It’s true in business too. In fact, let’s restate it as a new piece of conventional wisdom: “All business is local, especially franchise businesses.”
Why? Because while people are attracted to national brands, they want to connect on a local level with real people they know and trust – your franchisees.
Consumers are actively looking to make those connections through social media channels, and research proves it. According to comScore’s Local Search Usage Study (as reported by Clickz) “69% of consumers are more likely to use a local business if it has information on a social networking site.”
In other words, if your franchisees don’t have a local presence on Facebook, they are at a serious disadvantage.
Again, customers want to interact with the owners and operators of local businesses, not impersonal corporate brands. The comScore study also reported that 22% of customers contacted a business after finding it on a social network, and 67% of those consumers went on to make a purchase.
It’s clear that a local online presence for national brands is mandatory. The obvious takeaway for franchisors is that you must support your franchisees with the infrastructure and social media tools they need to engage prospects and existing customers and generate leads at the local level.
Listing franchise outlets on the locations page of your web site (which research shows is the most visited page on franchisor sites) is a good start. But there’s much more you can do to help your local franchisees succeed online.
Helping them succeed with social media is more than a good idea, it’s a must.
Sometimes the hype is justified. The current popularity of Facebook is one of those instances.
Because while it happens to be the subject of one of the hottest movies in America right now, (and the specialty of countless new social media gurus) Facebook is also a research-proven lynchpin for attracting ideal clients to your brand.
And not just clients – Facebook is a magnet for evangelists who love what you do, and don’t hesitate to tell others about your product or service.
A survey conducted in August and September of this year by ad agency DBB found that people who “like” a brand on Facebook are likely to use that brand’s products. What’s more, 49% of those who liked a brand said they would “certainly” recommend that brand to friends.
What does this mean for franchisors? If you’ve got a Facebook page, you’ve got a proven word-of-mouth recommendation engine – provided you’re using it properly.
It’s time to optimize your Facebook presentation. Here are some steps you can take in that direction:
• Make someone on your marketing staff responsible for executing your Facebook strategy on a daily basis, and make sure they don’t drop the ball.
• Treat your fans as the preferred customers they are, with coupons or special offers.
• Bring your positive reviews to the surface, giving them a tab on your Facebook page, linking to them from your Web site, etc.
• Share your page with friends and contacts, and include a personal note on why they want to become a fan now (and reward them for doing so with a special offer).
The first item on the list above is probably the most critical. The gold rush is on, and it’s imperative to have a real Facebook strategy that will enable your brand to stand out.
The platform is there – it’s up to you and your team to execute.
If you’re convinced that the future of marketing includes social media, but you’re not exactly sure what to do about it, Process Peak can help.
When working with Social Media tools, our focus is always on enhancing or facilitating a conversion funnel in a scalable and measurable manner. The Facebook LIKE button is one of the easiest conversion actions a potential customer or client can perform. Clicking the “thumbs up” image is far less burdensome than filling out a form or picking up the phone.
In my recent blog postings I’ve covered several ways that our clients are using the LIKE button and other Facebook Social Plugins to drive conversions. Those opportunities just expanded thanks to my favorite email tool, MailChimp.
The typical measurable conversions from an email campaign are opens, forwards, clicks, and often in our case registrations for a webinar. Forwards and registrations are always the lowest % because they require the highest commitment or comfort level of the recipient. If the webinar is on a date that doesn’t work for the recipient, or if they aren’t interested in learning more about the subject matter, they are not likely going to click a link or register. They could however click that they LIKE the webinar, and as a result share that fact with their friends list.
Your next email campaign should include a LIKE button. It provides an easy conversion option for your audience, and importantly adds another level of measurement to your marketing efforts.
I’m often asked what franchise companies are doing to successfully leverage social media. Where is the ROI? Can it be measured? Can we generate franchise leads with social media? How do we execute a strategy to drive business to our franchisees using social media?
There are thousands of “Social Media Consultants” that would love to talk to you about social media strategy, but few can demonstrate a clearly defined path. Rather than share concepts or ideas, we at Process Peak prefer to demonstrate through real and live examples.
