At the forefront of any good business model is a great marketing system. Franchising is the art of duplication, so it makes sense that a solid franchise investment offers an excellent franchise marketing system. The best franchises in the world are often closely correlated with the best marketing minds. What effective franchise leaders have been able to do in their execution of a franchise development program is to define a target customer base, build strong messaging to that customer and build a plan to put the brand in front of that customer as frequently and efficiently as possible. In the end it’s really pretty simple, the good franchises have marketing figured out.
When a business franchises, the effect of marketing, good or bad, has enormous consequences. The Franchisor now must be concerned with not only the company’s overall success, but also the success of each franchisee who has invested into the system. The results of a marketing campaign will create a positive or negative ROI for franchisees in the system and ultimately increase or decrease the valuation for the entire franchise business. Marketing as a franchise therefore has exponential importance and requires innovative thinking, strategy and a clear plan of action.
- Good franchise brands have a great plan for marketing. Think of the strongest brands in franchising on the market today, Dunkin Donuts, McDonalds, 7-11, Sport Clips or Anytime Fitness. These brands all stand for something and say something in everything they do. It is clear, concise and always ahead of the consumer curve. They understand what drives their customer and know how to speak to them in a way that they will respond. Dunkin Donuts dropped the reference to donuts in their logo years ago and transitioned to a coffee cup, Sport Clips understood that men wanted a hair care service that was tailored specifically for them and Anytime Fitness gets today’s fast-paced consumer lifestyle and the need for a quick workout solution. All of these brands have great marketing plans where customers and franchisees alike invest in their systems due to the consistency of what they market to their customer base.
- Effective franchise marketing starts at the top, but finish at the local level. You can’t have a great marketing plan and at the store level have different messaging going out to the customer. Franchise marketing must be consistent at all levels. The Marketing Fund and Franchisor decision making as it relates to the brand must be in the best interest of the entire system and ultimately be driving bottom line results for franchisees and operating units. The regional cooperative marketing funds should be managed to best leverage regional presence and economies of scale between units in a given area. Local franchise marketing needs to be well-planned, structured and targeted so that the customer’s perception of the marketing message is consistent from top to bottom.
- The Marketing strategy needs to be numbers driven. Media placement should be facilitated by the franchisor and the management who should understand the perspective of the franchisee. Ultimately, bottom line ROI is what the franchisee is most concerned with, but the Franchisor should also understand where the franchisee is in their life-cycle of the business. Investing in long-term SEO doesn’t make sense for a franchisee in their first month of business when they need to see cash flow and instant results for their new business. The franchisor should understand how to not only get solid results, but to help the franchisee through all stages of their business’ development. Good franchisors are communicating regularly with franchisees and sharing insight to how best to move the needle on customer acquisition.
Chris Conner and Franchise Marketing Systems work with franchise businesses to design, develop and implement franchise marketing programs. For more information on how to support and grow your franchise marketing mechanisms, contact us: info@FranchiseMarketingSystems.com

What makes the difference between a good business and a great business? There are so many good businesses out there, why do most of them level off at “good” and never transition to “great”. In our experience working with businesses and helping determine whether a brand should expand through franchising, this discussion and the dynamics of this scenario are reviewed many times over. Really, any business that is even considering franchising tends to be a “good” business. They have proven their model has some merit, their value proposition has some unique differentiation from the rest of the market and the leadership behind the brand has vision for growth and scale. Most of these businesses don’t have what it takes to franchise, but certainly would be considered good businesses by most. These factors are some of the key indicators from our perspective which delineate good from great:

My consulting firm, Franchise Marketing Systems helps businesses become franchise models. Over the past several years, I have purchased franchises as part of my work in the industry. It has been interesting to say the least to see the other side of the relationship as a franchisee. Buying a franchise can be a confusing, scary and enormously time consuming process. All of this many times leads to bad decision making as people skip steps and tend to jump into something that maybe wasn’t the best business decision to begin with. The irony of it all is that franchising is by nature a business model that helps entrepreneurs and investors avoid unnecessary risk and skip the learning curve through a proven and validated business model. The buying process provides many of the same benefits just by the simple fact that the franchise legal process requires certain disclosures and information to be presented to a franchisee prior to their making a buying decision. So what can you do in researching your franchise investment to help avoid the pitfalls of a bad investment and find the shining star of an investment you’ve been looking for?
Franchise Marketing Systems will be sponsoring the September 2016 Franchise Expo held in Atlanta on 9/24 and 9/25. The Atlanta franchise show is one of the countries strongest small market shows and will be this fall’s largest franchise marketing event. The Atlanta franchise show consistently draws a large volume of franchise buyers to the event primarily from the Southeastern United States. In developing effective franchise marketing campaigns, Tradeshows have always been a key aspect to any franchise development model and in today’s technology driven marketplace maybe even more so than ever before.
I am a small business owner, Conner and Associates, LLC, DBA Franchise Marketing Systems, based in Atlanta, GA. I fight the same fight you do every day of every week of every month. Sometimes it seems like all odds are against you being successful and you just can’t do anything right. Government regulations don’t seem to help the small business owner much, more so they favor the big corporations with money for lobbyists. Money is tough to come by as lenders look at small businesses as being higher risk in most cases. All that being said, I wouldn’t change a thing and love every minute of being a small business owner. My business, Franchise Marketing Systems has been fortunate to experience growth every year we’ve been in business. We have definitely had our set backs and trip ups along the way, but in the end, it has been exciting and is exciting to see your hard work come to fruition.
I have spent the past 15 years working with brands who want to franchise their business and grow a brand through the franchise expansion model. Our firm, Franchise Marketing Systems works primarily with start up franchisors and brands who have not offered or sold a franchise in the past, sometimes with mid-sized or mature brands who are in need of additional support for growth. In the several hundred times that I have supported a company going through this process, there are some similar traits to the businesses that really make it in the franchise model and those that don’t.
Businesses that turn to franchising as a way to expand their brand into new markets generally have a significant learning curve they must overcome as they learn how to manage the responsibilities of franchising and franchise expansion. A new franchisor is like a new business owner who is learning the ways, processes and steps they must take to deal with customers, overcome obstacles and effectively grow the business. What’s new about franchising to most business owners is the responsibility that comes with scaled growth and opening new locations in new markets with the addition of Franchisees in the fold. With the never-ending expansion of technology in all aspects of business and life, franchising certainly has seen it’s reliance on technology and systems increase exponentially as well. Perhaps in franchising more than most businesses, technology has taken on a new meaning as to how critical good tech is to the successful growth of a franchise.
Franchise Marketing Systems will be exhibiting at the Dallas, TX franchise exposition on 5/14 and 5/15/2016. The Dallas franchise show is expected to be a strong showing as the Dallas market is considered to be one of the strongest in the U.S. for franchise industry growth and expansion across a variety of franchise fields. The show is put on by the National Franchise and Business Opportunities Show group who conducts 15-20 shows per year throughout the U.S. and Canada.
