Introduction

In a day and age when everything’s digital and we all live and breathe on social media, it isn’t enough just to have a social media presence- but its importance as a fundamental driver of business growth and consumer engagement has become evident. For any business that works with franchises and operates as a chain, the use of social media for marketing purposes presents a very exciting and powerful opportunity to reach out to local audiences whilst ensuring brand consistency.

Between generating new and building brand awareness, marketers can’t afford not to have a comprehensive social media strategy in 2020. Indeed, it can be the difference between franchise that scales and one that struggles to stay relevant in the digital/cloud age.

In this post, we’ll explain why social media marketing is so important for franchises, what it has to offer, and how franchisors and franchisees can each put it to good use.

1. Enhances Brand Awareness and Reach

Brand visibility Social media marketing’s cost-effectiveness and humungous reach makes it the best tool to amplify your brand’s presence. This is a game changer for franchises. A national or international franchise brand can expand its reach and target markets with the use of campaigns, paid ads, and partnership with influencers.

Each franchisee has the ability to use corporate branding, as well as localize content to appeal to local consumers. This blended delivery model of central messaging but local content means that all complex and start and stop times are synchronised to maintain consistent brand voice but to also build relevance and key local touch points.

2. A Common Message, In All Places

One of the hardest parts of franchise marketing is keeping a consistent brand message. Failure to manage franchisees can result in inconsistent tones, voice, or even imagery, and confuse your audience about who you are as a brand.

Leverage social media to scale and coordinate communications across the entire network of franchisees–each of whom can control communication in line with brand messaging and marketing objectives.

3. Drives Local Touch and Foot Traffic

Where the franchise’s primary social accounts might be more centered around global campaigns or telling the brand’s story, those localized social media accounts are key to getting butts in seats at specific locations.

Local franchisees can promote with location-based content:

• Exclusive offers or discounts
• Local happenings or being a part of the community
• Customer reviews and behind-the-scenes footage
• Geo-targeted adverting for better conversions

Social ties the national brand presence for the brand to the local community needs. It humanizes the brand and encourages loyalty on the ground.

4. Improved Customer Support and Reputation Management

In the age of instant communication, service users frequently use social media to send message from their opinion through their complaint to find help. It’s both a challenge and an opportunity for franchises.

Franchisors and franchisees leverage social media for:

• Encourage negative feedback Early and often, have a plan to deal with it though it is uncomfortable.
• Recognize and reward loyal customers
• Answer FAQs in real-time
• Collect feedback for better service

An effectively-managed social media presence can help maintain brand reputation, establish trust in customers and demonstrate responsiveness.

5. Affordable, High-ROI Marketing

In terms of cost, social media marketing is much cheaper than traditional marketing such as print ads or TV adverts. Franchises can begin with minimal investment and adjust operations according to performance.

Using tools such as Facebook Ads Manager or Instagram Insights, franchisees can:

• Focus on particular target groups (age, local area, interest groups)
• Measure the campaign as it runs
• Re-engage website visitors to increase conversions
• Try Different Creatives with A/B Testing

It’s this results-based focus that makes sure every dollar is spent for maximum impact.

6. Strips building and brand advocacy Community foster opens up build

Franchises flourish not just with transactions but with relationships. Social media is an outlet for building long-term relationships with local customers, employees and community.

Showcase local initiatives, staff members, charity drives and customers’ stories So franchises can be the active and caring citizens of their community. This emotional bond not only creates brand loyalty, but also turns satisfied customers into advocates for the brand.

7. Gives franchisees control of how to spend the marketing fund

One of the fears of franchisors, is how to control the image of their brand in the social media. Allowing franchisees certain freedom to access local social media can do more to boost engagement and authenticity — all according to strict guidelines, of course.

Franchisees know the local market. Under the right training and tools, they can also produce content that relates and resonates but that also is in line with the brand’s brand campaign.

Franchisors can:

• Provide training sessions on social media guidelines
• Give them a content library, including brand-compliant photos and captions
• Monitor and facilitate performance at all franchisee accounts

This type of collaboration fosters accountability, creativity and overall better results for everyone.

8. Aids in Tracking Market and Competitors

Social media also serves as a live listening device, too. Franchisors and franchisees can now observe market trends, follow competitor tactics, and gauge customer sentiment.

Using social listening platforms such as Sprout Social, Mention or Brandwatch franchises can:

• Find What topics or hashtags are trending
• Identify areas where pain points or service gaps are consistent
• Pick up new features or functions a customer wants next together with other new preferences of college student suck.
• Compare to competing campaigns

Franchise businesses can use this data to shift marketing strategies and remain an industry leader.

9. Drives Leads and Sales

Social media is not just a branding vehicle—it’s a lead gen and sales machine. On sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, franchisers can:

• Launch lead magnet campaigns (such as free trials or coupons or webinars)
• Online ordering or booking platforms will help drive traffic there
• Get your local limited-time offers out there.
• Gather email addresses to use in newsletters

With the right CTA and conversion tracking, franchises do have the potential to create measurable sales via their social efforts

Conclusion

In the fast-moving, digitally-driven economy, social media marketing is no longer a nice-to-have for any franchise—it’s a must-do. For franchise development, this is essentially having a social presence to reach potential business owners interested in opening their own locations of your brand.

Through the alignment of a togrethered branding and a local engagement, franchises can create deep relationships, drive foot traffic, build reputation and stay ahead of the competition. The secret is in the methodical approach of having the right tools and by empowering corporate and local teams to work together.

In other words, social media marketing is not only important for franchises – it’s a fundamental aspect of their continued success.