Franchises operate within a unique framework where maintaining brand consistency across multiple individual locations is crucial for building trust and achieving success. This presents a challenge where a one-size-fits-all marketing approach might not be effective in connecting with the broader public in a way that inspires trust in the brand. Staying current on social media advertising trends can be a tough thing to do, but in this blog, we will share some examples of franchises that have utilized social media to their benefit and why their strategies worked.

Influencer Marketing

Subway is a great example of a franchise that leverages influencers in their marketing to help bolster brand awareness as well as associate their products with positive characteristics such as health and athleticism. Their star-studded ensemble of celebrity athletic endorsers such as Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Tom Brady, Steph Curry and more for their “eat fresh” campaign has brought positive attention to the brand. When they faced criticism over the healthfulness of their food, rather than shying away from calling themselves a healthy brand, they leaned into it and found a way to convince consumers they were wrong to think otherwise. They have successfully parted ways with the challenges of the past and now find themselves back in the good graces of the general public.

Social Engagement Strategies

One franchise brand that has nailed social media marketing is Anytime Fitness. Their social engagement strategy encourages members to post their fitness journeys to online communities, and it has worked. Anytime Fitness rewards user engagement with giveaways and offers challenges to gamify their marketing. Members have built such a community around Anytime Fitness that they voluntarily post workout tips, health advice and anything related to fitness. Their goal was to tap into the fitness culture and become a leader in the minds of the public, so that when you think about getting into shape you think of Anytime Fitness. Their initial strategy was to lean heavily on the idea of being open 24/7, catering to those with busy schedules who still want to stay active and healthy. However, through their skillful use of social media, they have expanded their marketing message and as a result have built an engaged community of like-minded people.

Hashtags

One franchise brand that sets the standard for how to use hashtags on Instagram is Dunkin’. Their #DunkinLove campaign, in which customers share love stories and images on Instagram and tag them with the hashtag #DunkinLove has garnered massive engagement and provided the franchise with tons of great user testimonials. Dunkin’s original marketing play was centered around the utility and function of the brand, with its “America Runs on Dunkin’” message.

However, with its Instagram campaign, it has forged a new marketing message that it is more than a necessary part of the daily grind.

The Social Media Edge

So what are the common threads behind these franchises successful and instrumental uses of social media?

• Brand Consistency: Much of a franchise’s success is dependent on maintaining brand consistency, which not only attracts new customers but also franchisees. However, it’s more than that: The way a brand looks and sounds needs to be the same, whether messaging is coming from the franchisor or from an individual location – just as the customer experience is reliable and consistent across each location. In a way, a franchise’s social marketing strategy informs customers what to expect when they interact with the brand.
• Community Building and Engagement: The franchises mentioned have used social media in creative ways to build strong communities, which has enhanced the brand and strengthened the value proposition. They listen to their audience, which allows them to keep delivering relevant content and further deepen the relationship and brand loyalty.
• UGC is King: A robust and timely social media strategy that leverages multiple tactics will also deliver tons of user generated content (UGC) that enhances the authenticity of the brand while achieving marketing goals. Over-produced marketing content may not resonate with all of the demographic segments a franchise is trying to reach, so having the community that actually uses your brand create real content is extremely powerful. UGC is also much more cost-effective than other marketing tactics. Every franchise should incorporate UGC into their marketing mix.
• Real-time Responsiveness: More than ever, consumers expect nearly-instant responses from companies when we encounter an issue. Social platforms are a great place to deliver excellent customer service for franchises and maintain active social listening. When a franchise listens to their customers, they make course corrections before issues balloon into problems.

The transformative power of social media in franchising is evident. When deployed correctly, social media trends have time and again helped franchises pivot, strengthen, and grow their brands to new heights.

A robust Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution is important to a business because it tracks contact information and allows the sales and marketing teams to personalize communication with those contacts. The following is a step-by-step guide for choosing the right CRM solution for your franchise.

