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Franchise Marketing

Written by: Nick Strong

Article Overview: Nick Strong and Dee Blick take a look at franchisee marketing and aske - What is marketing? Where do I start? What kind of franchise marketing activity should I consider? How can I appraise my marketing? What do I want to achieve? and how do I get maximum impact?

Franchise Marketing

Q1: What is marketing?
Over the years I have read many definitions of marketing, but my favourite quote is from the late Peter Doyle, a marketing guru of the 20th Century. He defined marketing as a ‘philosophy of business that placed the customer at the centre of the universe.’ Another good definition of marketing is ‘identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer demand and making a profit.’

If we are in the business of deriving our income from customers, then marketing should be at the centre of all our activity!

Q2: I have no marketing experience – where do I start?
Buying a franchise puts you at an advantage when it comes to marketing your business. You have a network of franchisees to talk to plus a franchise package that should include a broad platform of marketing support. Start by talking to the franchisees in your network. Ask them about the successful marketing tactics they have used to grow their business, and the marketing mistakes they made in their early days of trading. This will save you time and money. It will also focus you so that you know you are heading in the right direction. I encourage our new franchisees to do this as soon as Induction Training is finished. If a little bedtime reading appeals then I write a monthly marketing column in Business Franchise magazine, where I present ten top tips on a popular marketing topic.

Q3: What kind of marketing activity should I consider to promote my business to potential customers?
It will help if you draw up a list of all the potential marketing tactics you can consider before whittling down to the tactics that are endorsed by your franchisor and the franchisees in your network. You should consider all of the following: small, targeted direct mailings, telephone sales, advertising, PR, sales promotion (advertising gifts promoting your brand), electronic marketing, exhibitions, networking, cold calling and seminars. Once you have drawn up your activity shortlist, you will need to focus on blending! (More on this to follow)

Q4: How can I appraise my marketing activities?
Approach each marketing activity in a business like manner and ask the following:

What are my objectives? What am I hoping to achieve?
What is the full cost of this activity?
How will I manage this activity? What timescales should I work to?
If you want to gain new customers or prospects, you need to establish how many. Don’t plan your marketing activity on the vague assumption that you want to ‘maximise your sales’

Q5: How can I gain the maximum impact from my marketing activity?
Blending is essential! Don’t plan and run each activity in isolation. Your customers will respond with more vigour if they receive two or three different approaches from you. So if you are planning to direct mail cold prospects to convert them to customers, you will increase responses if you telephone them both before and after the mailing. If you also have some local press coverage, running at the same time, then include copies in your mailing or refer to the publications when you make your cold calls. All this helps to build up a positive, rounded picture of your organisation, and it increases both prospect and customer awareness of what you do.

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Article Tags: advertising gifts, bedtime reading, business franchise, buying a franchise, centre of the universe, customer demand, definition of marketing, electronic marketing, favourite quote, franchise magazine, franchise package, heading in the right direction, induction training, marketing mistakes, marketing tactics, peter doyle, pr sales, promotion advertising, successful marketing, telephone sales



Related Forum Posts
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.
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]
Re: Franchise Surveys - Another good tool to researching a franchise is to speak with their existing franchisees. This contact information is included in most Franchise Disclosure Documents. In order to get a Franchise Disclosure Document or FDD as it is often referred to, you will have to complete a basic franchise application. The franchisor will then usually provide you with the FDD at that time. Included in that book of information is a list of the existing franchisees, the contract, the investment information etc... This information is required by Federal Law to be disclosed to your prior to making a purchase. So be sure to do your research and start with the Franchise Documents to get the initial information.
Re: What is your Business? - We are running a Online Marketing Firm and we have some good clients to which we are offering a complete Digital Marketing strategy like Search, Mobile Marketing, Branding and Design. I think in Online Marketing company online presence can be a wining factor for the success of the company.


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