channels is a great way to build buzz around your brand.
Employee advocacy efforts can also include a formal role for franchisees in recruiting and training new owners. They're the real experts of your on-the-ground operations, so make sure to recognize and promote that skill.
Encourage word of mouth
Asking franchisees to share their experience with others is one of the most powerful ways to create enthusiasm among potential new franchise owners. Consider offering referral bonuses, recognition programs, or exclusive benefits. Positive testimonials from satisfied owners attract potential investors and enhance trust and credibility, fostering a stronger franchise network and growth opportunities.
Create a great culture
Anyone who loves what they do and the people they work with wants to share the news with others. In addition to their local team, franchisees are part of your overall brand organization. Ensure everyone knows that their work is valued and that they have the support they need to make their location successful.
And don't keep your great company vibe silent. Make your culture part of your brand identity. Buying into a franchised business is a big step for most people. Give them the confidence that they're joining a supportive and success-focused community that will give them the resources and guidance they need to make their location well-run and profitable.
Method #2: Go where the audience is
When your target market is potential new franchise owners, meeting them where they search for opportunities is crucial. This means using the right marketing channels, online platforms, and industry events to catch their eye and interest them, ensuring the best chances for franchise expansion success.
Have a presence on franchise opportunity websites
Potential franchisees have many places online where they can research franchise opportunities. Ensuring your business has a presence there is important for your franchise marketing.
Franchise opportunity websites allow multi-location businesses to showcase their brand, feature success stories, and include important information so entrepreneurs can determine if they're a good fit for your brand. It's a great way for companies with a franchise business model to generate quality leads.
Attend franchise trade shows
A franchise trade show is one of the best places to find potential franchisees who are serious about joining your brand. This allows you to target potential owners already interested in franchise business opportunities. It also gives you the chance to interact face-to-face with potential investors.
Committing to a franchise trade show presence demonstrates that your company is serious about finding and attracting well-qualified owners. In-person events are great networking opportunities, allowing franchisors to generate high-quality leads and accelerate the growth of their franchise network.
Method #3: Analyze the data
Understanding your target audience and focusing on the most effective channels to reach them is just as important in marketing to potential franchisees as it is when you're targeting customers. Analyzing data about who you're marketing to and how you can boost the effectiveness of your message ensures that your Marketing team's efforts and budget are well spent.
Know your audience
Understanding your audience is paramount when marketing to potential franchisees. By identifying potential franchisees’ demographics, interests, and motivations, franchisors can tailor their messaging and strategies to resonate effectively.
This insight allows for targeted outreach, ensuring that marketing efforts reach individuals who are most likely to be interested in the franchise opportunity. Moreover, understanding the needs and preferences of the target audience enables franchisors to address concerns and highlight benefits that align with their aspirations, increasing the likelihood of successful recruitment.
Use customer relationship management (CRM) software
When you think of the customers who are the target of your marketing efforts, your first thought may be the individual consumers who patronize your franchise locations. But in the context of franchise development marketing, your customers are the potential owners whose interest and investment you want to attract.
Consider using a customer relationship management (CRM) program to track leads, record data, and optimize your outreach to these valuable contacts.
A CRM program enhances efficiency. With valuable insights on prospects, franchisors can personalize marketing efforts, nurture relationships, and make informed decisions, optimizing the entire development process for sustained growth and successful franchise expansion.
Method #4: Develop value-added opportunities
Investing in additional benefits, incentives, and opportunities can help your company stand out. These additions can differentiate the franchise, increase profitability, attract new investors, foster brand loyalty, and expand market share within competitive industries.
Offer incentives and discounts
Attracting great franchise owners can be challenging in a crowded and growing franchise landscape where they have many options. Consider providing financial incentives such as reduced franchise fees, royalty discounts, or financing assistance for well-qualified franchisees.
These incentives lower the barrier to entry, making the opportunity more appealing and accessible. Make sure to mention your incentives program in your development marketing campaign and highlight successful owners who have taken advantage of these options.
Establish strategic partnerships
Consider collaborating with complementary brands to extend the franchise's reach and boost the brand image. For example, beauty salon chains often partner with hair product lines to promote their products and sell them in their stores. Fitness centers may feature a certain brand's workout gear. These collaborations help both brands to amplify their message.
Strategic partnerships open opportunities for marketing initiatives, co-branded promotions, and engagement on social media channels. By leveraging each other's networks and resources, franchisors can access new audiences and market segments.
Strategic partnerships also enhance the franchise's reputation and perceived value, making it a more appealing investment opportunity for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Method #5: Build strong relationships
Developing good relationships is pivotal for franchise success. Using personal engagement, strategic partnerships, and transparent communication channels, franchises can enhance brand loyalty, drive expansion, and fortify their market presence for sustained growth and prosperity.
Respond to inquiries quickly
It’s a great thing when potential franchisees reach out to you. They’ve demonstrated their interest by being proactive, so make sure to respond right away. Quick responses demonstrate professionalism, build trust, and convey a commitment to excellent customer service.
A rapid and attentive approach in the competitive franchise landscape can set a positive tone, foster a favorable impression, and increase the likelihood of successful franchise partnerships.
Host your own event
In addition to attending franchise trade shows, you can host your brand’s own recruiting event. This gives you an opportunity for more in-person engagement and facilitates relationship building. It also allows you to show off your company culture and brand by controlling the entire event and recruitment process.
Method #6: Make yourself easy to find
In addition to doing your own marketing and outreach, make it easy for potential franchisees looking for great opportunities to find you. You can maximize your marketing budget by making it easy for people to find information about franchise opportunities and providing relevant content to increase their interest.
Direct potential franchisees to a dedicated website page
Develop a dedicated landing page specifically targeted at potential franchisees looking for information. You might include basic data about the history of the company, your brand's mission statement, and franchise benefits.
This is also a great opportunity to include additional content that helps people understand your company culture and vision to determine if they are a good fit for your team. How about a blog sharing success stories or research demonstrating your franchise profitability?
Keep content updated and your brand message prominent. Visitors to your site may only pay attention to it for a few seconds, so you want to give them the most important information immediately. Leave them with the impression that your company is dynamic and focused on the future.
Optimize your SEO for potential franchisees
Optimizing your SEO strategy is a crucial tool for attracting potential franchisees and getting them to your informative site. Making sure your franchise information appears near the top of search engine results makes it easier for potential investors to find your website and increases organic traffic.
Identify the terms and phrases potential franchisees will likely use when exploring franchise opportunities and incorporate these keywords into website content, meta tags, and other online assets.
Additionally, optimizing website structure, improving site speed, creating engaging content, and ensuring mobile responsiveness are just as important in franchise development marketing as they are when your target audience is customers.
Summary
Operating a multi-location business presents unique challenges and opportunities. Implementing these strategies can significantly elevate your franchise marketing strategy, driving brand awareness, customer engagement, and franchisee recruitment.
By developing franchise marketing strategies that maintain brand consistency, maximize search engine optimization, and develop a strategic social media presence, franchised business owners can give themselves the best chance for success in today's competitive franchise marketing landscape.
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