• Your business needs
• Ease of use
• Scalability and customization
• Integration capabilities
• Data security and compliance
• Analytical and reporting tools
• Cost
• Implementation plan

Let’s get started.

Your Business Needs

Begin your business CRM selection process by considering your business size and why your current solution is not working. Different CRM systems cater to different business sizes and types. It’s essential to choose a CRM that aligns with your business’s current needs and future growth. Also consider all the teams and users that will need access to your new CRM and how they will interact with the system. Identify key features your users will require. Determine the specific features needed, such as lead management, sales forecasting, customer service, marketing automation and analytics.

Ease of Use

A user-friendly CRM interface is critical. It will encourage more people on your team to use the system, reduce training costs, improve efficiency and data quality, increase productivity, ensure smooth implementation, enhance customer service and provide flexibility and accessibility.

Scalability and Customization

As your business grows, your CRM should be able to scale with you, accommodating more users and increased data without performance issues. A customizable CRM can grow with the business. As business needs evolve, the CRM can be adjusted to accommodate new processes, departments and user roles, ensuring longevity and continued relevance.

Integration Capabilities

A powerful CRM solution will allow you to seamlessly integrate with existing software and applications to avoid inefficiencies. Assess your current platforms and determine which ones you will want to integrate with your CRM to meet your goals. Check to make sure they can be integrated easily. For example, do you utilize SMS communications with your contacts? Curious Jane advises clients who use SMS to ensure their SMS provider integrates with their CRM.

Data Security and Compliance

Data protection regulations continue to evolve. It is important to make sure your CRM follows these regulations and can implement regulation changes in a timely manner. Compliance with data protection laws enhances customer trust. When customers know their data is handled securely and legally, they are more likely to engage fully and honestly with your business.

Analytical and Reporting Tools

Reporting tools provide valuable insights into contact data and interactions, enabling businesses to make informed decisions. This data-driven approach helps in strategizing marketing campaigns, sales approaches and customer service improvements. They allow companies to track and measure the performance of various aspects of their business, such as sales performance, marketing campaign effectiveness and customer satisfaction. This helps in identifying areas of strength and those needing improvement. Detailed reports can reveal patterns and trends in customer behavior, preferences and needs, allowing businesses to tailor their offerings more effectively and improve customer engagement.

Cost

Make sure you understand all costs involved, including setup, subscription and any additional fees for customization or additional features. Many CRMs are not turnkey and require the purchase of multiple components to provide the solution you need for both your sales and marketing teams. Also keep in mind the CRM’s potential ROI in terms of improved efficiency, higher sales and better customer retention.

Implementation Plan

Map out an implementation plan for your new CRM. If you already have a CRM system that no longer meets your needs, find out if a migration of your current contact information into the new CRM is possible. Ask whether your new solution vendor will provide training or if you will need assistance from a consultant. Determine what type of CRM administrative setup work you can handle in-house and what you will need to contract from outside. Setup examples may include email template development, contact list segmentations, automated marketing flow builds and the creation of reports and dashboards. All CRMs aren’t created equally, and the “right” one for your franchise is the one that will best help you meet your goals. Curious Jane has assisted several clients in choosing their new CRM system as well as with implementation plans, migration of data from older platforms and setup and maintenance of new systems.

You’ve heard it said that words are cheap, but finding the perfect words can be priceless. Think about that tagline that becomes part of our everyday vernacular – for example, “Just Do It!” Or, are you already singing that jingle that you can’t get out of your head? The perfect words resonate with something inside of us to create effective business messages and build connections to the brand. As a franchise, it is important that your message is carefully crafted to create those connections, build credibility and attract your intended audience.

However, before you can identify your target audience, you have to know who you are as a franchise. Can you answer these four questions?

• What is your brand voice?
• What are your core values?
• What makes you stand out from the competition?
• How do you want to be perceived by customers or potential franchisees?

