Marketing for a franchise can be easy as long as you know what you’re doing. Of course, if you choose the hire professionals, then it makes it less stressful. For instance, if you visit localbrandadvisor.com, you can see all the different ways such professionals can help your franchise establish a foothold in a particular market. For example, if you want to harness then the power of pay-per-click (PPC) as an advertising tool, these consultants can provide the necessary guidance to help you achieve that.
The beauty of the franchise business model is that a franchisee gets a significant leg up almost immediately; there is an established brand name with which customers can easily identify, a reliable advertising strategy that brings in business, and a host of other perks.
Generally, a franchisee is advised to do things in line with the bigger vision of the parent company. This helps them to quickly establish themselves in an area. However, they can also run into the problem of being seen as “not local.”
Too Big for the Local Market
Franchises are ruthlessly adept at gaining recognition nationwide. However, they usually run into a problem when one of their franchisees sets up shop in an area where they may be competition. For example, a franchisee may open their business in an area where there are other well-established businesses in the same niche. Because the franchisee has the backing of their parent company, usually a big corporation, they may not pay much attention to the local market.
However, this is a mistake that can be costly in the long run. It is incumbent upon all franchisees to ensure that they’re well-tuned into the local market. Establishing proper marketing strategies that account for the specific conditions of the local market can make all the difference.
This is where a local marketing strategy becomes essential. The right consultants can help a franchisee to become a household name in their particular neighborhood or part of town.
They can accomplish this by;
Helping to Narrow Down Your Target Audience
Identifying your target audience is essential from the get-go. As a franchise, you’ll have a good idea of this. A simple analysis of your sales and other crucial metrics like purchasing habits can reveal a lot about your target audience. You can narrow down your target audience by demographics like age, income level, gender, and other factors.
Another thing to help you do this is to identify any issues that your people in your area are facing. This gives you a good idea of what you can do to address this issue in the context of your franchise offering a better service. In the course of conducting the survey necessary to identify customer pain points, you’ll also get to know about their general attitudes toward your franchise. All this information becomes invaluable when formulating a successful local marketing strategy.
Critically Examine Your Sales Funnel
The sales funnel a crucial part of any business strategy analysis. It is the customer’s journey from the time they become aware of your franchise to when they make a purchase or request services. Analysis of this process will give you the insight needed to come up with a solid local marketing strategy. It can be broken down into several phases;
i)Awareness
ii) Discovery
iii) Evaluation
iv) Intent
v) Purchase
v) Loyalty
It’s crucial to remember that potential customers can drop off at any point during these phases. For instance, if a customer has become aware of your brand and does research only to find negative reviews, they may reconsider purchasing from your franchise. Similarly, if a customer gets to the purchase stage and gets a negative experience at your establishment, they may not come back, meaning you’ve lost the loyalty aspect.
Analysis of your sales funnel will help you identify any weaknesses in your process and help you craft an effective local marketing strategy.
Establish Your Franchise as an Authority
It’s not enough to simply understand your target demographics and the sales funnel; you need to be seen as an authority in your niche. To do this, start by analyzing your local competition. The fact that they’ve been in business before your arrival at that local market means they’re doing something right. Once you’re familiar with their setup and how they do things, you need to establish yourself as an authority while utilizing the information from your competitors. If you don’t have a vibrant website, now is the time to set one up. Ensure that the content you post is engaging but factual. Have a social media page to compliment your website. Every post or content should align with your franchise’s values while addressing local needs if you can have links to your site from all your social media posts and other authority sites in your niche, all the better.
The execution of the above steps will greatly determine how your franchise will conquer the local market.
