Since all franchise owners want this year to be more successful than the last, the question is how best to make this happen. The key to success is with your marketing strategy, and as is true with any marketing effort, you want to continue to build your brand while at the same time bringing in new leads. The following are three areas you should focus your attention to achieve both brand building and lead generation:

3 Marketing Strategies Franchise Owners Should Invest

Focus on Local Marketing

This is especially important for a franchise owner that has national brand recognition. You want to make sure that you engage in local advertising that creates a bond with the local community while simultaneously linking with the national brand. Local promotions should complement any active national promotions. The best area for local promotion will come through local radio stations. This is especially important if a significant percentage of your customers are young. Young people are voracious consumers, and money spent advertising on the right outlets will pay dividends. Also, try to take advantage of any free press that is available in local newspapers. Finally, make sure you have a prominent local phone number. Using toll-free numbers makes your franchise appear too distant.

Integrate Your Franchise with Social Media

Regardless of the specific social media platforms you are using, having a way for people to comment on your business helps you tailor your business to the local community. Every community has differences across the country, and the better you can address the local needs and desires of your customers, the more successful you will be

Make Sure You Have a Strong Presence on the Internet

While social media is vital, it’s just one component of a strong online marketing strategy. Your website not only needs to have quality content, but this content needs to be focused on the local community. This content needs to be relevant to the local customer and inform him or her of important news. This type of information should motivate a person to take any action that is tied to your product and franchise. It is with your website that you can capture leads from prospective customers and work to convert these people into new customers for your franchise.

Although all three of the above marketing ideas are essential to success, you must first start with a plan to implement them. By creating a plan, you can spend your marketing money smartly and get the best results for your dollar. Make sure you understand what you are trying to achieve with each step of your plan before you spend any money. By having a way of tracking your results, you will be able to modify your marketing strategy as needed throughout 2015.

If you want help with your plans, check out how we can support your Franchise Marketing.

Michelle has been a franchise advisor for 15+ years. She also holds a valuable Internet Marketing Degree – however, in the ever-changing world of web marketing she strives to learn something new every day. Michelle can help you develop marketing, sales, and lead generation strategies that produce real results.

Michelle Hummel is CEO of Web Strategy Plus a full-service digital marketing agency focused on Franchise Marketing. She was recently nominated for the Woman-Owned Business of the Year! She’s a passionate Social Media Trainer with 15+ years of successful online business development, sales, and marketing experience. 

She travels Nationwide visiting her 22 Social Media Enthusiasts Chapters she developed Nationwide delivering in-depth social media training. She also provides Social Media Certifications through founding Web Media University. A current contributing editor to The Franchise Dictionary Magazine and she has written 3 books in her series called, “The Social Media Magnet: Everything You Need to Know to Attract Customers with Social Media”, where she shares her best-kept secrets to success. She also specializes in helping Franchisors and Franchisees develop an integrated web marketing program to drive leads. She’s available for interviews via email, telephone, Skype video, news segments on location, and more. Just let her know how she can help!