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Franchise Marketing Plan

Written by: Sebastien Page

Article Overview: In order to go anywhere as a franchisee, the franchisor needs to have a sturdy and effective marketing plan in place. Here are some guidelines when it comes to researching a franchisor's marketing plan...

Franchise Marketing Plan

In order to go anywhere as a franchisee, the franchisor needs to have a sturdy and effective marketing plan in place. Here are some guidelines when it comes to researching a franchisor's marketing plan:

1) Know the Basics: You should take the time to learn the basics about how franchise marketing plans work. In general, a marketing plan is a map laid out by the franchisor that dictates how business will be brought in. As a franchisee, you will contribute a set amount of money / a percentage from sales into a collective marketing plan pool controlled by the franchisor (note that other franchisees will contribute to the pool as well). Depending on your needs as a franchisee, the franchisor will dole out money from the pool that will cover such expenses as TV commercials, direct mailings to potential and existing customers, print advertisements, in-house marketing expenses and fees paid to advertising agencies for their services.

2) Know the Right Questions to Ask: To get a good idea about the durability and success of a franchise's marketing plan, ask these simple questions: Do you understand the needs and tastes of your customers? Do you know the strengths of your competitors? (If you're an active customer of the franchise you're considering buying into, these questions can be answered pretty easily).

3) Get More Information: If you are one of those potential franchisees who doesn't know much about the franchise you're thinking of buying into, you should contact the franchise and request all available public information about the marketing plan. Franchises will usually comply with this request, if only because they see you as a prospective source of income.

4) See the TOC: You should definitely try to get a peek at the marketing support guide that existing franchisees use. Whereas a lot of this content might be too sensitive to hand out to prospective franchisees, the franchisor should be able to give you at least the table of contents, which will give you a solid overview of the blueprint used to market the brand and product.

5) Seek Out Other Franchisees: Be sure to ask other franchisees specific questions about sales, the best avenues of advertising, and what the franchisor might change about the marketing plan (if any). As you've undoubtedly deduced, you can determine a lot about your franchising potential by gauging current franchisees' levels of satisfaction with the marketing strategies dictated by the franchisor.

6) Learn whether the Franchise is Receptive to Franchisee Input: For the most part, franchisors grant their franchisees some leverage in the creation of their marketing plans. Find out how much say franchisees generally have regarding marketing plan improvements. Also, find out whether or not strategies and/or ideas they've suggested have been recognized and utilized by the franchisor – this will give you a good idea about the amount of creative breathing room you'd have in marketing plan development.

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Article Tags: advertisements, advertising agencies, amount of money, direct mailings, durability, effective marketing, existing customers, franchise marketing, franchisee, franchises, franchisor, marketing plan, peek, pool, prospective franchisees, public information, simple questions, tastes, toc, tv commercials



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Starting a New Business - Congratulations on the first step of deciding to create your own business. First, you have to ascertain if you are going to be selling your products or services to people or to businesses. People purchase products and services for three basic reasons: •To satisfy basic needs •To solve problems •To make themselves feel good. You have to determine which of these three categories your product or service is the solution to. Businesses, unlike individuals, buy products and services for three reasons as well: •To increase revenues •To maintain the status quo •To decrease expenses. Knowing the reasons why people/businesses buy, you should have a picture emerging of who you think your "Target Market" (or ideal customer) is. Once you have zeroed in on your solution, you are ready to create your Marketing Strategy. If you look at any company that has grown rapidly over the past few years, (i.e. WestJet and Starbucks), it should demonstrate to you the importance of Marketing. In simple terms these companies have: •Clearly defined what makes them different; •Who their ideal customer is; •How to reach them; •Why customers should buy from them; •And most importantly why customers should come back again. It is strong Marketing Awareness that singles out the best companies. I can not stress enough how important it is to create a "living" Marketing Plan before you even start. I hope this helps a little in the creation of your plan. All the very best of luck. Remember: "A Goal without a Plan is just a Wish" Miles of Smiles, Marketing Maven
Re: Enticing Franchises - Top 9 List - All Franchise listed above are in millions of dollars. Do you have the list of Franchise in thousands
Re: Info for would be franchisers... - [quote="Sebastien":1d29sdv1]Like Franchise Times, Franchise Update is a very practical magazine. There is no blah blah, just straight facts that anyone in the franchise community can relate to. I just want to mention that all these magazines are NOT franchisee oriented. I mean these magazines are for franchise professionals. If you're looking to buy a franchise, you won't find much information in there. To answer your question, getting published in Franchise Times was fairly easy. I don't want to brag too much but I think I am known in the franchise industry. I was the marketing guy at Franchise.com for a few years before joining my new company, the World Franchising Network. So people know me and I have a very good relationship with Nancy Weingartner, the Managing Editor at Franchise Times. I was talking with her at the last Franchise Expo South in Miami and she mentioned she'd like me to be profiled. I was like "ok, sure!". I like this franchise executive profile thing in Franchise Times as it is rarely BS. People are usually really natural in there.[/quote:1d29sdv1] Thanks for the follow up Sebastien! And I can't say that I'm surprised that networking with the right people and managing your relationships with them properly are the keys to being published. I guess the old adage holds true of "it's not who you know, but who knows you" that's important.
I could use some help with my Marketing Plan Objective - Hi guys, Well I'm off to the UK be back to work on April 10th. In the meantime, I could use some help. My Marketing Plan Objective is definitely not SMART. It doesn't have anything specific, or measurable, it is achievable, it is realistic and it is timed. You're help will be appreciated. Hope to tallk to you in April and see you in May. Judi
how much for a franchise fee? - Dear Colleague There is no easy answer to this question. Things to consider: [list=] The sizeof the Franchise Clent base Expected Turnover Intellectual Property costs (recoup) Number of Franchises Number of employees Original Set up costs Franchise admin costs An example: A franchise that I was involved in setting was to a simple "lawn mowing/home repair" franchise. The Franchise included national/local advertising - preparation of client lists - general admin - central accounting etc The Franchise involved 300-500 clients - and an annual turnover of about $300,000 . The annual franchise fee was $30,000. Hope that this gives you some idea Take care Ian[/list]


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