4 Things Franchise Marketing Systems

Must Have

One of the greatest strengths of franchising is the mandatory centralized marketing programs, or

franchise marketing systems. There is much greater marketing power when the funds from all of

the franchises in a system are pooled. Things that no single franchisee could do, such as run a

worldwide ad campaign, are now possible with money from the central fund. Also, an individual

owner could not create the level of quality and impact of the advertising materials produced

when the franchisor enlists the help of experts, such as ClickTecs.

Since franchisees sometimes feel that the pooled funds are not being spent the way they feel they

should be, this money can also become a source of conflict. In any franchise marketing systems,

this can be a big issue. And, this issue is often compounded when consumer confidence is low

and all advertising is producing less of a return on investment.

This makes it essential for a franchisor to have outstanding franchise marketing systems in place

to keep the confidence of current franchise owners and to attract new ones. To help you with

this, ClickTecs has put together this list of 4 qualities present in a good franchise marketing

program.

1. Get the Splits Right

There are three things that marketing fund money is primarily used for. The costs of producing

advertising materials, such as direct mail, television and radio ads, website content, guest blog

content, etc., are covered. Next, placing advertisements in various media for the benefit of the

contributing franchisees is paid for. Finally, the administration of the marketing effort by

internally or by an agency is covered.

Not enough money being spent in one of these areas and too much in another is a common

complaint from franchisees. High quality promotional materials, for example, must be produced

from the fund. Issues arise however when there is not enough money left to deliver beautifully

crafted materials to consumers after all of the money is spent on production.

These two needs clearly need to have a reasonable balance. The amount spent on advertisement

to attract customers versus the amount spent on advertisements to build the brand can be another

source for conflict. Franchisees strongly favor attracting customers, whereas marketing

department executives want to build the brand. Having franchise marketing systems in place that

balance all of the above needs will keep conflict to a minimum.

2. Ask Franchisees

Start asking franchisees what they think of the franchise marketing systems if you want to get an

idea of how happy they are. There are few things closer to the franchise owner’s heart than

marketing, so they will be very forthcoming on the topic. To find out what they specifically

think, ask pointed questions that get at how they think the marketing is helping bring customers

through the door and what they think of the brand.

For the required marketing fund, ask franchisees if they believe they are getting good value. If

not, ask why not. You can safely assume some changes need to be made if you consistently hear

about the same issues and concerns from the franchisees. Before you hurt your brand and scare

off new franchise owners, make those changes.

Of course, it is also great to hear that the franchisees are happy with how their marketing funds

are being spent, and this is often the case. But, it is also important to take the time to make sure

the franchisees are happy because they are essentially your customers.

3. Clearly Document Your Efforts

The franchisor must carefully document the elements of their franchise marketing systems. Since

this is what franchisees are going to be looking at most closely, you need to be able to show them

where their money is going. Also, a less confidential version of your marketing documentation

should be available to share with potential franchisees.

Well-documented franchise marketing systems include not only how much was spent on various

strategies, but it should also include performance markers showing how effective each campaign

was. If a campaign or strategy was ineffective, then that should be noted and there should be a

plan for the future.

4. Use the Latest Technology

It seems like new technologies are popping up just about every day to help you and your

franchisees stretch their marketing dollars. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is not

staying on top of these trends and taking advantage of them. After all, franchisors who do not

change with the times often go out of business.

For example, to most of us, it is a no brainer that if you are in business you have a website. In

addition, you should have websites for each of the franchisees to assist them with their local

marketing. A national vendor can handle the barebones portion of getting the website up and

running, but it also needs to cater to the local market.

One method used in franchise marketing systems is to give each franchisee a subdomain of the

main corporate site. For example, if ClickTecs were to have a franchise location in Vancouver,

the address for the subdomain may be www.vancouver.clicktecs.com.

ClickTecs has many years of experience creating websites for the franchisor and franchisees.

Part of our process is to make sure that the sites are optimized for search engines (SEO) and for

social media (SMO). Our experts closely follow and test what works and what does not when it

comes to getting your website to show up high in the search rankings.

One method that is very successful is filling your website with rich, original content, such as

blog posts or articles, that users will find useful. ClickTecs has a knowledgeable team of writers

who have master the art of writing to appeal to users and search engines alike. Not only that, they

can incorporate your franchise into their content and make you look good no matter what

industry you are in.

Make your franchisees happy and building your brand by making ClickTecs an integral part of

your franchise marketing system.

http://clicktecs.com/