How to Market Your Franchise Business for Success

Marketing Advice For Franchisees

As with every other type of business, marketing is essential to the success of a franchise. From attracting customers and driving business growth to setting your franchise apart from others in your city, a robust marketing strategy plays a crucial role in the success of a franchise business.

However, marketing a franchise has its own unique set of challenges. For example, as a franchisee trying to market your new business venture, you must follow the branding and guidelines set out by the franchisor while running your own marketing campaigns independently from the franchisor. This can often take time for franchisees to balance.

With that being said, in this article, we’ve provided an overview of the importance of franchise marketing along with our top marketing tips for new franchisees. Keep reading to find out why you need to be marketing your franchise and how to run successful ad campaigns that will set your franchise business up for success.

The Importance of Marketing Your Franchise

As previously stated, running a successful franchise requires a lot of hard work, patience, and, of course, effective marketing campaigns.

From digital marketing tools like SEO and Google Ads to more traditional print, radio, and television advertising, utilizing different types of franchise marketing tools offers numerous benefits for your business. This includes, but is not limited to:

Improved Brand Recognition

Marketing is one of the most effective ways to boost brand recognition for both your individual franchise along with the franchisor, which is incredibly important as a new franchisee. Here’s why:

According to a survey conducted by the International Franchise Association (IFA), 70% of consumers indicated that they would be more likely to give their business to a franchise brand they recognize and trust over an independent non-franchised business. While the franchisor you’ve bought into likely already has some brand recognition,

Increased Web Traffic

For any type of franchise business, driving more visitors to your website is crucial when it comes to generating more leads and converting them to paying customers.

One of the best ways to do this is through organic digital marketing techniques like Search Engine Optimization (SEO). In fact, it’s estimated that 53% of website traffic is driven by search engines like Google, which makes SEO a critical factor in attracting potential customers and increasing sales.

Increased Revenue

It’s a known fact that there is a direct link between marketing campaigns, lead generation, and increased sales and revenue. In fact, studies have found that companies that prioritize lead generation through their marketing efforts experience a 133% increase in revenue compared to those that don’t.

Expert Tips For Marketing Your Franchise

Now that you’ve familiarized yourself with the benefits of franchise marketing, let’s dive into some of our recommendations for building a strong franchise marketing strategy.

Here are our top tips:

Develop a Marketing Strategy

Your very first step should be to create a detailed marketing plan that outlines your target audience, marketing objectives, strategies, and tactics. This plan should also align with the overall brand guidelines provided by the franchisor. Then, develop a marketing strategy that will help you meet your business goals. This strategy should include digital marketing tools like:

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising
SEO
Email marketing
Content marketing
Social Media Marketing (SMM).

Build a Strong Brand Identity

As a franchisee, you have the advantage of being able to utilize your franchisor’s existing branding and brand recognition. However, it’s important to develop your own brand identity and tailor your marketing to your local audience while still maintaining brand consistency. A great way to do this is to make yourself the face of your franchise and utilize local advertising channels like radio, television, and newspapers.

Build an Audience on Social Media

Building a social media presence and engaging with followers is absolutely critical as a franchise owner. Don’t believe us? Consider this fact: consumers are 71% more likely to shop from a brand that they’ve had a positive social media experience with.

Some of the best ways to engage with customers on social media are to post about giveaways and promotions, post behind-the-scenes content about your team and operations, and respond to comments and reviews.

Focus on Reputation Management

A 2021 report found that 77% of consumers always or occasionally read business reviews. For this reason, you should always respond to reviews that are both good and bad. Responding to negative reviews helps clarify certain issues and share your side of a situation, while responding to positive reviews makes you look more engaged with your customers.

Don’t Forget About Traditional Local Advertising

While digital marketing tools are a great way to reach thousands of people across different channels, don’t underestimate the power of traditional marketing. Investing in local advertising channels such as radio, TV, print media, billboards, and community sponsorships is a great way to connect with customers in your community and increase local brand awareness.

Utilize Marketing Support From the Franchisor

Most franchisors will provide their franchisees with a marketing plan along with support when it comes to developing a marketing strategy. Take full advantage of these resources, as they will help immensely when it comes to doing your own franchise marketing. Also, make sure that any franchise you choose to invest in offers this kind of support before signing a franchise agreement.

If you are considering investing in a franchise but haven’t yet found the right franchisor to invest in, consider partnering with Gorilla Bins.

Gorilla Bins is Ontario’s leading waste management franchisor with several locations across the Greater Toronto Area.

Gorilla Bins offers its franchisees lots of training and support to help them be successful. We also have a track record of producing successful franchisees and have tripled our revenue over the past five years.

Get in touch with our team today to learn more about Gorilla Bins and how we can help set your franchise up for success.