Pros and Cons of Franchise Lead Portals, Brokers,  and Digital Marketing

Franchise development is as simple as one little word, “leads.” It’s both that simple and complicated, all at once. Leads can come from any number of sources. This is why your franchise development team must figure out which are best. This includes determining which sources are the most effective, in terms of cost and actual conversions. The most important thing to remember is that franchise development is a long game. That’s why you need to build a comprehensive program that provides leads. This goes for both leads who are ready to convert now and those who may not be ready yet. Let’s dive into the pros and cons of franchise lead portals, brokers, consultants, and digital marketing.

How Do You Find Leads for a Franchise Development?

  1. Portals
  2. Brokers and Consultants
  3. Internal Digital Marketing

Franchise Lead Portals for Lead Generation

Many businesses use portals for lead generation. Portals generate a lot of web traffic, which, in turn, generates a lot of form-fill leads. Many of those leads are not serious about buying a franchise – at least not any time soon. Though you may obtain desired numbers, we have found a low conversion rate. This means that your sales team may waste time pursuing non-viable leads. Chasing unqualified leads can be a big waste of time and money. Even with their drawbacks, however, portals can be a good option for emerging franchises with a more limited budget.

Brokers and Consultants

Brokers and consultants help prospective franchisees navigate the process of purchasing a franchise. Franchisors often rely on brokers and consultants to find candidates, as they only pay if a deal is closed. This is true, and brokers can be beneficial. However, you should avoid relying solely on them for lead generation efforts.

If you do, you are outsourcing one of the most critical aspects of franchise development. This can slow down your development team and lead them to rely on brokers for deals. If you’re using brokers, you want them to be one resource and not the only driver of lead generation. And remember, the allure of brokers is to pay only after those leads convert.

Make no mistake: You will pay.

While they can deliver viable candidates, this can be an expensive option. Brokers can drive the cost of franchise development way up – by 1.5 to 2 times as much as internal leads.

Benefits of Internal Digital Marketing

The most effective and cost-efficient way to generate high quality leads is through a strong internal digital marketing campaign. This approach is also more sustainable than other methods. Even though it does cost money, you are investing in the long game. Your goal is to build a database of strong candidates, some that will convert more quickly and others that you can continue to nurture.

How to Build Your Database of Candidates

First, identify your target audience/persona – the perfect entrepreneurial candidate or investor for your franchise. Then determine the platforms that will reach these individuals. Using these platforms, you can craft messaging, content and creative that connects with and engages your ideal prospects on a personal level. This will allow you to build a pool of viable leads.

Using data-driven metrics, you can narrow this large group of potential candidates as you push leads down the funnel toward conversion, the end goal. You also can continue to nurture the other leads – such as those who may not be quite ready to convert but who are still interested in your franchise – using strategic tactics that will keep them engaged until they are ready to make a decision. This streamlines your process and allows your internal development team to focus on those candidates who are ready and most likely to buy a franchise. It also gives them a chance to keep other warm leads in the bank for follow-up or nurturing at a later time.

As you can see, there are critical differences between franchise lead portals, brokers, consultants, and digital marketing. Portals and brokers have a place in franchise development, but you want to use them wisely and understand that they are simply tools in your arsenal. Your long-range goal should be to build your own lead funnel, and digital marketing is the most cost-effective way to do that. Investing in lead generation is worth it, as you will be able to build a more robust, comprehensive, and sustainable franchise development program that will serve you well now and in the future.

As The Ad Agency for Franchises™, Curious Jane fields many questions about marketing for franchise development. In this blog, we will address some of your most common questions.

  1. What is the one thing I can do that could impact my franchise development fast?
  2. How much should you spend on lead generation for franchise development?
  3. What percentage of the budget should I spend on brand awareness compared with lead generation for franchise development?
  4. Why should I spend money on franchise development marketing if I can sell units with brokers and consultants, and they don’t charge me until they sell a unit?
  5. Why do I need PR for franchise development, if my main goal is lead generation?

What is the one thing I can do that could impact my franchise development fast?

