Whether you are an emerging or legacy brand, guiding your franchisees toward successful grand openings can make a huge difference for new owners and their businesses. And it all starts with grand opening marketing ideas.
Grand openings are a chance for your company to create awareness around your brand, generate local excitement, build strategic relationships and, ultimately, make a lasting impression. When brainstorming your grand opening ideas, make sure to include plans to set a budget and promote the event in a way that continues the momentum long after the grand opening.
How to Plan Your Grand Opening
Set a Schedule
First, set a schedule. Your new franchisees are ready to begin the preparation for their grand openings. Provide a timeline. Give them every detail of what they need to do as part of a countdown to opening.
Sometimes this means owners must meet certain milestones before they are able to open. That might mean selling a certain number of memberships or subscriptions before the opening happens. Or it could also include meeting social media metrics, which could include Facebook likes, Instagram followers or email signups.
Budget Your Grand Opening’s Promotion
Next, set a budget. From signage to traditional and online promotion, recommend a budget. There should be no surprises here. If you have approved/preferred vendors, be sure franchisees know who they are so they can get prepared within the budget.
Boost Brand Awareness
If your franchise is new to an area, it is critical that your franchisees use their grand opening as a way to educate consumers about your brand and what products/services you provide. Branding should be clear and consistent, so customers instantly recognize your business.
Create Community Relationships
Your franchisees’ most important relationships are with their customers, but grand openings are also a great time to build relationships with the community and other local businesses. Inviting members of the Chamber of Commerce or partnering with a local charity or business can elevate a grand opening and create extra buzz around the event.
Get The Word Out
Use Public Relations to Build Excitement
Starting about two weeks to 10 days out, take advantage of public relations to drum up excitement for your new location opening.
Social media posts announcing the time and date of where you will open, along with any promotional prizes, deals or swag bags to help with branding are a great way to get your fans in on the event. Their excitement will also be shared in their social media posts for those who couldn’t make it for the big day.
Press releases that use brand-approved language, along with some talking points, are key to letting news outlets and the public know about your presence. Also, be sure to train owners that when a reporter shows up, everything is “on the record.” Remind them to speak in complete sentences when answering questions, as one-word answers do not make good quotes. Work with a PR agency, if possible.
Build Multiplatform Social Media Opportunities
Within your library of approved creative, include images, customizable posts, tweets and other sharable content that represent your brand well. Promote across all platforms.
Creating social media opportunities for customers to share about their experience – think branded photo backdrop and hashtags – can help engage customers to spread your message and branding.
Connect Though Traditional Media
Include traditional media channels like local newspapers and radio stations to help residents feel connected to what is going on in their community. According to Nielsen Media Research, radio reaches 88% of Americans over the age of 18 every week – that’s about 293 million people, more than use Facebook.
Plan For a Future After Your Grand Opening
Lastly, grand openings should always lead to staying in touch with consumers. Offer a plan for ways your franchisees can stay in touch with visitors from the event. Design an activity to get email addresses, cell numbers and social media followers. Offering an incentive like a coupon often makes visitors feel less pressured to share their details.
There are so many details to consider during the exciting grand opening phase, but with a grand opening marketing plan set with careful direction and execution, you can help your franchisees launch their businesses successfully.
