A franchisors national marketing campaign has two major uses; to raise awareness of the branded franchise offering and to support existing franchisees. 

Showing them Value for Money

As most franchisors take a royalty from franchisees. It is important to show value for money. By demonstrating to your franchisees that their hard earned cash is being spent on promoting the brand nationally, it only helps to benefit them as more people will be aware of their business and what it offers.  

Using your Franchisees as Case Studies

Testimonials are just about the best way of gaining prospects confidence, so use your existing advocates for your brand to help sell your franchise package. The other bonus to this is that everyone loves to talk about themselves and in this instance, give your best franchisees the opportunity to do this by interviewing them. You never know when you might be able to use the material that you collect from them within marketing and promotions all over the country. This material is great for inspiring other people to take the plunge into franchising and get in contact with you to find out more.

National Exhibitions

It just wouldn’t be right not to mention exhibitions in this feature, especially as we see the National Franchise Show at the NEC, Birmingham opening at the end of this week. Some franchisors find great success in taking a couple of existing franchisees along to the show to help promote the franchise. As well as being a good way of showing prospective franchisees what a ‘real live franchisee’ looks like and discuss how they are getting on, it is an effective way of engaging your franchisees and refreshing them of the brand and what it stands for. Select who you take carefully and this method will work well for you. 

PR

In my previous feature on the relationship franchising has with PR I went into quite a bit of detail on how to make the most of the media. PR is also very important when creating a solid national strategy as there will always be specific regional areas which are your ‘ideal’ new franchisee zones. In most cases these are the areas surrounding your head office, so the new franchisee editions to the family will be easier to manage as they will be close by. With this in mind, concentrate on creating pockets of media coverage in areas that you really want exposure and then you’ll be more likely to get awareness, interest and eventually enquiries from the types of locations that you really want. An example of this working well is in the Yorkshire region where a new jewellery franchise called The Wharf has recently launched. Their PR campaign is going well and the enquiries are coming in from a targeted localised region which is ideal for their launch.

Affiliates

Use your head office to trial national affiliate campaigns. For example, one of the companies I work with has recently trialled a joint promotion with Subway. The trial is going well in the south region and it if continues to go well, it may be offered nationally as a promotion that all the franchisees can get involved in. So look for companies that are national but operate locally and make sure you carry out a thorough trial. If you regularly offer good promotions to help support your franchisees, you’ll be keeping them happy, profitable and ultimately lengthen the relationship. 

If you have any questions about any of my features and want to know what I think of your franchise, please contact me at sarah@coconutcreatives.co.uk.

PR has often been the best kept secret to franchising success. But use it carefully, says Coconut Creatives. 

Many franchisees have used press releases very successfully to launch their franchise operation and to give a trusted / valid interest in what they offer.

Only if it’s Newsworthy!

It is often very tempting for new franchisors to bash out press release after press release and swear blind that each and every word that has been written is nail bitingly newsworthy. Often it is the case that others (especially members of the media) may not agree and this can result in doing more harm than good. Every press release should include something that has ‘just happened’, something that might be ‘new’ and something that someone of some importance has said about it. A good example of shouting about something new is the first ever Fair Trade franchise being launched this month from new franchisor; Shared Earth.  

The Power of Images

Never send out a press release without an image or even better, two images. By adding an image you are increasing your chances of getting something newsworthy actually printed.

Relationships with Editors

Editors receive copy from lots of different people and companies everyday. You will therefore need to make sure that you stand out from the crowd by befriending them. While I’m not quite suggesting that you take them to the pub, it is always a good idea to give them a call from time to time to see if your story might fit with what they are doing. 

Know your Media

It is often beneficial to tailor your press release depending on the type of media it is being sent out to. The tone, types of wording, length of sentences and quantities of images and quotes can vary enormously between different publications.

Get hold of Feature Lists

Most publications know what they will be concentrating on over the coming months. Most even know 12 months in advance. It is very beneficial if you can get hold of their features list for the next few months and try to think of how your franchise might be able to tie in with this. For example; if one of January’s features is about charity events, concentrate on a story surrounding the charity that your company supports and how your franchisees all around the country come together to raise money. You will still be promoting your franchise and your story will fit with their features list and so be more likely to be viewed as newsworthy. 

Timing, Timing, Timing

It is sometimes worth holding a good story back by a few days or even a few weeks to avoid clashing with major events (like the World Cup final) as there will be more room in the paper for you when there is less going on that will be viewed as more newsworthy.

Selective timing also works in your favour, especially when franchise exhibitions are concerned. By launching a new franchise or a range of franchise products around the same time as the major franchise shows (like the National Franchise Exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham usually around September time) you will be more likely to be able to ride off the momentum created by the exhibition organisers and their PR team.  

