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Marketing and Advertising
You and your franchisees both have a vested interest in your franchise’s successes; as such, advertising should be a joint endeavour. You both have a certain amount of responsibility in making sure the franchise is the best it can be.
In order to avoid confusion and frustration, however, it’s as well to state those responsibilities up front, probably in the franchise agreement, certainly in discussion. If, for example, you plan to conduct market research but leave local advertising to the franchisees, they should know this well in advance of the franchise opening.
Effective Advertising
You already run a successful business, so you probably already know how to advertise effectively and who your target market is. Nevertheless, it’s important to remember that the things people buy fall into three main categories:
· items that meet basic needs (clothes, food, etc.)
· items that are specific solutions to a problem (electrical tape, computer software, etc.)
· luxury items (recreational and extraneous goods)
It is possible to fit into more than one category, but generally speaking, your business will belong to one primary area. Before you begin advertising, you must know which of these categories your business falls into and target your audience effectively. We’ve already discussed your target market and target customer; now, it’s time to make sure that your advertising is aimed at these individuals.
Location, Location, Location
In addition to figuring out whom you’re selling to, you have to know where they are. A local fish shop, for example, will have a very different clientele base than an online company. Is your product of local interest, or will it appeal to people across the nation? What about international marketing? You’ll likely have two markets: a primary and secondary market. For example, your primary market might be locals looking for a specific item, and your secondary market might be tourists shopping for local colour and souvenirs.
Regardless, once you’ve identified your primary market, you’ll want to do some local market research to find out how much of your primary market overlaps your target customer in terms of age, gender, education, lifestyle, etc.
Once you have this information, turn to the records at the local library halls, online, or wherever else you can find them for a given area and determine how many of your target customers live in a given area. In other words, this all goes back to demographics and market research, but now that your franchise has a specific location, you can target that specific area. In general, you want to know how many of your target customers exist in your demographic, and how many of them you’re reaching. This will give you a good sense of what kind of advertising you need to do, how much, and who you should target.
Methods of Advertising
There are as many methods of advertising as there are advertising and PR companies (which is to say, a lot). It’s good to diversify and try different methods, but watch that you don’t spread yourself too thin. Stay within your budget, and make sure that your primary method of advertising is one that has proved successful in the past. The launch of your franchise is not the time to start fooling around with new ideas! Try something new, sure, but make sure you back it up with the tried and true.
1. Free Publicity
Who can say no to free publicity? Whether you’re working in a small community or a large city, the local media is a fantastic resource if you can find a hook to catch them. They aren’t going to just turn around and offer you free advertising, so the key is to find a way your franchise contributes to the local community. Think human interest.
In a small community, this will likely be a much easier job than in a city. Simply the fact that one of their locals is taking on this franchise may be a newsworthy event! In a larger area, you’ll have to find a stronger issue to pique the media’s interest. Anything to do with charity is usually very popular with the media. You’ve probably seen companies do days where a pound from each product sold goes to a children’s charity or the like. This is a great opportunity to benefit those in need and catch the public’s interest at the same time.
A few things to remember when dealing with the media:
· Maintain courteous, friendly, and professional relationships with any members of the press
· Prepare a press release and forward it to local radio and television stations as well as local newspapers
· Think through what you want to say to the media before they arrive. Keep your answers short and clear to avoid misrepresentation.
If you can swing it, nothing offers better publicity than a human-interest story. It makes you appear a humanitarian organisation as well as a franchise, and the advertising and goodwill created are completely free!
2. Direct Marketing
Direct marketing is that which communicates directly with a potential client or customer. A television ad, for example, would not be direct marketing, because it’s aimed at a general audience. Door to door marketing, on the other hand, is direct marketing, because it reaches each individual target.
Now, as a professional businessperson with a franchise, you are probably not going to start banging down people’s doors. But there are other methods of direct advertising: for example, mail. Direct marketing is useful once you’ve identified your target market, because then you can aim your direct mail market at that audience. This is a cost-effective way to use a potentially costly marketing method: after all, printing up leaflets and paying mailing costs can get pricey. If you know precisely who fits your target market, on the other hand, you can avoid the "junk mail" end of things and go straight to the source.
In other words, direct marketing should never be attempted until you’ve conducted thorough and analytical market research. Otherwise, you’ll just waste your time and money creating papers for the recycling bin.
Some things to remember when planning a direct marketing campaign:
· Target your specific target market in an area
· Make sure your mailing is eye-catching, brief, and to the point. You have about one second to grab your customer’s attention before your carefully created advertisement goes straight into the bin.
· Try to include a "hook": a sale, a discount, a special -- anything that will draw the customer’s eye and make them continue reading
3. Indirect Marketing
Indirect marketing is any marketing targeting a general audience. This is the easiest type of marketing but also the least effective, because you don’t know who your advertisement will reach. A television ad could easily be seen by three quarters of the local population while missing a significant chunk of your target customers.
For that reason, it’s best to do a little market research here, too. If your target market is a busy businessperson, for example, advertisements during daytime television will do you no good whatsoever. If, on the other hand, your target is teenage boys, advertising in the classifieds is almost useless.
Figure out what medium is most likely to reach your target audience and go for it. Some ideas include:
· Traditional ads in local newspapers
· Local television and radio ads
· Advertising through (or sponsoring events at) local schools and sports facilities
· Posters and ads posted at locations your target market is likely to frequent
· Mailings included with local newspapers
· Local publications (coffee rags, magazines, etc.)
· The internet
· Local TV
One benefit of indirect marketing is that it does tend to reach a much larger audience, and may even wind up expanding your target clientele. On the other hand, it isn’t usually cheap, so it’s worth researching your options.
Marketing for a Franchise
The primary difference between marketing for your own business and marketing for a franchise is, of course, the franchisee. To avoid creating friction between you and your investors, make sure the policies and agreements about advertising are clear. If advertising is largely your responsibility, encourage the franchisee to let you know if he has any ideas or suggestions. If advertising is largely his responsibility, don’t be afraid to offer tips and hints.
The ideal situation is one where you and the franchisee work together to produce a successful grand opening for the franchise. This might require a bit of extra work, but since you both have a vested interest in the franchise’s success, it will be well worth the effort.
Once you’ve had your grand opening, make sure you keep on top of the marketing situation. Advertising needs to be repeated periodically to keep the public from forgetting about you. If this is your responsibility, plan your strategy well in advance. If it’s the franchisee’s, make sure it’s actually happening. Over time, word of your franchise will spread. Still, even the most successful franchises (places such as McDonald’s) still advertise, and you’ll need to, too!
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