How to Market Your Franchise Responsibly: Get it right before you get it wrong

In responsible franchise marketing, the success of a brand is dependent on teamwork, open communication, clear brand guidelines, thorough training, and lots of support. That’s a long sentence and a pretty tall order, so it’s no wonder franchise marketing can miss its full potential.

That’s why responsible franchisors make sure they support relationships that prioritize teamwork between franchisees throughout their marketing. Here’s a quick checklist of what every responsible franchise SHOULD keep in mind.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Can your franchisees deliver what your marketing promises?

A responsible franchise will look at its franchise system objectively to figure out what franchisees can and can’t guarantee before writing up a marketing plan or new promotion. Always check that your franchisees can handle what your marketing is promising.

Are your franchisees ready to produce your new product or service? Or will they need additional training? Are there support systems in place to help franchisees with the change? Asking these questions before jumping into marketing makes you a responsible franchisor.

BRAND GUIDELINES

Do your franchisees live the brand?

Not every franchisee is an expert on your brand. For a unified franchise marketing experience, make sure your franchisees have clear brand guidelines to follow. Make sure brand aesthetics, essence, attributes, and benefits are all laid out for franchisees. Always check in to avoid misunderstandings.

TRAINING

Do your franchisees have the right training?

Franchisees deliver your brand experience day in and day out, so make sure they have clear training on how to do so. Franchisors recognize training is crucial during onboarding, but in franchise marketing, training is an ongoing process. Continual training helps franchisees and their employees stay up to date with any new marketing or brand guidelines.

MARKETING CALENDAR

Do your franchisees have a marketing roadmap?

Franchisees aren’t marketing experts. To responsibly market your franchise, it’s only fair to set up an easy marketing plan for franchisees to follow. Yearly marketing calendars solve marketing hiccups for franchisees before they occur.

SUPPORT

Are you setting up your franchisees for success?

At the core, marketing your franchise responsibly means building a strong partnership between franchisor and franchisee. Work alongside your franchisees and make sure they’re equally involved in the franchise marketing process. Make sure you have support systems that work available to franchisees when they need them.

CONCLUSION

Franchise marketing like any other aspect of franchising is dependent on good old fashion teamwork. When introducing marketing plans to franchisees make sure they have the infrastructure to provide what marketing demands. Make sure your brand guidelines are understood across your franchise, and provide training to help franchisees along the marketing and branding processes. Maps and tools such as marketing calendars take the guesswork out of marketing for franchisees. Finally, always make sure you have a strong support system in place to help franchisees whenever they need it.

REGROUP is a woman-owned, independent full-service marketing agency in Ann Arbor. We have been the agency of record for DTE Energy for over 10 years and we also support non-profit, financial services and franchise industry clients. Are you ready to REGROUP?