Make your website the No. 1 priority. You only get one chance to make a first impression! Think of a time when you visited a website with links that didn’t work or videos that didn’t play. How much time did you spend on that site, and how likely were you to end up using that service or buying that product? Probably not much and not very likely. Your franchise candidates are no different. Invest time and resources to create a dynamic, engaging website. It should answer questions and excite candidates. Make sure the site has a clear call to action. A full-service franchise marketing agency like Curious Jane can help you build a website that converts.

How much should you spend on lead generation for franchise development?

The short, and very technical, answer is, it depends. There are a variety of factors that determine the appropriate amount for your marketing budget. Do you already have solid brand awareness in that market? Are you more focused on generating a higher number of leads or leads that are more likely to convert? Additionally, some markets just cost more than others; New York is always going to be more expensive than Tampa, for instance. It is important to hire a qualified and experienced franchise marketing agency to help you navigate this process. At Curious Jane, we analyze our clients’ current marketing plan, compare that with goals for growth and develop a customized marketing strategy to best meet their needs and fit their budget.

What percentage of the budget should I spend on brand awareness compared with lead generation for franchise development?

Again, the answer to this question will be unique to your situation. If you are well known in the region where you want to expand, then you don’t need to spend as much on brand awareness and you can instead focus on generating leads. However, if you are trying to expand into a new market, then it is crucial to establish name recognition and brand awareness. People need to know who you are and what you do before they will begin to consider your franchise as a potential investment opportunity. When deciding to invest, potential franchisees will start with what they know.

Why should I spend money on franchise development marketing if I can sell units with brokers and consultants, and they don’t charge me until they sell a unit?

It’s important to remember that you are playing the long game. While brokers might bring you some leads, a strategic marketing plan will attract leads while also expanding your business footprint. The more recognizable your brand, the more likely you are to generate leads organically. An experienced franchise marketing agency can help you increase brand awareness while also generating leads for franchise development. This is a smart way to leverage your budget, as we have found this option will save you approximately 50% in the long run.

Why do I need PR for franchise development, if my main goal is lead generation?

This is a very common and important question. PR is a critical component of lead generation – and often, public relations provides great leads. Often, PR for franchise development is largely ignored as businesses pour resources into lead generation on the recruitment side while funding PR on the consumer side.

While there can be overlap between the target audiences for fran dev and consumer campaigns, they are decidedly different – and your messaging to them must be different, also. With franchise development, you are asking people to invest their life savings into your business. They might know that you make a mean hamburger or provide excellent cleaning services, but what do they know about you as an investment option? You need to tell prospective franchisees why you are a good investment. What is the profitability? Do you have third-party validation? What do you offer that other franchisors may not – additional support services, training, etc.? By generating a steady stream of good news through a strategic PR campaign aimed at investors, you stay top-of-mind when prospects are ready to invest.

In our next blog, we will answer the most common questions we hear about consumer marketing.

Have you been following all the news about franchise rankings and wondering why they are such a big deal? Two words: social proof.

In marketing, social proof is the use of reviews and recommendations to decide whether to buy something – or in the case of franchise development, to sign on the dotted line. Franchise rankings serve as endorsements for franchises. They provide third-party validation that your franchise is as awesome as you say it is.

Industry Accolades

Getting listed in Entrepreneur, Franchise Business Review, or Franchise Times, are all achievements to be proud of. It’s also an excellent opportunity to leverage social proof.

Industry accolades like rankings are considered valuable franchise development tools. Why? Because serious prospects scour them when they are weighing which franchise systems they might want to join.

How Can You Leverage Rankings?

Candidates are doing more research than ever into the franchises they are most interested in. This makes an opportunities for third-party validation like rankings even more important. One of the best ways to keep your brand top-of-mind as candidates consider the franchise opportunities available to them is to ensure that trusted media outlets are talking about you.

Using Strategic Public Relations

A strategic public relations campaign can help. Whether you want to increase awareness of your brand or your franchise opportunity, there are a number of ways to get the kind of coverage you want through PR.

