Activating Your Franchise Army

Activating Your Franchise Army

“A rising tide lifts all boats.” We hear this phrase used often in business, but it couldn’t ring any more true than when talking about how to maximize marketing spend for franchise brands.  The fact is, the more dollars that are infused into the marketplace, supporting a brand at both the national and local levels, the better it is for everyone in the system.  The key is to make sure that brand and local marketing dollars are working together and not competing individually.

We regularly speak to franchise systems that are facing challenges due to disparate brand and local marketing efforts.  Developing a comprehensive strategy that supports both is key to maximizing your marketing dollars and driving a high ROI. (And when it comes to digital marketing, a centralized brand-local strategy can be critical in preventing disparate efforts from competing, fracturing online credibility, and otherwise impacting performance.)

National advertising budgets/funds should be used to support brand efforts as well as lay the foundational groundwork at the local level.  Think of it in terms of building a house or an office building – the foundation must be in place before you get started on anything else.

At the point that the foundation is laid and in place, leveraging those (in many cases) untapped local dollars is huge!  We speak with franchise systems everyday that are investing on behalf of their individual locations (or stores) but are consistently frustrated with the lack of incremental investment at the local level.

In most cases those dollars are required contractually but are simply not being activated and/or tracked.

Tracking Local Marketing Spend

One important franchise marketing survey noted that “3 out of 4 (74%) brands surveyed said that they require or recommend local marketing spending. Nearly 6 out of 10 (57%) of the brands responding did not have systems to ensure that each location was spending at the local level.”  -Franchising.com

We consistently see the most success when brands are doing both!

In our experience it’s key to explain to both parties (brand and franchisees) how these dollars can work together effectively to reach their combined business and financial goals – all boats rise!

Top 5 Components of a Successful Franchise Brand Marketing Strategy:

1. Comprehensive Research
2. Accurate Data
3. Integrated Marketing & Media Plan
4. National/Brand Foundation Building – Corporate and/or Ad Fund Dollars
5. Franchise Local Marketing – Activating Required Local Spends with a local marketing program that works cohesively with corporate efforts.

Build upon corporate advertising spend and strategy with a local marketing program that works in conjunction with national efforts. Franchisors and franchisees working together is the path to driving ROI for your advertising dollars. And marketing technology is a tool you can use to help achieve your goals.

We’ll dive into franchise martech in Activating Your Franchise Army, part 2. Stay tuned.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_column_text]

The Author

Ted Asbury is Location3’s Executive VP of Strategy. With a wealth of experience in franchise marketing, Ted understands how to establish a successful marketing program that streamlines brand and local advertising efforts to deliver results. Learn more about Ted and his approach to franchise marketing.