Expose Your Franchise With Digital Marketing

By Lisa Barringer, Franchise Guardian® Writer

If locating your franchise business is like digging for hidden treasure, digital marketing is the map that can lead potential customers directly to it. Without marketing, your franchise business and its services may be stuck in a black hole of the unknown, basically out of sight and mind. If consumers don’t know that your business exists, they won’t find it.

In this booming technology age, digital marketing is one of the best and most effective ways to expose your brand to people who might be searching for products and services that your business offers. Specifically, internet marketing can ensure that your business is visible and accessible in various ways to people online.

There are currently 4.6 billion internet users, globally, according to Statista. That’s a giant pool of consumer prospects. Think with Google reports that 53% of shoppers research before making a purchase. Recent studies show that, post-pandemic, many shoppers plan to continue shopping habits they acquired during COVID-19. Those habits include shopping online, spending less time in stores, and searching for bargains and product availability, states Acosta.

Digital marketing, either via display ads, email, Search Engine Optimization, social media, website content or video, can help businesses accommodate changing consumer trends. Social media is reportedly one of the top digital marketing mediums, worldwide. Statista data also shows that social media advertising, with Facebook leading the way, is expected to grow to $48 billion in the U.S. in 2021; $16 billion more than what was reported in 2017.

Digital Marketing That Sells

Some franchise business owners agree that social media is a proven marketing tool. The Candy Food Truck, in Oklahoma, just recently reached its mark of 10,000 Facebook followers and in less than five years. Owner Shane Emerson uses various digital marketing tools to promote his Candy Food Truck franchise, but Facebook has become the vehicle driving its success.

“Facebook is still the king,” Emerson said. “That’s where most women, between ages 30 to 60, are. They are more apt to use Facebook than Twitter or Instagram. I need women on HOAs (Homeowner Associations), at schools and day cares who are going to book the Candy Food Truck. I need women of that age bracket who know I exist and who want to use me in that world.”

On Facebook, the Candy Food Truck succeeds in reaching that targeted audience. If fact, women compete for its attention there. Emerson explained that women usually call to reserve the truck after they discover, on Facebook Events, that it is visiting a workplace or neighborhood other than their own.

“It becomes a competition,” he said. “They don’t want to be outdone, so they call to book it right away.”

Emerson admits that visual factors also have helped his candy truck attract customers, especially during the pandemic.

“We are fun, nice and clean,” Emerson said, adding that he serves customers behind a 9-by-4-foot Plexiglass window. “COVID changed the world, but everything I sell is prepackaged, which adds a level of safety to it. Perception is reality, so if they perceive me as safe, then I’m safe.”

With so many available options, it’s important to tailor a digital marketing strategy to meet your business goal. No matter if the goal is to retain or acquire customers, increase brand awareness or drive sales, select a marketing strategy that targets your franchise business market.

Finding room in the budget for marketing might be challenging for franchises and small businesses, but Franchise Guardian® offers tips and assistance to help. Contact Franchise Guardian® for business and franchise marketing assistance.

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