Regular media outreach can help to create a steady stream of coverage, generate buzz and raise brand awareness. The rankings present great opportunities to share good news through news releases, social media posts, blogs and more. Don’t be shy; it’s OK to toot your own horn sometimes. The rankings are prestigious and competitive. Leverage rankings by including badges, if they’re available, on your website, in email signatures and on ads. Your prospects will notice.

How Do Rankings Help Attract Your Ideal Franchisee?

A more targeted approach can boost recruitment efforts in a desired demographic. To reach your ideal franchise candidates, seek to be included on a specific ranking or in a niche publication. The key is to have your information in outlets that your ideal candidates are already reading, looking at or listening to.

An Example of How to Leverage Your Rankings

For example, if your corporate goal is to recruit more veterans to be franchise owners, you might work toward being ranked among Entrepreneur’s Top Franchises for Veterans or on a list published by a publication written for veterans.

Leverage those rankings by mentioning them when your PR agency writes stories about successful franchisees who are also military veterans, or when you share testimonials from veteran franchisees on your website or with franchise trade publications. Pitch articles on veteran franchisees to their local media outlets and include the rankings in the pitch. Recommend your veteran franchisees as guests on podcasts for veterans, and include the rankings in your talking points. Put your money where your mouth is by supporting veterans’ organizations, then share information about the organizations – and your ranking – on your blog and social media.

Being ranked by an industry or trade publication is a big deal. You worked hard for the rankings, so work just as hard to share your good news with the franchise candidates you want to attract.

There are two distinct types of franchise owners: owner-operators and multi-unit owners. Although some franchise opportunities – especially among service brands – are better suited for owner-operator ownership, multi-unit owners can help you grow your franchise much more quickly.

Multi-unit ownership has grown in recent years, and FRANdata reports that now 54% of all franchises are multi-unit operations. A typical franchise multi-unit owner has five locations, and multi-unit ownership is most prevalent in the restaurant industry.

So, how do you recruit candidates for multi-unit ownership rather than owner-operator types? The difference is in the persona that you target in your marketing.

Meet Ivan the Investor

Let us introduce you to Ivan the Investor, our multi-unit owner persona. Ivan focuses on building wealth through the franchise opportunity. He is educated and well-read. He has worked hard building his career, and now he wants to diversify his portfolio by investing in a new business venture. Turnkey franchise opportunity attract him because he plans to hire a strong team to run the day-to-day operation – or turn over the reins to a business partner.

Ivan is at a place in his career where he desires a better work-life balance. He is comfortable managing his business from a distance and most likely will rely heavily on technology to accomplish his goals both for the business and his personal life.

To get Ivan’s attention, you should emphasize your franchise’s turnkey business model and potential for scalability. You want to use words like “growth” and “scalable,” and you want to talk hard numbers. Ivan has interest in your opportunity’s ROI because he wants to make money with you.

Get Ivan’s Attention

To make your franchise opportunity attractive to Ivan, you are going to have to dangle some financial carrots in front of him. Ivan is going to expect some substantial incentives in exchange for his investment. He is smart enough to realize that a number of franchises would love for him to join their ranks, and so he boldly asks you, “What’s in it for me?”

Different franchise models offer different incentives to multi-unit operators, and the stakes get larger the more locations that investors commit to opening.

Sometimes, brands offer a simple discount on the franchise fee for multiple locations. A reduced franchise fee of $25,000 each incentivizes him to build three locations instead of paying $30,000 for one.

Ivan may also be interested in committing to a bigger investment, like an area development agreement. In an area development agreement, a franchisee commits to building a certain number of locations in exchange for incentives. This is includes incentives like a reduced franchise fee or exclusive territory rights. There are also area developer opportunities in which the developer invests in recruiting other owners to a territory in exchange for a portion of the franchise fee or royalty payments.

We Know Ivan

Do you want to learn more about Ivan and the process of recruiting him into your franchise’s next multi-unit owner? We love discussing our approach to persona marketing with Franchisors like yourself. Stop by our booth at the Franchise Leadership & Development Conference, scheduled for Oct. 19-21 in Atlanta. We hope to see you soon!

