To develop a franchise marketing plan, discuss options with the parent company, determine the target audience and their needs, identify unique selling points, and adhere to branding guidelines. The parent company may provide marketing ideas and may require approval for individual plans.
The first step in developing a franchise marketing plan is to discuss potential marketing options with the parent company from which the franchise was purchased. Many companies have established rules for marketing plans, promotions and merchandise. Some may allow individual owners to start making their own promotions and ads, but others have strict rules governing the use of ads bearing the company name. Once you understand the regulations, developing a franchise marketing plan involves determining an audience, researching what that audience wants in a product or service, and tailoring your ads and campaigns to those wishes.
The audience is the most important aspect in developing a franchise marketing plan. This refers to the people who will buy a product or service. Every business tends to have a key audience that they target. For example, a cosmetics company that specializes in anti-aging products would primarily target its advertisements and campaigns towards women who want to look younger. If the products sold were priced higher than similar items, the audience would also include those in a certain income bracket. Similarly, advertising space would be wasted if this same company bought an ad in a magazine or publication tailored primarily for men or boys.
Another important part of developing a franchise marketing plan is determining what the audience or major demographic is looking for in the market that is not currently being offered. This can be done by taking consumer surveys from current customers and asking questions about the industry in general and the services that are missing. The results can be used to determine which promotions to offer and which are already being offered by your competitors.
A successful marketing plan also includes a unique selling point for the business. This is a feature or benefit offered by the company that is not currently advertised by competitors. For example, if there are two bakeries offering homemade cakes with organic ingredients, one can advertise the freshness of its ingredients, while the other can choose to advertise a low price. Both may have similar prices and products, but each presents a different way of representing their business.
Including a unique selling point in your ads and campaigns helps give your audience a sense of what your company stands for. This is part of “branding” or determining the impression or concept that the public has of a certain business. This problem can already be determined with a franchise marketing plan because the parent company has probably already developed expensive marketing campaigns to brand the company. Therefore, when someone sees a nationally recognized franchise logo, their perception of that company is already determined, regardless of individual franchise owners.
Franchise owners are generally given marketing ideas before opening for business. This is often offered by the parent company as they may receive a commission on the franchise income. This way, individual owners are better able to get started without having to focus on developing an individual franchise marketing plan. Many franchises do not allow individual plans without company consent, and generally plans must stick to the branding and overall concept developed by the parent company.
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