One of the most common marketing requests we get at Orangecast are franchisees who are looking for ways to market online. One of the most common goals is to market products and services locally. However, franchisors generally setup their web presence nationally and struggle with local search engine optimization. This leaves franchisees in a bind and usually forces them to consider options such as creating local websites, email campaigns, and engaging in social media. Unfortunately, many franchisors feel threatened by this and often severely limit these avenues per fine print in franchise agreements. We have heard stories of franchisors sending “cease and desist” for blogs and local websites and forcing franchisees to turn over all customer email addresses of local customers. The following is a quick list of items to negotiate into your franchisee agreement to ensure you have the flexibility needed maximize online marketing opportunities.
Tip 1 – Investigate Local Search Performance For Existing Franchises
Most regional and national franchisors want to maintain brand control and have a single website for the brand. There is generally specific verbiage to prevent the franchisee from creating websites associated with the brand. As a potential franchisee, you should evaluate the search engine presence for the brand. This list should include:
- Ask to see analytics reporting for traffic in a particular city. Get specific as to what keywords drive traffic. If you are getting into a fast casual dining concept and are being sold on catering being a potential revenue stream, verify that the corporate website is driving local search results related to catering.
- Think like a customer and “Google” local terms to see where the concept surfaces in search. If you are considering buying a franchise in a handyman services company, Google specific services with local city names and see where their site surfaces in Google.
- Ask if they provide Pay Per Click or Search Engine Marketing campaigns for franchisees. If so, require that any fees associated with it are on a “cost per conversion” basis versus cost per click.
If you receive significant push back in your search for insight into these items, this should throw up a major red flag. If you are made promises that this is being worked on, consider delaying your signing or specifically gear payments around progress in this area. Search Engines are a significant piece of “affordable” marketing for local goods and services. If this marketing is not available to your franchise, you are starting at a significant disadvantage.
Tip 2 – Review Email Marketing Campaigns
Email marketing is a powerful mechanism for connecting with customers. Review campaigns provided by the franchisor. Review content, open rates, and click through rates. A good campaign will have open rates of 25% or better and will have a 15% click through rate or better. If the content is too promotional and/or open and click through rates are not good, contractually give yourself the option to execute email marketing locally. You should be able to drill into these numbers at a local level and content should be local or regionalized. If it isn’t, opt to run these yourself as you will produce better results for your units.
Tip 3 – Maintain Social Media Rights for Your Personal Brand
Franchisors are very sensitive in the area of social media. This is understandable as brand impersonation is a huge issue in social media. Still, you are your own personality and being a franchisee is part of that. Maintain the right to be “Bob Smith, Dallas Franchisee of XYZ” in your social media profile. This includes broader initiatives like a Facebook fan page. Social Media is becoming a very powerful and you should leave your options open in this space respecting the brand management needs of the franchisor.
Summary
There are hundreds of variables to consider when structuring a franchise deal. Though the above might seem small in the scheme of things, the long term success of a local franchise relies on marketing. As a franchisee, you can’t completely rely on the franchisor to make your business work and you will want to maintain some control. If you are being forced into giving up search engine, email marketing, and social media control, consider another franchise opportunity or revisit the concept after they can prove results in these areas.