Knowing who you are will allow you to build messaging that is authentic and genuine – and according to our research, these qualities are highly valued by potential customers and prospective franchisees, across all generations. Once you have solidly identified your voice, then you can begin to pinpoint your target audience. Keeping this audience in mind shapes the tenor, placement and cadence of your messaging.

Now that you have established a consistent brand voice and identified your target audience, it’s time to develop a specific messaging strategy to connect with and engage them – whether you are trying to reach customers or franchise candidates. The goal is to draw them in, regardless of where they are in their customer journey.

Words are powerful. They can excite, engage, offend, intrigue – so, choosing the right ones is critical. Behavioral science is a great tool that can inform your messaging. For example, in writing emails – specifically subject lines – you can intentionally use phrases and terms to make offers seem exclusive or time sensitive. This can greatly improve the open rate of your emails, getting customers one step closer to “yes.” Words that evoke emotion and nostalgia can also help you engage the reader, continuing to build a relationship as they move through the stages of the sales funnel.

With messaging, it’s not only what you say, but how you say it – and where. You want to come across as genuine and trustworthy – a voice of authority, confident but not aloof. Is your brand suited to using humor and wit, even copy that would be considered entertaining? We’ve found that across many demographics, a main factor driving people online is their search for entertainment and humor. Let what you know about your audience and its media behaviors guide where you place messaging and which platforms you use.

• Do your target personas spend most of their time on Facebook or Instagram?
• Are they using audio streaming or print media?
• Do they have a growing presence on platforms like TikTok, which opens doors to sharing your message with more videos?

Answers to these questions can help you build a comprehensive and strategic marketing plan, with messaging that is consistent across all platforms.

As you can see, there is a lot to consider when thinking about the words that will give your franchise its voice. A great team will consider your brand values, target audience and placement. If you want your message to resonate, the relationship between these three components is key. Be authentic and use consistent messaging to build relationships and develop loyal customers. Know who you are, who you want to attract and how best to reach them.

There are a number of issues that keep the average chief marketing officer (CMO) up at night. We often hear franchise brands express concerns about:

• ROI
• Brand reputation
• Competitive pressure
• Digital transformation
• CRM

In this blog we’ll explore how partnering with the right franchise ad agency can help alleviate some of these common concerns for CMOs.

ROI

CMOs are often tasked with demonstrating the return on investment (ROI) for their marketing efforts. They may worry about whether their campaigns are generating enough leads or sales to justify the investment. 

Ad agencies can help CMOs better understand the ROI of their marketing efforts by providing data-driven insights and analytics. This can help CMOs make more informed decisions and demonstrate the value of their campaigns to senior leadership. 

Brand Reputation

CMOs are responsible for managing their company’s brand image and reputation. They may worry about negative publicity or customer reviews that could harm the brand.

Ad agencies can help CMOs proactively manage their brand reputation by monitoring social media and other online channels for negative comments or reviews.

Competitive Pressures

CMOs are under pressure to stay ahead of the competition and differentiate their brand from others in the marketplace.

Ad agencies can provide competitive analysis to help CMOs stay ahead of the competition. This can include identifying new trends and emerging technologies, showing what their ads say and look like — all of which can help the brand stand out in the marketplace. 

Digital Transformation

CMOs need to keep up with the latest digital marketing trends and technologies to stay competitive. They may worry about falling behind or missing out on opportunities.

Ad agencies can provide expertise in the latest digital marketing trends and technologies, helping CMOs stay on top of the latest trends and opportunities. They can also provide training and support to help the marketing team develop their digital marketing skills. 

CRM

Many franchise brands have invested heavily in Salesforce, Hubspot, Franconnect and other CRMs, but they don’t fully know how to use their CRM and are not taking advantage of everything it can do.  

