Promoting a Franchise

One of the most important facets of franchise creation is the promotion and advertising aspect. This is what entices potential buyers to seek more information about your franchise and possibly even to become a franchisee by investing the necessary capital to own and operate their own franchise location for your company.

When a franchisor is attempting to promote his or her franchise brand, they are really forced to market for several different objectives. This can actually make the entire process much more difficult than advertising a non-franchise business. This is because a franchisor is both responsible for promoting their own brand name to get the word out about franchise locations in many different areas, and has also to market the franchise system, so that he or she can recruit top notch candidates to open new franchise. If a franchisor does not promote the brand name, the franchisees may not succeed, which means the franchisor will not succeed either. However, if a franchisor does not market his or her franchise system, he or she will just as easily fail. There is a lot more to the process than simply selling franchises, because only the very best candidates will be able to provide the growth and sales that a franchisor needs.

There are four main facets of franchise promotion, promotion by the franchisor, promotion by the franchisee, online promotion, and offline promotion. There are essentially two different types of promotion and advertising for franchising, online promotion and offline promotion. Franchisors typically provide a great deal of advertising and promotion for their franchisees, because they understand that failing to adequately promote their franchise locations will cause them to lose money in the long run. But there is always room for more advertising, especially for those who own a franchise in the system and want to do their part to spread the word about their individual location. Luckily, there is plenty of room for additional advertising in both online and offline formats. One simply has to know where to look for the opportunities, and to take advantage of them as they are found.

Online Franchise Promotion and Advertising

The internet has created the possibility for many new forms of advertising, both for franchisors who are looking for new prospective buyers for their franchise system, and for franchise owners who are looking to do additional advertising and promotion that goes a step beyond what is already being offered by the franchisor. There are many listing services where franchisors can spread the news about their search for new franchise owners. This is quite an effective way of advertising, because people who are interested in purchasing a franchise will know exactly where to look. As a franchise owner, there are many other options available for advertisements, and the Internet has made it easier than ever to advertise a business to people all over the world.

One of the most popular ways to advertise a franchise on the Internet is by creating a website that features information on the franchise. Your franchisor may already have a website for the company in general, but are they doing enough to advertise your individual location? If you feel like your individual franchise could use some more exposure, creating a website specifically for it might be a really good idea. It would be best to speak to your franchisor about this advertising attempt before embarking on it, because your website will be making use of company logos, images and other information that belongs to the franchisor and the entire company rather than just to you. If you obtain approval or permission from your franchisor, you can create a website with a domain name that includes the name of the franchise system, and some distinguishing keyword like the city your franchise is based in, or a name specifically given to your franchise. This will help people distinguish between your franchise and other franchises within the system. Advertising through a website is a great way to share news, background information, special offers, coupons and other information like a menu or pricing information depending on your industry. Sharing all this information in one simple place will make it easy for potential customers to find you, to get the information that they seek, and to find a reason to visit your franchise location in person.

Another popular form of online promotion and advertising for franchise businesses is the mailing list. You can provide mailing list sign up information both in your franchise location, and online at your franchise website. Once people have signed up for your newsletter, you can mail them special information regarding deals, coupons, products and services, keeping them informed and consistently giving them new reasons to visit your franchise location for the first time, or over and over again. Newsletter marketing is a very popular form of marketing, because people enjoy reading e-mail, and most people are easily reached through it. If business is slow and you want to promote your business a little, send out an e-mail newsletter and your customers are sure to visit.

If your franchisor has a website dedicated to the entire franchise system, you might try to find out if any information regarding your individual franchise location can be customized. If you can edit the information regarding hours, menu items, special deals or other information relating to your franchise, you may be able to help your franchise location stand out from the crowd, at least in your immediate area.

There are several very effective means for promoting your franchise location on the Internet, but you are not limited to online marketing and advertising when trying to spread the word about your company. Offline franchise promotion and advertising is just as popular, and includes many simple but effective ways of promoting your company to a large number of people in record time.

Offline Franchise Promotion and Advertising

There are some popular methods for offline promotion and advertising of your franchise that are fast and effective, tried and true. The Internet may be the more modern way to get your message out, but these offline promotion methods are just as effective without requiring any technical savvy at all.
Promotional Media, which includes flyers, business cards, trinket items with logos and contact information on them, brochures and other printed media are all great options for promoting your franchise. Because people tend to love and want free stuff, giving away these things is a great way to get people to pay attention to them. Attend events where many people gather, and pass out flyers. If you run a fitness franchise, pass out free water bottles with your logo and contact information on them. If you run a pizza franchise, pass out magnets with your phone number, logo and information about your prices or menu items. If your franchise centres on computer repair, tuck a flyer with pricing information under car windows in the parking lot of a computer convention. If you have a little bit of creativity, there is a lot that you can do with printed media in order to advertise your company.

A newer option for offline promotion of one’s company is quickly gaining popularity for many different types of franchises and privately owned businesses in all industries. This form of advertising involves someone standing on a street corner or in a busy parking lot with a large sign that advertises your latest sale, or simply information about your business. The best results appear to come from sign-holders who move the signs about, who dance, or who generally seem to be enjoying themselves and their jobs. There are companies out there specifically hiring these people out to other companies. Your own employees may also be willing to get out from behind the sales counter to spend a couple of hours on a corner with a big sign. Potentially thousands of people are going to see these signs every day, so if you are looking for a quick and easy way to advertise your franchise business, consider creating or purchasing a sign that can be swung and spun around on a street corner to bring in a surprising amount of new clients.

Advertising a franchise is not a difficult task at all. With the help of your franchisor, you can explore many of the options available to you for promoting and advertising your franchise location to your local area, or people all over the country. By combining both online promotional strategies with offline promotional strategies, you can create an online campaign that is sure to drive in new customers on a regular basis. Effective advertising is always well worth the cost involved, so if you are not spending your advertising budget wisely, now would be a good time to kick your promotion efforts up a notch.