Achieving success – however you define success – in the business and franchising world can be one of the most difficult yet rewarding challenges you will experience. Whatever business you own, generating a continuous flow of qualified leads that convert to actual franchisees is an ongoing priority. Your competitors want to attract those same high quality leads. How will you edge out your competition to win those candidates and award new franchises? Here are some principles to guide you.  

User Friendly is the Name of the Game 

People curious about owning a franchise may spend a great deal of time online to research franchising in general as well as the kinds of franchises that are most successful. They’ll think about their interests, skills and experiences, and what they’ve heard from colleagues.  They’ll search industries and household brands looking for their dream business. If they find your website, is it user friendly? Do you answer questions on their mind and make it easy for them to navigate and request more information? Laying out the information in a way that makes it easy to find will ensure user interaction is effective. Simplicity is the key to helping and information. 

Quality Content and Engaging Tone

The quality of your content and tone of your messaging are key. Is the content well-written? Does the tone of your messaging convey the culture and spirit of your company? Does it sound approachable and friendly or dry and generic? Whether you have someone in-house or rely on the resources of a digital marketing firm, keep your site and your social posts up to date with current information that is useful and relevant to your audience. 

Stay Ahead of the Competition by Embracing Technology

Just as you review other KPIs on a regular basis, analyze the results of your digital marketing, SEO campaign and website engagement on a monthly basis. Are visitors to your site converting to leads? Which keywords are working? Which do you need to adjust? This is not a strategy that you can “set and forget”. This is a dynamic environment and requires constant monitoring, testing and flexibility.

The Quicker the Turnaround the Better

Your website might be the pinnacle of easy navigation and being user friendly, but none of this will matter if your response to inquiries is slower than the dial up modems of the mid 90’s. In an age where internet connectivity has little to no lag time, people expect expedited responses and instantaneous assistance. This ensures a good impression and the likelihood that you’ll be able to engage a lead in the next step.  

Get the Right Marketing Team and Utilize Them to Their Full Potential 

Succeeding at any level requires having the right people and knowing that they can deliver the best results. When you assemble your marketing team – whether that’s a combination of employees, contractors, or a firm on retainer – involve them in discussions about your brand, the target audience and the goals you want to achieve so they can deliver their best. Larger and well established franchisors may have good-sized marketing teams as well as the counsel of outside firms.  A new franchisor with a small but experienced, dedicated, creative and savvy virtual marketing team can devise strategies to connect with your target market and drive traffic to your emerging brand. 

Host Webinars that Teach, Enlighten, and Inform 

One of the biggest advantages of the digital age is the ability to broadcast to a worldwide audience. Taking a hold of this technology and hosting webinars or uploading videos to your YouTube channel that showcase your emerging brand is a great way to reach more people.