One of the best things about opening your business in modern times is the vast amount of exposure you can find with online marketing. From using social media, to paid posts that display to warm audiences, it’s safe to say that marketing has taken it up a notch in capabilities. As a franchise owner, this comes as great news for several reasons. One, you can reach new customers without needing a huge budget to spend. In many cases, you’re only “spending” the time it takes to create and send out your content. And two, you can tailor your marketing efforts in real time, and to best reach your ideal audience.
If this all sounds foreign to you as a new franchisee, don’t fret. There are many ways to learn, including your franchising company themselves. Or you can even hire a digital marketing company to help get things up and off the ground. In any case, take a look at these options for reaching your franchise market online in order to increase your ROI.
1. Promote Your Franchise with Social Media
As mentioned above, social media can be a great place to spread the word about your franchise business. Better yet, it’s free! Create a page for your local spot, then start populating it with content. You can do this far before you ever open in order to create excitement and buzz about your opening day. Share posts about progress, what you’ll offer, and you can even introduce yourself and other team members.
Be sure to use branded hashtags so that customers can share their own posts that can be easily found online. It can be something like #businessnametown to differentiate yourself from other locations.
You can also share corporate content if and when it’s available. And, be sure to follow up on stats. Posts that gain more traction can be recreated so you’re sure that you’re providing users with the most relevant types of posts.
2. Google Ads Can Generate Warm Traffic
Did you know? Google Ads can help you target users that are in your ideal audience, whether that be by location, age, or demographic. By creating a free account, you can tailor your settings with ads that meet users who are already searching for you. Create a daily spend so you can control how much you’re putting out toward ads, too.
Better yet is that you can adjust the ads live to include ongoing promotions or upcoming deals. Consider posting Google ads to increase your online traffic and to reach local users … including those who are already interested in your services and/or products.
3. Email Marketing
Another way to reach customers online is through their inboxes. Create a space where they can sign up for deals and company news, then put together a post that lets them know about upcoming offerings. Your emails can be weekly, monthly, etc. Just be sure to let users know how often you’ll be messaging them, and that you won’t share their contact info with any outsiders. (This is a move to offer peace of mind, but it can also be legally required, depending on your industry.)
While you’re at it, be sure to mix up your content. Throw in pictures, jokes, etc. so it’s not only sales based. This can keep readers’ interest and get them excited about your upcoming promotions.
4. User-Generated Content for Marketing
One of the best ways to show off your brand is through your own customers’ posts. What better way to show how real people are enjoying your brand?! As customers post from your location, choose your favorites to share online. This gains more traction online, and it encourages more people to create posts of their own, in the hopes that their post can also be shared by your franchise company’s page.
Other ideas to encourage posts include: contests, asking for a specific post, such as a selfie or as consumers are using your products.
5. Paid or Boosted Posts
Similar to Google Ads, boosted posts are placed on social media. This is a great way to add a little, well, boost, to your best posts. Put a small budget on content that announces a sale, or add a boost when a post is already performing well online. We love boosted posts because you can spend a small amount of money to greatly increase your exposure. You can also tailor who will see the post by age and particular interests, or geographic location.
Consider this method to get more out of your social media accounts, including more buzz about an upcoming sale or promotion.
6. Digital Radio Ads
You’ve head of traditional radio ads – where folks talk about a company and explain why users should buy into their services. But what about digital radio? We’re talking ads on podcasts or online radio. Same premise, just played in different locations. Digital radio can help you reach users in your listening area, as they are usually based off subscription addresses or phone number area codes.
Consider partnering with a local podcast or a show within your industry or opt for satellite radio shows to target those in your listening area.
7. Paid Links for Your Franchise Location
Another method of digital advertising comes with paid links. You can work with websites, or other franchise owners, in order to direct traffic back to your site. This can be a great way to work with others, while still making a name for your business. Besides, it’s pointing customers right where you want them to go. Consider working with others or hiring someone to help land links to raise the clout of your franchise’s online presence.
8. Online Coupon Codes
Finally, reach your customer base as they shop online. With a digital coupon code, you can find your franchise customers on a schedule – and a location – that’s most convenient for them. Coupon codes also allow you to track sales and find where customers are shopping from, how often they accessed the code, etc.
Sending out online coupon codes can be a great way for franchise locations to grow their online sales presence, as well as gain extra data on how their regular customers shop.