When we talk about franchise focused marketing, we are talking about content, or utilizing content marketing as part of your overall franchise marketing strategy.
Content marketing is a way of selling your concept without selling your concept. What do we mean by that? Think of those used car sale ads you sometimes see on television or online that scream at you, “SAVE! SAVE! SAVE!” Are they effective? Sometimes, yes. Is it obvious you are being sold to? Yes. Do you trust the car dealership or its leaders more because of the ad? Likely, no.
Franchise Focused Marketing and Relationships
Ask anyone in the franchising business and they will tell you franchising is about people. Franchisors and franchisees. No prospective franchisee is going to join a franchise network if they don’t believe in the concept and trust the people they are about to get into business with. And no franchisor is going to award a franchise to someone they don’t trust.
So how do you create trust between two parties as part of franchise focused marketing? It’s subtle, but it’s brilliant! It also sounds sneaky, but content marketing may be the most genuine form of marketing there is. Why? Because content marketing is about building and maintaining relationships, which in turn, creates trust. Two crucial components to sales. Ahem, Awarding Franchises.
Showcasing Your Expertise
A key differentiator between a startup and a franchise is in the leadership. In a startup, you are the leader of the entire organization and brand. In a franchise, you are the leader of your own business, but you have brand leadership to support you.
Prospective franchisees want to know and trust their leaders before investing in a concept. Franchise focused marketing content that demonstrates knowledge and leadership is the first step in building confidence in franchise leadership. Eventually, a serious prospect will meet franchise leaders via due diligence. Before they take that step, however, they’re going to seek out content. They’ll read blogs and articles and watch videos. They’ll Google you and scour the internet for reviews. If you produce well-written and well-produced content that showcases your expertise, with an abundance of knowledge share that follows the Google E-E-A-T Standards for publishing content, future franchise owners will take notice. Not only will they respect and appreciate you for it..so will Google.
Be Consistent
Wash. Rinse. Repeat. In other words, a franchise focused marketing strategy can’t begin and end with one article, one blog, or a single video. You must continually demonstrate that you are a leader in your industry. Create a content calendar that keeps content coming out on a regular basis. Your prospective franchisee wants to make sure they can rely on you and see that you are organized. This is an excellent way to demonstrate both.
Franchise Focused Marketing on Social Media
Social media is the hub of relationship building. This is where you will link all that wonderful content you have been creating, and where your readers (potential investors) will have access to you and your team. Let the relationship-building commence! The right engagement demonstrated by you on social media can be what converts someone who is thinking about inquiring about your franchise opportunity, to actually reaching out.
There is no real downside to franchise focused marketing through content. Even if you make a mistake, all eyes will be on you to see how you handle it. Handle it well, and your prospects will trust you even more. Plus, blogs, articles, videos, thought leadership speaking engagements and other digital assets online, are designed to be backlinked back to your website. This serves your overall franchise focused marketing strategy in multiple ways. Content is crucial.
So, go ahead and show off what you know and who you are. The more sincere you are, the less salesy you will be perceived. Franchising is a sales business, no doubt. But it is a people business first. Concentrate on giving franchise focused marketing content to people.