You probably have a good idea of what you’re looking for in a franchise candidate. When your are trying to find franchisees, our wish list probably includes a number of qualifications. You be looking for someone who’s smart and driven, who can afford the initial investment required to get the business off the ground, who will be a good cultural fit and whose personal values align with your brand’s core values and mission. You may prefer that they have experience in your industry. Now, you just have to find them. Finding your brand’s ideal franchise candidate among the thousands of people who are looking for franchise opportunities every year is a bit like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack. You can improve your odds considerably, however, with persona marketing.

Why Personas Matter

Creating personas of your ideal franchise owner is important for the franchisor and for the franchise candidate. Persona marketing allows your marketing team to target more precisely potential leads who are much more likely to convert. It also allows you to speak directly to those potential leads in a way that will resonate with them. So, the franchisor finds better candidates, and the candidates find franchises that will be a better fit for them.

At Curious Jane, we have found persona marketing to be highly effective for franchise development clients. We create one to three extremely detailed profiles of ideal franchise candidates for each of our fran dev clients.

These profiles include basic demographics as well as granular details:

  • How old are they?
  • Are they married?
  • Do they have kids?
  • What is their net worth and household income?
  • What kind of work experience do they have?
  • What do they do in their free time?
  • What media do they consume regularly?

We name our personas and then write their life stories to help us better understand not only who they are and what makes them tick, but also how they behave. We also learn details such as where to find them and how to speak to them in a way that will resonate.

Define Your Ideal Persona

For example, one of our clients wants to target veterans. The persona we created for them, Veteran Vince, loved his time in the military because he appreciated the feeling of community and the structure. He enjoys spending time with his wife and kids, the outdoors, talk radio and country music. He is not interested in a desk job.

Even this abbreviated version of Veteran Vince’s profile can tell us a lot about how to successfully reach Vince. We know what words to use in ad copy to get Vince’s attention and on what platforms we should be targeting him. We’ve identified what kinds of podcasts, blogs and videos he prefers, so we will speak to him where he lives through digital ads, radio ads and more.

We add photos to our personas, too, and look for similar images to use in ads and other marketing materials. We envision Vince as a rugged guy with close-cropped hair, depicted with his family in front of a house with an American flag out front. The right images can help prospects picture themselves as owners in your franchise system.

Use Storytelling Techniques

Once you have defined your ideal persona, you should make sure you are telling the stories of current franchisees who fit that profile in blogs, articles and social media posts.

Feature stories of successful franchise owners who fit your ideal franchisee persona. Write blogs about why they chose your franchise and also address their fears or hesitations about making that leap. Post testimonials from those franchisees. These stories will help your prospects identify with your brand and encourage them to take the next step in the process.

Persona marketing is a tool that helps you grow your franchise the right way. Developing a detailed persona helps your team create more effective ads, blogs and posts, and it helps you focus your targeting and media buying. In the end, the right persona will help you find and convert more of your ideal franchisee candidates.

Four ways to do franchise lead nurturing

  1. E-mails
  2. Webinars
  3. Quizzes
  4. Direct mail

The Strategic Role of Lead Nurturing in Franchise Development

The first thing we usually hear when speaking to a potential client is, “We need more leads, and we need them now.” That is followed in short order by, “And we need more quality.”

Franchisors are investing money into marketing programs to try and squeeze every possible lead out of every medium. The problem is that is where their efforts typically end. If the user doesn’t convert after a few outreach attempts (phone calls, a handful of standardized, generic email drips, maybe some text messages), the lead is marked dead, and we move on to the next lead.

But you’ve already paid for that lead. Of course, there are going to be garbage leads and tire kickers. You’re trying to squeeze all of the leads out of every medium, so why wouldn’t you want to squeeze every lead to try to make a sale? This is where lead nurturing comes in.

A Shining Example Franchise Lead Nurturing

Here’s an example: We had a client who was struggling to get leads early in the pandemic.

First, we said, “OK, let’s reach out to some of the leads who have been marked dead in the past due to noncontact or just dropping off.”

Next, we created a webinar for the fran dev sales team and leadership to present, as a group, about why this franchise was a great investment.