Here’s one client of ours that sets a great example for what every franchisor can and should do when launching their Facebook page.
We recently launched the new-and-improved PostNet Facebook page. There were 3 primary deliverables or this project:
Custom landing page for any non-fans that visit
Don’t send new visitors to your Wall, where there’s no direction given. Create a default landing tab and welcome your new visitors to become a fan and “like” your brand. This is the first conversion opportunity we introduce on Facebook. Driving people to “like” your brand will grow your Facebook marketing database. This also serves as an example for your franchisees of proper use of brand standards on Facebook, something every franchisor should be focused on.
Welcome Tab on PostNet Facebook Page
Franchise Opportunities tab
Conversion opportunity #2 on Facebook is to get someone to fill out an actual form. This can be a promo page, or in PostNet’s case a franchise page. PostNet uses our Pipeline Catalyst service for franchise development, so any Facebook visitor that completes the form on their Opportunities tab will automatically feed into the Pipeline Catalyst system and begin the discovery process.
Franchise Request Form on Facebook
Microsite
Visitors to your Facebook page aren’t interested in leaving Facebook to go to your website, so bring your website to them. We’ve been tracking the analytics on PostNet.com for some time, so we know what information visitors to their corporate website are looking for. We built that content into a microsite for Facebook and included a store locator application to drive business to their franchisees (conversion #3). This microsite further sets brand standards that franchisees can have built into their own Facebook pages.
Postnet Website on Facebook
We of course include analytics in everything we build, so we’ll be tracking the results of PostNet’s Facebook conversions and will make monthly enhancements.
Learn more about what Process Peak can do to enhance your Social Media presence. Fill out the request form in the upper-right of this page and we’ll call you for a free Social Media Assessment.
Last month, Facebook introduced the new “Like” button and made it far easier for brands and consumers to connect on the web. Creative franchise marketers have already taken advantage of the new Facebook “Like” button to offer promotions, special offers and discounts to consumers who are interested in their brand.
Previously, the Facebook “Like” functionality only existed on the Facebook network. With the new “Like” button, users can choose to “Like” brands, products, services and content while visiting third-party websites. The user profile is then connected to the Brand’s Facebook page.
Why does this matter to franchisors? This new functionality allows the Brand an easier way to capture leads on their company website. Rather than expecting visitors to enter their contact info on a lead form, franchisors can offer the additional option to just click “Like.”
Data Doctors, an Arizona-based franchisor has already successfully adopted this new functionality using one of the Facebook social plugins. When browsing their company website, a user can choose to “Like” any article or page. When doing so, their profile is updated as well as the News Feed of any of the user’s friends that they regularly communicate with.
For example, I “Liked” the Data Doctors Business Services page which then updated my Facebook profile and was potentially seen on the News Feed of my 387 Friends. I am also now connected to the Data Doctors Facebook page, allowing them to regularly update my News Feed or even directly message me through the Send Update function.
Those that have shied away from Social Media citing lack of ROI, now have an easy starting point that will deliver tangible and measurable results.
AllFacebook.com posted an interesting article about a seldom talked about benefit to companies that take advantage of Facebook’s Open Graph on their corporate website. The pages that have the “like” plugin installed can be made to show up in Facebook Search. This creates links from Facebook search results back to the company website.
Data Doctors, an Arizona-based franchisor is already taking advantage of the Open Graph opportunities. Each page on their corporate website has the “like button” plugin. Those pages also show up in the Facebook search results.
Like Button on a content page
DataDoctors.com content page in Facebook Search results
Using combined analytics reports from Facebook Insights and Google Analytics we’ll be tracking the effectiveness of these SEO efforts.
Facebook posted a great little video (under 2 minutes) that explains the benefit of adding the social plugins to your website. This is something we’re helping franchisors and suppliers implement to further enhance their conversion funnel.
And not just clients – Facebook is a magnet for evangelists who love what you do, and don’t hesitate to tell others about your product or service.
The first item on the list above is probably the most critical. The gold rush is on, and it’s imperative to have a real Facebook strategy that will enable your brand to stand out.
