One of the most attractive qualities of the franchise industry is that it is resilient. The year 2020 brought about unfathomable changes for many aspects of life, but this is one area the pandemic did not change. As many other business models struggled with the effects of lockdowns and the resulting economic slowdown, many franchise businesses were able to adapt and even thrive.
Looking ahead to the rest of 2021, it’s clear more uncertainty awaits in much of the business world. Yet many factors will remain the same in the realm of franchise development, including digital marketing best practices.
Below, we’ve listed five ways you can promote the development of your franchise during these unpredictable times and ensure you’re attracting qualified leads to help grow your company and reach new levels of success.
1. Go where potential franchisees are looking.
These days, many soon-to-be business owners are millennials, and the most successful franchises are targeting this age group to find their future franchisees. To attract the attention of these younger entrepreneurs, it’s important that your business can be found where they are: on social media.
Building out your social media presence and investing in paid advertising on these platforms will reap major benefits for your franchise. Focus on sites like YouTube and Facebook where you can easily enhance your message with engaging videos and connect with the right demographics for your brand.
2. Create a more targeted approach for franchise development.
You probably know by now that bringing qualified leads to your brand is easier said than done. Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits all solution to this problem. Every brand is different and demands different levels of experience and engagement from its franchisees.
Try working backwards to attract the right candidates for your business. Create a tailored approach for franchise development by identifying which qualities your most successful franchisees share. Use these qualities to target future owners. This strategy will give you confidence your marketing dollars are being invested in the appropriate areas.
3. Don’t underestimate the power of a franchise recruitment website.
Have you been putting off building a website dedicated to franchise recruitment? If so, you may be losing out on valuable SEO opportunities, as well as the chance to present specific aspects of your brand to potential franchisees.
Having a website oriented towards attracting franchisees will make it much easier for the right individuals to get the information they need to put your brand on their list of possible business endeavors. Building a separate website for this purpose also offers a simple way to present what franchise ownership with your brands look like. It allows prospective franchisees to quickly learn what they can expect when they purchase one of your franchise locations.
4. Take the time to crunch the numbers.
Nowadays, analytics play a huge role in the decision-making process for companies, especially franchise companies. With more data available than ever, it’s easy to utilize numbers to understand how to recruit leads that will ultimately translate into sales.
One of the best ways to take advantage of all analytics have to offer is to partner with a franchise development company. The right company will work with the cutting-edge systems and algorithms to provide your development team with answers and strategies for future success.
5. Turn to experts for your marketing campaign.
The landscape of digital marketing is constantly in flux, and keeping up with all these changes is no easy feat. In this case, it’s almost always best to rely on experts to help you get the results you’re looking for.
Marketing that produces measurable results requires a carefully calculated balance of SEO, content development, social media engagement, email blasts, and video content. With the perfect campaign in place designed by an expert marketing team, you’ll be much more likely to find yourself with the right franchisees to grow your franchise.