Then we followed up by sending emails promoting blogs about philanthropic avenues the brand was involved with.

After that, we sent info about current franchisees and the support they were receiving from corporate during the pandemic.

Basically, we stood on the rooftops and shouted the benefits of owning this franchise. And you know what – it worked. They re-engaged three different leads in the first month, including one they hadn’t spoken to in 18 months.

How can you do franchise lead nurturing?

That’s a hard question with a short but complicated answer: There are a lot of ways to nurture leads. You have to consider audience segmentation, personas and how you communicate with them. How you speak to investors is much different than how you would speak to an owner/operator. One is going to care about how the investment will affect their portfolio. The other is going to care about how it will affect their life.

Emails

You can’t just send four emails back-to-back and call that lead nurturing. A linear email campaign (meaning the emails are sent usually based on days, so one when the form is completed, one seven days later, another three days later and a final email a few days after that) feels impersonal and usually doesn’t convert very well. We recommend looking at the personas who represent your ideal franchisees and the different stages of their lives in which they join the franchise system.

For example, telling someone who is just starting to do research what your annual unit volume (AUV) is with no explanation of what AUV is or what kind of support is provided to allow your system to reach that number is going to go over their head. If someone converts on your veterans page or indicates they’re a vet on your form, then you would speak to them about your veterans discount, if and how your franchise supports veterans or is a part of VetFran.

What is included in emails, how users are engaging with emails, the length of time between emails, how to separate audiences based on responses or triggers – requires strategy and cannot be cookie-cutter. Spend time to map out the program and develop a model that works for your team.

Webinars

Franchise prospects can be in a stage where they have interest in a franchise but not enough to engage with a salesperson. Users are savvy; they know what happens when they fill out a “contact us” form. However, registering for a webinar where they are virtually anonymous is a great way to not only tell your story, but also to do it in a way that is engaging and fun. Webinars should be entertaining – you can show videos, tell stories, give information people want to hear. Then you can give them the information they need to hear. Finally, they can ask questions without feeling like they are committing to a sale. We have found webinars to be a highly effective tactic for converting sales – especially now, when a lot of people are working from home.

Quizzes

Humans love to take quizzes. We can’t help it; we want to take a quiz and get the results. Consider putting a quiz out there. It could include a question like “Are you a good fit for our brand?”. A quiz such as this will drive people to complete the quiz because they want to know. It also feeds information to your team that can help to determine whether a person is a good fit before contact. Keep in mind that users expect results, so make sure your response isn’t “You’d be a perfect fit!” to every combination of questions.

Direct Mail

With direct mail, we aren’t talking about old-school flyers that your postal carrier sticks in every mailbox on the street. Instead, franchise development campaigns are more strategic and cost-effective, targeting the addresses of your leads. Maybe you send a postcard when they first fill out your form or a booklet about your brand. It could be similar to the kind you would hand out at a conference. A printed piece has the advantage of being tangible, so a prospect can sit in their own home and flip through it at their leisure, or possibly share the information with their spouse. There’s also the novelty factor. As email has become more common, you’re less likely to receive a beautifully printed piece in your mailbox every day. It’s special.

Strategic Lead Scoring

Oh, and on top of ALL that, you can typically score your leads within your CRM/marketing automation platform. This will help prioritize who to contact first. It also allows you to score leads on different engagement levels or different answers on the quiz or form. For example, if you ask about investment capabilities, you will probably score someone who answers $1 million-plus higher than someone who answers $100,000 to $250,000. By setting up scoring in your system, you are prioritizing lead follow-up for your team. Another scoring option is based on engagement. Every time a lead opens an email, clicks the link, participates in the webinar, etc., you want to add to their score. The more engaged someone is, the higher the score and therefore, the warmer the lead.

Lead nurturing is not only a way to make your team a bit more efficient, but also it helps you to personalize your responses. Users are at different stages in their journey; they aren’t all ready to pull the trigger on making a life-changing decision immediately. Often, it takes several touch points before a user is ready to talk to your team, so be patient. As long as you continue to nurture each lead, you will reap the benefits by keeping your brand top-of-mind and reminding them why it is a good time to join your franchise system.

