Franchise Marketing Challenges and Strategies

Franchises are everywhere. From fast food to hotels to hair salons, they are generous contributors to the majority of American markets. In 2022, there were estimated to be over 750,000 franchise establishments in the U.S., making up for 7.49 million of our country’s employees. They can seem attractive to aspiring entrepreneurs, as becoming a franchisee gives access to tools and training instead of having to start from square one. While the tools and training can be beginning benefits to a franchisee, there are several steps to complete for the business to become profitable. A strong variable in this is marketing. While there come many challenges to franchise marketing, there are also several strategies a franchise and franchisee can use to conquer the coming challenges of running a successful franchise.

Adequate Capital

A challenge many starting franchisees face is gathering money for setting up the new business. Along with it, if a budget is not set for marketing, it’s easy to spend more than you can afford. While franchisors provide training and approval before kickstarting, a franchisee must figure out how to use their own tools to gradually market the business, aiming to meet its end goal. As a starting business, it’s important to prioritize market research, product development, and public relations in the marketing strategy, not pouring the majority of the budget into advertising and promotional material.

Audience Research

Another challenge franchisees face is succeeding locally. A major player in this is knowing the buyer. A tool to help in this step is researching the target audience of similar franchises. Social media posts, comments, and followers are good measurements for identifying and narrowing the target audience of other competitors, along with other methods. By knowing and narrowing the audience, there can be a better bang for your buck, plus a look at how the franchise can succeed in the local arena.

Consistent Branding

While being under the guardianship of a franchisor can be beneficial, it also comes with the frustration of limited control. Consistency is a vital part of franchise marketing. Being so, franchisors must keep guard on how marketing is strategized and utilized. Useful tools could be brand guidelines, keeping everyone on the same page about the brand identity. Logos, fonts, colors, and tones are also important factors in keeping consistency in the brand’s marketing. By  keeping up brand consistency, the brand identity will remain strong, increasing brand and customer awareness, along with overall credibility.

Lesser Control

Finally, a challenge many entrepreneurs face when opening a franchise is the lack of control given to them by the franchisor. The best strategy for this is to maintain respect and to understand the business goals. As mentioned previously, the franchisor needs to lay the groundwork for franchise marketing in a way that will meet the needs of the local franchisees as well as deliver a consistent brand identity. Give them the ability to represent the brand in a supportive and positive fashion.

While it carries its challenges, franchise marketing supplies brand awareness and increases revenue for a company’s franchisees. Franchisors and franchisees must work together to create a strategic marketing plan with an appropriate budget, do adequate research determining the target audience for new franchises, maintain consistent brand identity, and keep an organized decision of power, being consistent while respecting freedom.

Asher has served numerous franchisees over the years. We can help you develop and execute your marketing campaigns. If you have any questions about how we can serve you, connect with us today.