PR however is only one marketing tool so next month we’ll be discussing the importance of using a solid integrated national marketing strategy.

First and foremost, prospective franchisees must already have some degree of knowledge of the franchise industry otherwise valuable franchisor time is wasted in explaining ‘wanabe’ business owners the logistics of a franchised business rather than the benefits of their specific franchise offering. 

Identifying well prepared prospective franchisees is the first step in determining whether or not they are worth spending valuable time and resources on pursuing.

With this in mind, it is advisable to concentrate franchise advertising efforts towards on/offline channels which are designed specifically for franchisors. That way, franchisors should almost always attract a well informed prospect.  

Once a propsects knowledge level has been determined, franchisors must identify the driving forces behind their desire for a franchise. There are many reasons why individuals want a franchise but they all have one overriding reason; they are dissatisfied with their current situation. All prospective franchisees are looking for some kind of fulfilment, whether it is a change in career, daily routine, family life, relocation or just simply the desire to be their own boss.

When franchisors understand that every unique enquiry they deal with is from a dissatisfied candidate, their approach to them changes along with the chances of converting them.  

Your offering

I have seen many different types of ‘teaser and taster’ franchise information packs both good and not so good along with long winded and complicated ‘franchise steps’ and sales lead processes. Again, the overriding rule here is to keep it brief and keep it simple. Prospects need to be led, so don’t give too much away in the post, on the telephone or via email. To truly convince a prospect to part with their hard earned capital, YOU need them to want more information and you want them to experience it at first hand. A face to face meeting at your template franchise is the best way to achieve this (see my previous article on The Value of a Template Franchise). 

Do YOU want them?

While it can sometimes seem a struggle to get those first few franchisees. Lessons can be taken from experienced franchisors who have reversed the mentally from pursuing every possible sales lead to considering whether those individuals are suited to their franchise. Much like a job interview process, these franchisors go through a selection process and only progress those key enquiries that truly fit the bill.

Some Do’s and Don’ts to Attract Profitable Franchisees

• Keep your offer simple and realistic
• Concentrate your advertising efforts on franchise specific channels
• Don’t turn a prospect off by quoting high potential turnover figures. Consider that the prospect is likely to be experiencing some degree of dissatisfaction and they are more likely to be pessimistic than optimistic while in this state of mind.
• Always speak to prospects on the telephone before sending them out any information
• Always stay in control of the process; they have come to you because they are searching for a solution. As long as your franchise is seen as a solution, the more chances you have of converting them into a franchisee 

Next feature; Teaching new franchisees to look after themselves

Use your template franchise to its maximum potential!

It’s always important to ‘lead your pack’ and it is has never been more important to do this than now. Franchisors are operating within a highly competitive market place with new rival businesses (both franchises and independents) popping up to snatch your market share. Due to this, it is vital to use all the tools you have to effectively market your franchise.

Marketing through franchising is often seen as split between marketing the overall franchisor package and providing a good solid national campaign that offers value for your franchisees hard earned royalties. When these approaches are combined, they ensure further interest in your business model when they are brought together within a seamless and integrated approach.

Being a franchisor means that you act and operate as a leader. You always need to have the answers; you always need to know the latest statistics and you must always try to be one step ahead of your competitors. An effective way of achieving a good balance between all these various weights is through utilising your Template Franchise. For many Franchisors, a Template Franchise is simply the area or region where their head office is, whilst also being the area where their head office team provide their own products or services locally. This continual ‘hands on’ approach to keeping in touch with shop floor activity, enables franchisors to interact and relate to their franchisees on many different levels.

There are five main ways to make the most of your template franchise:

1. Use your template as a marketing tool; for example; get testimonials from happy customers and create affiliations with other local businesses (that could work well in other areas for your franchisees)
2. Use your template to create a good stage for prospective franchisees to view; creating first hand experience (the best marketing test!)
3. Use a template to try out new product developments; to stay ahead of the competition and maintain your leadership title within your own franchise family
4. Use a template as a benchmark of quality; set industry standards and stand out from the crowd thus creating a fabulous sustainable competitive advantage.
5. The ‘do as we do’ example; show that you can really walk your own talk

One client that I have worked with since the launch of their franchise has used these techniques to build further value into their franchise package. As well as battling through the thousands of advertising messages that prospective franchisees are exposed to every day, your can help them to understand the theory behind your business through exposing them to it on a first hand basis. This gives prospective franchisees a real feel for how it might be if they bought into your ideas and became one of your franchisees. Surely a priceless marketing sensory experience that many companies just can’t achieve or compete with.