Although most franchises consistently invest in public relations on the consumer side, franchise development stories are often left untold.

PR helps you create a steady stream of good news about your brand to raise your franchise’s profile and get you noticed in all the right places. Franchise recruitment PR is different because the goal is to get your message into the hands of a very specific audience – one that is different than the customers you target with consumer PR. Because your prospects are reading franchise media outlets and using them for research, that’s where fran dev PR focuses. You want those outlets to tell your brand’s success stories so that prospects can begin to imagine themselves in your franchisees’ shoes.

Third-Party Validation

Candidates are doing more research than ever into franchises they’re interested in, which makes third-party validation even more important. In other words, you need to make sure that trusted media outlets are talking about you.

This is the year to ensure you are capitalizing on your franchise’s accolades. Prospects researching your brand are paying close attention to how you fare in various high-profile rankings and lists, such as Entrepreneur’s “Franchise 500” and Franchise Business Review (FBR)’s “Top 50 Recession-Proof Franchises.” These are great selling points for your franchise and should be leveraged on all platforms, including your fran dev website.

For example, if your goal is to get on (or move up) FBR’s “Top 50 Franchises for Women,” make sure your PR agency knows so that they can help you build a strategy to call attention to your most successful female owners and what you are doing to recruit more female franchisees. Include those stories on your blog, website and social media.

Pro Tip: For SEO purposes, make sure you spell out the honor in text on your website. This is better than just post the badges because Google bots cannot read pictures.

Media Training

As we all recently learned, it is important to have a sound crisis communications plan. Assuming your plan is now up-to-date, this is the perfect time to provide media training for your top company leadership. Whether business is good or you’re facing a crisis, it’s important that your spokesmen and -women be prepared for interviews when the time comes.

Media training is more than having talking points ready; it involves being able to predict what you’ll be asked, answer a tough question without getting rattled and stay focused on key messages.

Pro Tip: Be sure talking points are prepared before even a minor crisis becomes public; reporters do not always make appointments before they call (or show up in the lobby).

Owned Media

When almost all in-person events were canceled, many franchises turned to owned media. Franchises realized they needed to get creative about how to find and nurture leads. Owned media includes all the platforms you “own” – blog, email, social pages like LinkedIn, etc. These are terrific platforms on which to disseminate information on your franchise development opportunity through blogs, videos, posts and more.

Through valuable, educational content, you can establish your expertise. Content allows you to speak directly to prospects who have already shown interest in what you have to say. It’s worthwhile to put some money behind your content to ensure your message is heard by prospects. This includes prospects who may not follow you yet.

Pro Tip: Send your content to trade or franchise media, so the next time they need an “expert,” you’ll be top of mind.

Metrics for Success

It’s always been tough to “measure” public relations and determine how well your PR efforts are working. Here are several metrics that you can use to measure PR success:

  • The quantity and quality of earned media placements. Earned media is harder to get than ever, so be sure to leverage those precious placements. You can do this by sharing on your blog, email drip campaign and social pages.
  • Referral traffic to your website from media placements. When users visit your site after reading an article about you, PR is working.
  • Share of voice (SOV) gauge. SOV measures the percentage of coverage that’s about your franchise as opposed to how much your competitors are getting. You don’t want competitors to dominate the conversation or set the agenda in your industry.
  • Frequency of outreach. News releases, articles and pitches demonstrate how productive your agency is.

Pro Tip: Boost social posts about media placements to get more mileage out of those hard-won placements.

Curious Jane’s Franchise Development Blueprint is a holistic approach, bringing all the elements of your marketing under one roof.

Your website lays the foundation for your franchise recruitment program. Your franchise web design must provide information that your prospective franchise owners want and need. These are pages well beyond the usual “about us” and “contact us” pages. And yes, you should also have those on your website too.. You want to help prospects research your brand so that they can make an informed decision. The more information prospects can obtain on your website, the longer they will stay. The longer they stay, the more they will learn about your brand and whether it’s right for them. That means you need to tell them about the industry you work in, and answer their big questions. This includes information such as how much they can earn and what the startup costs are. You should also let them hear from current happy, successful franchisees so they can picture themselves in that role.