Often, the right ad agency can help a franchise brand build better journeys, produce better creative and ultimately recommend what the franchisor should be doing next. If you have Salesforce or Franconnect, for example, have your agency help you with lead journey mapping and personalization. Ask what the data show about when and where people don’t renew a service or lose interest in the brand.  

The right franchise ad agency can help CMOs alleviate their concerns by providing data-driven insights, competitive analysis and digital expertise. By partnering with an ad agency, CMOs can feel confident that they are making the most of their marketing investments and staying ahead of the competition. 

In addition to the benefits outlined above, an ad agency can also help franchises come up with better creative ideas, taglines and marketing materials. 

Franchises often face the challenge of creating consistent and effective marketing materials across their various locations. An ad agency can help ensure that the franchise brand is represented consistently across all channels, from social media to in-store signage. 

Ad agencies also have experience developing creative concepts that resonate with customers and help the brand stand out in a crowded marketplace. They can provide fresh perspectives and innovative ideas that a franchise may not have considered before. 

For example, an ad agency can help a franchise come up with a memorable tagline that captures the brand’s essence and sets it apart from competitors. An agency can develop eye-catching graphics and visuals that make the franchise’s marketing materials more engaging and effective. 

By partnering with an ad agency, franchises can tap into the agency’s expertise and experience, allowing them to create marketing materials that are more effective at generating leads and building brand awareness. This can help the franchise stand out in the marketplace and attract high-quality franchisees who are excited about the brand’s vision and mission. 

LAKELAND, Fla. (June 15, 2023) — For the third consecutive year, Curious Jane kept its top spot among franchise vendors in Franchise Business Review’s 2023 Franchising@WORK Awards.

Franchising@WORK Awards recognize companies in the franchise industry with the highest employee satisfaction based on an independent survey of their staff members.

Curious Jane, which is a national advertising agency for franchises, won the Gold Award in the Supplier Category, which recognizes franchise vendors. It was one of eight finalists.

“This award is such an honor for us,” said Lora Kellogg, CFE, president and CEO of Curious Jane. “It’s a humbling reflection of the amazing culture we have created together in our agency. We value the feedback we receive each year through this survey and strive to make improvements. Having a fun and vibrant agency culture makes it easier to attract incredibly talented people and keep them. When prospective clients ask what it’s like to work with us, we tell them we are fun people who do serious work. Our clients notice the difference.”

Franchise Business Review’s industrywide Franchising@WORK Employee Engagement Benchmarking Study provides aggregate data that helps franchise companies understand how their culture and engagement compare with others.

Participants were asked questions related to job satisfaction, engagement, skills and experience, management, brand leadership and culture.

Companies from the franchise industry that participated in Franchise Business Review’s employee engagement research were eligible for the Franchising@WORK Awards. Franchise Business Review analyzed data from more than 6,000 professionals from 180 franchise organizations to identify the finalists based on responses from their employees in eight key areas.

“The Franchising@WORK Awards are the only awards that recognize the companies that have fostered a positive, inclusive culture and prioritize employee engagement and well-being within the franchise sector,” said Michelle Rowan, president & COO of Franchise Business Review. “At a time when recruiting and retaining quality employees is everything, these companies have set themselves apart as top employers in franchising through their commitment to employee satisfaction, asking for feedback, and involving their teams in driving the success of their culture.”

Curious Jane also has been named to Entrepreneur’s Top Franchise Suppliers ranking for best franchise marketing agencies for four consecutive years.

Curious Jane works with national franchise clients such as Kumon North America, Neighborly Brands, Winmark, WellBiz Brands, Office Pride Commercial Cleaning Services, Plato’s Closet, Once Upon A Child, Play It Again Sports and Goodcents.

About Curious Jane Curious Jane is The Ad Agency for Franchises^TM. Founded in Lakeland, Florida, 19 years ago, Curious Jane is a woman-owned business specializing in both consumer marketing and franchise development marketing for franchises. A full-service agency, Curious Jane provides creative and branding, media planning and buying, content marketing, digital advertising, public relations, CRM integration, SEO, website design and development to its clients. Learn more at CuriousJane.com.

