Digital Recap: Watch the Franchise Activation Conference Now!

Photo by Alessio Zaccaria on Unsplash

Franchise Activation Conference 2020 – Session Recordings Now Available! 

All sessions of the first Franchise Activation Conference are now available on YouTube! This virtual event, sponsored by LOCALACT, our franchise marketing platform, was produced with help from our partners at the International Franchise Association (IFA) and Google. There are two days of content, covering a range of franchise-relevant topics including: local marketing, diverse and inclusive workplaces, the IFA’s political advocacy work, and more. One of our favorite sessions is the Franchisee Spotlight, in which local business owners from Wild Birds Unlimited, Ace Hardware, and FASTSIGNS International discussed challenges they are facing and how they are surmounting those challenges. Learn more about the event and find links to the recorded sessions here. 

‘Available near me’ Searches Are Up Over 100% 

Online shopping is (obviously) booming, but ‘available near me’ searches are up over 100% compared to last year. This indicates a huge local sales opportunity for retailers, and digital marketing can help. Writing for Search Engine Lane, Greg Sterling shares insights from his conversation with Google’s Reena Nadkarni, Head of Product Management, Local Ads. Among the practical, data-driven pieces of advice provided by Nadkarni: get local product inventory data online. Consumers want to know their item is in stock before coming in-person to shop. Read Sterling’s piece for more on what retailers can do to maximize local sales. 

FTC Wants to Know How Social Media Companies Use Personal Information 

The Federal Trade Commission is seeking data from social media companies, including Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, YouTube, Amazon.com Inc, TikTok, and others, on how users’ personal information is used. The companies will have 45 days to respond to the orders. Reuters covered the story on Monday. 

‘Pivot’ – ANA’s Word of the Year 

The Association of National Advertisers has named a word of the year since 2014, and this year’s word might not be surprising to those of us working in the industry: pivot. Joe Mandese provides the vocabulary lesson for Media Daily News. Flexibility is always important in the ever-changing world of online marketing, but 2020 sent us all an unforeseen curveball. Mandese highlights the words of Raja Rajamannar, chief marketing and communications officer of Mastercard, “We pivoted from physical experiences to digital experiences.” Successful companies will be those that can pivot to adapt. Read Mandese’s article for more. 

2021 will bring even more pivoting towards privacy, which happens to be my prediction for next year’s word.