MARKETINGADVICE
Get SMART
Having the right marketing strategy can make the difference between your franchise recruitment being a success or failure, says Sally Anne Butters, director of media at Coconut Creatives
F
irst of all, it is important to identify what it is you want to achieve through your marketing strategy. This will give you the golden thread for your campaign that you can follow throughout. Do you want to recruit your pilot franchisee or do you want to expand your franchise by 30 franchisees over the next two years? It is essential to be very clear on what you want to achieve and how long it should take. Therefore, at the start of every successful franchise recruitment marketing plan, decide upon some SMART objectives for your franchise network growth. This means that your objectives are Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely. Your objectives for recruitment determine everything – such as: how much money you should be spending, what routes to market you have available to you and how many leads you need to meet those objectives.
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So, what does a SMART objective look like?
Your SMART objective could look like this: “I want to increase the number of franchisees from 25 to 35 over the next 12 months”. This objective allows everyone who reads it to be really clear on where the business is now, what is being asked and within what time frame. Whether this is achievable and realistic or not depends on the resources and budget you have available for franchise recruitment.
Generally speaking, and according to the latest NatWest/bfa Survey, the ratio from prospect enquiry to fully operational franchisee is 1 or 2 in 100. So look at your objectives and track back from here: if you want to take on 10 franchisees over the next year, then you are looking at generating a minimum of 1,000 leads.
If you need to achieve 1,000 leads, you already know there is going to be a lot of
wastage, so you need to have a robust marketing plan in place to ensure you attract the right individuals through the right channels. The available communication channels and point of contacts with your business are plentiful; here are just a few: • Your website • Franchise recruitment websites • National newspapers • Magazines • Exhibitions • Social media • Networking events • PR • Flyers and brochures • Word-of-mouth through referrals.
Identifying the right communications channels for your franchise
Targeting and courting the right prospects, in the right way, with consistent messages
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