First, let’s be clear: Brands do not and should not launch corporate philanthropy programs to raise brand awareness or win an award.  

They do it because giving back is the right thing to do, and because companies are global citizens that have a responsibility to try to make the world a better place. But if, in the process of improving life for those in their little corner of the world, they raise their corporate profile, it’s a nice bonus – a win-win, as business owners cutting a deal would say.  

Have you heard the story about Kiddie Academy, which won Franchise Update Media’s 2022 Cause Marketing Champion award for its work with the nonprofit Family Promise? 

Case Study: Kiddie Academy 

Kiddie Academy, a childcare franchise based in Maryland with more than 300 locations, wanted to celebrate its 40^th anniversary in 2021 in a creative and meaningful way. So, Kiddie Academy decided to make a $40,000 donation to Family Promise, a national nonprofit that supports families who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness. The donation established a scholarship fund for underprivileged women who wish to work in early childhood education, no matter which childcare they may work for.  

Additionally, Kiddie Academy updated its corporate policies to be more working parent-friendly and published blogs, social posts and other relevant content about how franchisees can support working mothers with flexible schedules and benefits. With the help of a PR agency, Kiddie Academy sent out news releases and shared posts organically. The franchise’s changes to its policies in support of working parents led to being named one of Baltimore Business Journal’s “10 Best Places to Work in Baltimore.”  

And that’s not all. The combination of a sizable donation, internal change and a nice placement on a prominent list of best places to work equaled PR magic: a mention on the TODAY Show website and other PR wins worth an estimated $1.6 million in ad value equivalency.  

Why Corporate Philanthropy? 

If your franchise brand wants to be a better corporate citizen, aligning with a nonprofit related to your industry or that serves the same audience or geographic area is a great first step. 

Partnering with a nonprofit helps you to:  

• Reach new audiences. A nonprofit’s patrons may not have heard of you before, but they clearly have a soft spot for the organization’s mission. They will appreciate your support of the charity, also.  
• Increase brand loyalty. Consumers appreciate a brand that takes a stand. A 2018 Accenture consumer survey showed that consumers prefer to support brands that embrace social change initiatives.  

How To Be a Good Partner  

At the most basic level, charities need cash to carry out their missions. However, there are a number of avenues through which you can funnel cash or other donations to help your nonprofit partner and make the most of your good deeds in the process.  

Drive for Donations.

Whether it’s a food pantry or a nonprofit that supports single moms, there are charities that spend countless hours just to meet people’s basic needs. One of Curious Jane’s clients, One More Child, is a faith-based charity that works to meet the needs of children and families. Over the years, the agency’s employees have brought in cases of diapers for Mother’s Day, and one Thanksgiving, they competed to see which team could donate the most canned goods (the sneaky Digital Team arranged for a late delivery from Instacart to secure the win). There are charities doing this kind of critical work in every community, and they certainly would appreciate anything your franchise or team does to pitch in. There’s no shame in sending a photo to your local media for a little free publicity for your business and the charity.  

Be a Sponsor.

Sponsorships of fundraising events and programs are among the easiest ways to help your charity. If your brand can’t swing a major sponsorship right now, consider donating services or goods for a silent auction, sponsoring dessert or the band at a dinner or buying tickets to their gala. You’ll get your business’s name listed on the program, signage, etc., to let attendees know you’re a good corporate partner.  

Celebrate Together.

Taking a page from Kiddie Academy’s playbook, brands marking a major milestone could invite a charity to share in the spotlight. You could charge for admission and donate the proceeds or ask attendees to bring in canned goods, toys or other items the charity needs. You are likely to attract a bigger crowd and secure news coverage if your celebration benefits a nonprofit. As a bonus, such an event could open doors for you to introduce more of your business partners and vendors to the charity, which could help them secure even more donations down the road.  

