Creating a Successful Franchise Marketing Strategy

One of the most important jobs of franchisors is to create and maintain a successful marketing strategy. A well though marketing plan may mean the difference between a prosperous business and bankruptcy. Developing a good marketing plan doesn’t necessarily require a lot of money. You may need some professional advice and guidance (BIA/Kelsey advisers may be a good help) especially if you do not have any previous experience in creating full marketing plans, but you can still get most of the work done yourself.

Issues to address when preparing a franchise marketing plan

The first thing that you need to keep in mind when creating your marketing plan is your goal. Knowing and picturing what you would like to achieve in one, two of five years will give you the clue of how to write a good marketing plan. Are you looking to establish your franchise locally or you are looking for nationwide or overseas expansion?

Identifying who your potential franchisees are is also vital. Knowing who your customers are will help you target your marketing activities into reaching the optimum number of sales. It will also help you establish reasonable franchise fees and royalties. You can research other franchise businesses offering similar products and services and see who their franchisees are.

Your marketing plan should include a great advertising strategy as well. There is a significant difference between advertising a franchise and advertising any other consumer targeted business. Often DYI franchisors fail to prepare good advertising plan just because they do not have the knowledge and the experience. You can either hire a professional franchise advertising consultant company. There are also some legal requirements that must be met in order to stay out of trouble.

Set a budget and stick to it. Working within strictly defined financial borders may be crucial for success of your business. Many franchises fail because they try to compete directly with large and well established businesses offering similar products or services. I fact you do not need to match your marketing budget with their in order to achieve great results. Work on product differentiation instead and try to find unique ways to promote your franchise.

Once you launch your business, try to gather as much information as possible from your franchisees. This will give you plenty of ideas how to develop your marketing strategy further.