Five pages that should be included on every franchise development website:

  1. Industry Page
  2. Franchise FAQ Page
  3. How Much Can a Franchisee Make?
  4. How Does it Cost to Own Your Franchise?
  5. Recent Franchisee Testimonials

Industry Page

Potential franchisees are researching your brand, the industry and franchising in general. Include a page about your industry and any information that differentiates you from others in your industry. We all know how frustrating it is to work a lead only to have them choose a competitor. By addressing how you stand out among the competition up-front, you are positioning your brand as the clear winner.

Also, by providing general information about the industry, with links and proper citations to the data you share, you are saving the user research time, and they will appreciate that.

Franchise FAQ Page

An FAQ page may seem obvious, but it needs to be written intentionally to be as functional and useful as possible. Phrase every FAQ as a question that a candidate might ask or type into a search engine, such as: “How long does it take to open a [brand] franchise?” Increasingly, users are searching by entering complete questions into a search engine, using words in the way their brains naturally put them together. They may even ask the question out loud, using a voice-to-text function, so phrasing your FAQs this way will be a benefit to your search engine optimization (SEO).

Answer the questions succinctly, using no more than three sentences. FAQs should be specific, as an overly broad question may require a lengthy answer. Consider turning some key FAQs into their own research pages if there is enough content to support that. For instance…

How Much Can a Franchisee Make?

This is probably the No. 1 question that candidates have. By answering this question on a webpage, in text, you allow a search engine to provide the answer. This is called a zero-click search because they get the answer immediately. Many answers are shown without having to click through and read an entire page.

Whether you decide to chart average income by quartiles based on your franchise disclosure document (FDD), or you elect to give an average gross sales number. It’s important for your SEO rankings to the question in text. Your text needs to be on the webpage and not solely in a supporting graphic or image. Images are indexed differently and will not be shown on a search engine result page.

We do realize this is often a difficult question for legal reasons. It is important to talk to your legal counsel to make sure you address what is best for your brand. If it is possible to share the information from the FDD and frame the content on the page with a disclaimer to cover all possibilities, we highly recommend doing so.

How Much Does It Cost to Own Your Franchise?

This question may very well contend with “How much can I make?” for the top candidate question. Candidates want to know how much of their life savings they will need to invest in your franchise.

Most candidates will expect to find the franchise fee and startup costs here. However, you also should be sure to include details about in-house financing or costs covered by you to make the opportunity more appealing. 

Recent Franchisee Testimonials

Franchisee testimonials may not have a ton of SEO value. However, they do provide a peek into life as a franchisee with your brand. This is relevant to potential franchisees because they will be able to relate to other owners. They can also begin to imagine themselves as one of your franchisees. When candidates can visualize themselves as part of your franchise, closing the sale becomes much easier. 

Including these pages and others that address candidates’ questions on your fran-dev website. It’s like putting out the welcome mat for prospects. It is to your advantage to prop the door open and let them look around. They need to see for themselves if they are the right fit for your franchise.

Curious Jane’s Franchise Development Blueprint is a holistic approach, bringing all the elements of your marketing under one roof.

Before we get into strategy and tactic recommendations, we want to address something we feel is a big concern – the proverbial elephant in the room. In this blog, we’re going to confront it head-on. Depending on portals and brokers for franchise development planning comes with the danger of facing certain risks.

The Risk of Relying on Portals, and Brokers

Because many franchise brands use franchise brokers and franchise portals to sell franchises, internal franchisor efforts often slow down, and it’s not the fault of the brokers or portals. Over time, many brands stop using dedicated funds and resources to build their own marketing and strategies … and eventually, they lose them.  

There are pros and cons of using brokers for franchise sales, but this heavy reliance on brokers is leaving gaping holes in many franchise development internal marketing programs. Brokers and portals can have a seat at the table, but they should not dominate the dinner. 