Your franchise brand can earn positive coverage, raise brand awareness and attract new and loyal customers just by supporting a nonprofit that you most likely would support anyway. And the nonprofit and its clients benefit from your support and also from the media coverage you receive. It’s the ultimate win-win.  

Curious Jane has been ranked among the nation’s best franchise marketing agencies by Entrepreneur magazine for the fourth consecutive year. Curious Jane is a full-service national advertising agency that specializes in franchises. 

“We are thrilled to be ranked among the best franchise marketing agencies in the country again by Entrepreneur,” said Lora Kellogg, CFE, president and CEO of Curious Jane. “Our team works extremely hard to deliver strong results and build great relationships with our franchise clients.” 

Curious Jane works with national franchise clients such as Kumon North America, Neighborly Brands, Winmark, WellBiz Brands, Office Pride Commercial Cleaning Services, Plato’s Closet, Once Upon A Child, Play It Again Sports, Goodcents and more. 

“We appreciate our clients’ confidence in us,” Kellogg said. “Our mission is to help franchises grow and entrepreneurs succeed, and we are grateful to the franchisors and franchisees who give us the opportunity to do that every day.”    

To create its Top Franchise Suppliers ranking, Entrepreneur asked more than 900 franchisors to name the service providers that the franchisors and their franchisees work with and to rate their satisfaction with those providers. The magazine then published the top scorers in each of 10 categories: Accounting, Banking/Financing, Franchise Broker/Referral Networks, Franchise Consulting/Development, Legal Services, Marketing, Merchant Services, Other Technology Services, Public Relations and Real Estate Services. The rankings are online and in the magazine’s September issue.  

Founded by Kellogg more than 18 years ago, Curious Jane is a woman-owned business and among the few agencies that work with both franchisors and franchisees. Curious Jane is a full-service agency, providing creative and branding, media buying, social media, digital marketing, PR, website development and management and franchise development services to its clients. 

Multi-platform marketing is a vital component of consumer advertising for franchises. It is also incredibly challenging for your teams to implement successfully. The ever-changing nature of existing platforms, as well as the addition of new platforms, means that your team must be well-versed in a wide variety of media. They’ll need to know the specific details and nuances of each. You must have enough creative assets to reach your target audience. You must also structure your budget in a way that supports both the media buying and the development of strong creative that will resonate with your consumers.

Beef Up Your Budget

So, let’s address the elephant in the room: budget. Multi-platform marketing, while necessary in today’s environment, is not cheap. Gone are the days of simply advertising in print, on radio and television. It’s not just that media buying is more expensive due to the increased number of platforms. It’s also because you also must customize creative assets for each platform.

In building your budget, take into account the amount you will spend on media as well as creative asset development. Your competitors are increasing their marketing budgets annually, and to stay competitive, so should you. If you are operating on a more limited budget, then identify the platform(s) that will be most effective in reaching your target audience and focus your efforts and dollars there.

Creative Asset Development

The most challenging part of multi-platform marketing is having enough creative assets for differing platforms and a varied target audience based on those platforms. Different platforms are used by different demographics. Your team should know who uses what and adjust your creative assets accordingly. While you want to keep your brand voice consistent, you also have to be nimble. Your brand needs to flexible enough to adapt its voice to each platform and target audience. You need the right voice for the right people. The creative and messaging must match the platform and audience – which means that you need a lot of creative. We have one client that is averaging more than 600 creative assets quarterly.

The sheer variety of assets needed will likely require an adjustment of your budget. You also need to consider your company’s growth plan. If you are currently only in the U.S., but hope to expand throughout North America, then you will need versions of each asset in multiple languages.

Freedom for Franchisees

One of the benefits of multi-platform marketing is that franchisees can create some assets to drive excitement about your brand. The question then becomes, “How much freedom do you give franchisees to post videos, tweets, photos, etc., on their own?” This is a question only you can answer. You have to decide how tightly you want to control your brand. Some executives will see the benefit in allowing franchisees to create things like videos that have the potential to go viral, while others see greater value in more closely controlling the content that is shared.

