Social media is no longer about just being social, 59% of the world’s population uses social media, and they hang out there on average more than two hours per day. Now, with advertising options available on social media platforms able to laser focus on a target market, providing your franchise prospect’s undivided attention for more than two hours a day.
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One in three consumers look to social media to find information about products and services. As well, 81% of all adults in America have a Facebook account and the average person navigates between up to seven social media platforms per month, making social media a rapidly growing source for marketing and advertising.
Nearly half of social media users have bought something after seeing an ad; this is especially true for women and millennials and 29% of social media users buy something from a social media ad at least once per week! In terms of maintaining customers, 17% of consumers will walk away from a brand if they have a bad experience with them on social media!
It’s for these reasons and more why you should include social media franchise marketing in your overall digital marketing plan.
Five Ways For Franchise Companies to Their Game in Social Media
Franchise Social Media Marketing Rule #1: Know Where Your Target Market Hangs Out
A decade ago, you could count on two major players in the social media scene: Facebook and Twitter. Today, there are dozens, each with a distinct demographic of users. It’s important to know where to find your target market. For example, you’ll find Gen X mainly on Facebook and Instagram. Millennials tend to post content on Instagram, and Gen Z prefer Tik Tok. You’ll also find them still on Snapchat, but since Tik Tok became so popular, some only utilize SnapChat for private threads. It’s important to know your audience, and know their preferences.
Franchise Social Media Marketing Rule #2: Utilize Social Media Ads
There is almost no limit to how specific you can be when it comes to narrowing down a target audience when creating Ads on social media.
The benefit of Social media Ads is that they are easy to adjust to your budget. Down to the penny, you choose how much to spend per click on your Ad. There’s potential to generate leads at an extremely low cost. This is an excellent option for generating leads on a tight budget.
Franchise Social Media Marketing Rule #3: Consistency!
When selecting commercial real estate, you will hear market professionals talk about location, location, location. Consumers need to be able to find the building and see it regularly and quickly. The same is true for social media posts! On social media, you are only as relevant as your last post. Scrollers have a lot of other posters rolling through their feed, so you want to make sure you appear there regularly. It doesn’t matter how many times per week you post if you post consistently.
For example, if you post once per week, make sure you are consistently posting once per week. If you post three times per day, five days a week, ensure that’s a pace you can keep up with. Commit to a posting schedule that you can maintain.
Franchise Social Media Marketing Rule #4: Speed to Lead
One of the best things about a social media franchise strategy is the ability to engage directly with its clients and customers. A study by Applied Marketing Science for Twitter found that customers spend nearly $18 more if their comment gets a response in four minutes or less. According to recent information from the IFA, forty percent of deals closed are those that have been contacted within four hours or less!
Franchise Social Media Marketing Rule #5: Customer Engagement
For customer engagement, social media platforms are excellent ways for franchise brands to stay in touch with others who engage in your brand online. Whether you are responding to a positive or negative comment, you are doing it in front of a significant audience, how you handle it directly reflects your brand. Prospects enter into a franchise agreement because they expect support, if they don’t see you taking care of those who comment, they may second guess how you will respond to their needs as franchisees.
Social media is an ever-changing environment, but if you keep up with it, it can be a great way to round out your franchise’s digital marketing strategy.
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