Any time someone else is doing the heavy lifting for your brand’s sales strategy, that leaves your franchise vulnerable. Often, it means your own program isn’t where it needs to be. The reality is, whether they are assisting you or not, brokers and portals need to provide just an assist, not a reliance. With ad funds typically going to the consumer side, investing in franchise development often gets pushed to the back burner, which can be dangerous for brand growth.    

A heavy reliance on having brokers market your franchise is not a long-term solution. Remember, they’re often selling hundreds of other brands, too.  

We aren’t saying to avoid using brokers. We’re saying if and when you do use brokers, your franchise still needs to make building your own internal franchise marketing program a big priority.  

Build Up Your Fran Dev Program with Franchise Development Planning

And here’s a little secret: The more you build up your program with the tools and platforms we are going to share with you in our next blog, the more it will actually help you close the sale, no matter who is bringing the deal.  

When the franchise CEO or founder comes in and asks the franchise development staff to grow more or take things to the next level, many franchise development directors and franchise sales teams find themselves behind the eight ball. At no fault of their own, the brand’s heavy reliance on brokers and portals to fill the pipeline, combined with a lack of funding from the franchisor, means there’s a lot of catching up to do when the CEO asks for a quick growth spurt. It’s hard to suddenly be successful – especially in new markets – when the right strategies and tactics haven’t been in place for a while before the foot hits the pedal.  

One More Tip

Franchise development directors, franchise marketing directors, franchise founders and CEOs need to have more proactive conversations, starting now, about building a stronger internal franchise development marketing program and what it will take to do that. The foundation for your marketing program has to not only be right, but also it has to stay updated.  

Check out our next blog to find out more about how to plan your franchise development program.  

Brands are laser-focused on lead generation for franchise sales right now. And marketing your franchise through facebook advertising – which has always been an extremely affordable platform – suddenly isn’t quite as affordable.

Even more importantly, negativity seems to be rampant on Facebook right now – both from ads and from content posted by users related to the election, the pandemic, racial unrest and more. Some large global companies have pulled their dollars from Facebook altogether.

So, the questions swirl about Facebook and franchise development: Does it still work? Why is it more expensive right now? Should we continue to advertise through the election? Does Facebook bring in quality leads?

It depends on your brand, your goals and your budget.

Facebook Franchise Development Competition

In general, Facebook does a great job of generating leads. But the lead flow on Facebook has slowed down significantly in recent months. That may be, in part, due to an increase in competition for users’ attention. There are more political ads with the presidential election looming; there is a lot of information and misinformation about the pandemic; and there is a lot of discussion about social unrest.

In short, there is a lot of noise clamoring for the attention of the Facebook users you are trying to reach.

The increase in political ads, especially, is driving up costs. The 2016 election saw an unprecedented amount of digital ad spend, totaling $1.4 billion. This year, the Trump and Biden campaigns have spent more than $118 million on Facebook alone through Sept. 15. Facebook is cracking down on copy in ads and who is being targeted. And ads running in swing states – including California, Florida and Texas, which also are the top states for franchising – may be even more expensive.

Additionally, the sheer volume of ads appearing in users’ newsfeeds may cause some users to take a break from Facebook or suffer ad fatigue, where they begin to ignore ads – including yours – because there are just so many

Facebook as an advertising platform for franchisors

It’s hard to dispute Facebook’s power as an advertising platform. As the world’s largest social media platform, Facebook has 2.4 billion users, and ads reach a large and diverse audience. Even with the current higher prices, advertising on Facebook remains less expensive than most alternative platforms.

If you move your ad dollars to LinkedIn or Google, for example, the cost very likely will go up and the total number of leads may go down. However, LinkedIn or Google may deliver a more qualified lead. 

Most people in franchise development will tell you lead generation is a numbers game. You want quality leads so that you can find the best candidates, but you also need quantity to fill your pipeline.

Before you can decide whether you should take a break from Facebook advertising, even temporarily, delve into your CRM to understand how your Facebook leads move down the sales funnel. That’s the only way to know whether you can get enough of the high-quality leads you need from somewhere else and without busting your budget.