Unique Needs of Franchise Marketing

There are about 300 industries that have franchising opportunities. Franchises make up about 11% of all businesses in the United States.

It’s an appealing model to start a small business because you have a proven business model that works.

Where you might run into problems is in franchise marketing. If you compare franchise vs. small business marketing, you’ll find that there are a lot of differences.

How is franchise marketing unique? Keep reading to find out.

Local vs. Corporate Strategy

There’s a push-pull dynamic between franchisors and franchisees. Franchisors want to appeal to a broad, national audience. Franchisees want to appeal to a local audience.

These needs require different franchise marketing strategies. For instance, there might be a corporate Facebook account and accounts for each individual franchise.

Different Audiences

Along with the corporate and local franchise marketing strategies, you have different audiences. No one understands the needs of the local audience like you do.

Finding ways to within the guidelines and reach the local audience can be challenging for the best marketing teams.

One of the differences between franchise vs. small business marketing is that there are two very different audiences.

With small business marketing, you work to reach the end-user, or customer.

Franchise marketing has two distinct audiences. The corporate office wants more franchisees to grow the business and the brand. They also want to reach consumers to visit franchise locations.

These audiences have different demographics, incomes, and needs. Franchise marketing has to appeal to both audiences.

Multiple Locations

You’re not the only franchise in town. People are going to look up the franchise name online. How can you be sure that your location appears in search results?

That’s a problem that franchise marketing solves. You’ll need to make sure that your listings are accurate and each franchisee has an opportunity to get found in search results.

Consistent Branding

The reason why franchising is so valuable is that you’re getting a well-known brand. It’s up to the franchisor to establish strict brand usage guidelines.

Franchisees have to abide by these guidelines in every aspect of marketing. Failure to comply dilutes the brand.

It leads to consumer confusion and a reduction in sales. Every piece of marketing from corporate on down to the smallest franchisee has to be consistent.

Using the Right Media Channels

As a franchisee, you know your audience. Do you know the right marketing channels to reach them?

You could rely on content marketing, but you need to decide which website to post the content on. Email marketing is effective as long as you can build a list locally.

Social media is just as effective. The corporate office can use LinkedIn to appeal to potential franchisees, while other locations can use Instagram and Facebook to appeal to local audiences.

Get Your Franchise Marketing Strategies Down

How is franchise marketing unique? You need to consider multiple audiences and locations while maintaining brand consistency.

If you enjoyed learning about the ins and outs of franchise marketing, you’ll find the other articles on the blog to be helpful. Check them out today!