If you are a bit more conservative, as part of your creative development you might supply a bank of assets to be shared by all franchisees. This would give you a bit more control over brand voice and consistent messaging, but also give your franchisees a little freedom to use what they think is best for their local consumers. Whichever side of the fence you fall on, the key is good communication between corporate and local franchises.

Set Your Team Up for Multi-Platform Marketing Success

While this can sound a bit overwhelming, we have seen with our clients that a strategic, multi-platform marketing approach is the most effective way to reach the right consumers. Keep in mind that you have to find the balance between media buying and developing engaging and exciting creative that will build a connection with your audience. Having a strong media presence will keep you relevant and top of mind with your consumers. At the end of the day, you have to give your teams what they need to reach the goals you have set for the company.

Curious Jane has helped a wide variety of clients reach their target audience and grow their business through franchise consumer marketing over the years. We have found that many franchises ask a lot of the same questions regarding consumer marketing. Today, we are answering some of the questions we hear most frequently in our Franchise Consumer Marketing FAQ.

What can I expect regarding performance?

What are the benchmarks for our industry or for a platform?

This is a great question, and one that we love to talk through with each client. At Curious Jane, we believe it is very important set expectations early and make sure everyone is on the same page. There will be variations based on the industry, your marketing budget and other factors.

You will need a franchise marketing agency to develop a strategy and then monitor performance across a variety of platforms. They should consider key performance indicators (KPIs) such as number of clicks, click-through rate (CTR), cost per click (CPC), cost per lead (CPL), etc. As they implement your marketing strategy, you and your agency will continually assess these metrics to ensure that you have a plan that is working for you. At Curious Jane, we create custom dashboards and reporting tools for our clients that allow them 24/7 access to real-time data.

What do you recommend for lead nurturing?

Customer relations management (CRM) systems provide a great way to build and maintain a database for customer contact information and to monitor customer interactions. CRMs allow you to nurture and convert leads while continuing to serve your existing customers.

If you do not have a CRM, then we strongly recommend finding one that is compatible with the size of your business. If you have a CRM, you have an incredibly valuable tool. Are you getting the most out of that investment? Many companies are not. You want to automate as much of your customer relations outreach as possible. You can create content for things like email journeys, white papers, text messages and videos to send out using your CRM. Your goal is to build and reinforce those relationships so that when the customer is ready to commit, then you are the natural choice.

What should I do about bad contact information for leads?

Do NOT be discouraged! A good email address from a lead is valuable, even if phone number is bad.. There is genuine interest, but they are likely in the “research” phase. They also are telling you that they prefer you contact them by email. Most people do not want a direct phone call, especially at this stage. The good news is that you have many ways to connect: email, SMS, DM, etc. Your goal is to provide them the information that they need in whatever way they choose to receive it.

What results are other clients seeing?

Direct comparisons can be difficult, since it’s not always “apples to apples.” Remember, it’s important for your franchise marketing agency to create an individualized plan for each client based on their needs and goals. At Curious Jane, we research a variety of platforms, evaluate performance and look for opportunities across all industries in franchising for each of our clients. Good agencies regularly attend conferences and trade shows to keep up with trends and new platforms and share information with their clients.

What’s the best way to reach our audience or persona? 

Identifying your target audience is critical. A franchise marketing agency can help you develop your ideal persona(s) and determine how to best reach them. This allows you to focus on the leads that are most likely to convert. What does your ideal persona do? Where do they go for information? Meet them where they are. Targeting truck drivers? Focus on truck stops or platforms with videos about trucks and accessories. Targeting mothers of young kids? They shop on Amazon and read education or children’s health blogs. With the right strategy, budget and combination of platforms, you will be generating leads in no time.

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.