You must have a sound franchise marketing plan and strategy in place to sell franchises and succeed as a franchisor. To sell franchises, you need to identify prospective franchisees and get them interested in your concept. That means knowing where to advertise and what message will resonate with the franchise prospects you’re trying to reach. That is where iFranchise Group comes in.
We know better than anyone where and how you need to promote your opportunity to attract qualified franchise prospects. We have access to statistical data on hundreds of thousands of dollars in franchise advertising expenditures, along with in-house insights gathered from our own clients and our affiliate franchise digital marketing agency, TopFire Media, and our affiliate outsourced franchise sales organization, FranDevCo. We know where leads come from, what they cost by media type, and what it takes to close them. Even better, we put that knowledge to work for you.
An important aspect of marketing success is having a powerful brand story that is compelling on both an emotional and logical level. Inspiration and motivation drive action. Prospective franchisees invest in more than numbers; they invest in brands they believe in. How do you know if your brand’s story is unique? If you could substitute a competitor’s name for yours in your messaging, you have failed to set yourself apart. If you can’t explain why you are better in a way that is unique to you, it is time to go back to the drawing board.
Growing as a franchisor requires a steady stream of qualified franchise prospects. Before we draft the marketing message you’ll use to attract them, we need to know who they are and what really motivates them. Generic messaging aimed at a generic prospect tends to fall on deaf ears.
Your franchisee candidate will probably have different motivating factors than you. That’s okay! In fact, our experience has shown that for potential franchise owners, much more important than awareness of a specific brand, are motives such as:
Prior to developing your franchise marketing and lead generation plan, the iFranchise Group can conduct primary research on your target franchisee. Since we have been researching prospective franchisees using a prescribed format for years, we can combine our historical research with your concept specific research to develop a custom plan that targets your specific franchise candidate and growth needs.
A big part of franchise marketing is understanding who you’re up against. Your concept is unlikely to be entirely without competition, so we help you:
Our marketing plans outline the specific activities and budget allocations we recommend to generate qualified leads, along with the steps required to implement them. A typical plan addresses:
It will also include specific recommendations on media mix, lead tracking, and targeted advertising effectiveness rates. Combined with localized marketing tactics, metrics such as cost-per-lead and cost-per-franchise-sale by media type give you a detailed, step-by-step approach to franchise lead generation.
Beyond the marketing plan itself, iFranchise Group has a complete in-house creative team and affiliate agency. This team helps build out your marketing efforts, from developing ads and franchise brochures to localized search engine optimization and content marketing tactics for your website. Our team is flexible and can help develop collateral built specifically for franchise sales.
Selling a franchise is a different discipline than selling a product or a business with an individual location. Your message must communicate the excitement and potential of the opportunity. It needs to share the message that the business is simple enough to succeed at while also conveying that it’s complex enough that a prospect is more likely to fail without you. That’s a tightrope most consumer ad agencies can’t easily walk. In addition, franchise advertising is regulated in eight states. Because it must be reviewed by regulators prior to registration, franchise marketing calls for specialized expertise.
To learn more about our franchise marketing services, call one of our franchise consultants now at (708) 957-2300. Or request a copy of our 90-minute seminar video on How to Franchise Your Business, or our free webinar, How Many Franchises Can I Expect to Sell, for a deeper look at these franchise marketing issues.
We also invite you to contact our affiliate firms, TopFire Media and FranDevCo, for information about ongoing franchise public relations and digital marketing services, and outsourced franchise sales support.
Request a free video and info on how to franchise your business, and we will have the right franchise consultant contact you.
Request a free video and info on how to franchise your business, and we will have the right franchise consultant contact you.
