I strongly believe that growth is at the root of franchising. Why? Because it promotes continuous development and improvement.
In fact, I’ve dedicated an entire chapter to this topic in my book Franchise Fame: An insider’s marketing guide to incremental growth and soaring success for franchisors.
As part of my five Fs Franchise Marketing Model, having that “Full Funnel” is key for success.
But how does a franchise brand get a strategically successful full funnel? I delve deeper into this topic below.
Why creating the ideal buyer persona matters
Imagine shooting in the dark and hoping to hit a target. Outcomes of success are unlikely. The same is true for franchisors who make the fatal mistake of failing to create an ideal buyer persona.
Without knowing who your ideal franchise buyer is, focusing on their pain points and understanding their demographics, any franchise lead generation campaign is doomed to fail. This is the truth and I’ve seen it happen.
So, what should you do?
Before launching any campaign, clearly identify characteristics that represent your ideal buyer. Focus on the region they’re from, socioeconomic status, family status, educational background, age, previous experience, etc.
Focusing on this will help you package your proposition in a way that helps them buy into your business.
The marketing funnel
Next comes the marketing funnel. There are many variations of it but the most common stages are awareness/education, consideration, conversion and improve and delight.
Awareness/education is where a potential buyer first comes in contact with your franchise opportunity. They learn more about the business but are not necessarily actively looking for it.
After this is consideration where the same prospective buyer delves into deeper research to explore your opportunity.
Then there is the conversion stage. I need to emphasize that this takes place primarily through your brand’s own media.
And there is the improve and delight stage that makes the overall buying experience seamless and encourages repeat sales.
In short, these stages work in a flow, following each other. The time it takes to achieve results varies. However, the process is virtually the same for every franchise sale.
Channels for reaching your ideal franchisee
I have always said that a potential franchise buyer must be exposed to your brand around five to seven times before they consider it as an option.
This brings me to the importance of the conversion stage where your own media needs to work for you.
For successful results, you need to make sure that there is consistency across all your digital assets, be it your website, social media channels, brochures, landing pages, email sequences and more.
Messaging that hits the sweet spot
So, you’ve identified the channels that you’ll target. What next? You have to spend time in creative brainstorming, figuring out the right messaging that speaks to your ideal buyer.
This is where you must be guided by your ideal buyer persona.
When you’ve created the brand concept, the tagline, your calls-to-action (CTAs) and other messaging elements, you’re ready to proceed and publish.
But where and what? Let me explain.
Crafting the materials
Any lead generation campaign requires visual elements and catchy ad copy. At the same time, your budget must be optimised, which means you need effective targeting to generate leads. Again, the buyer persona will guide you.
From then on, it’s time to create a landing page where your ideal buyer “lands” after clicking a CTA button. This page must not overwhelm them with excessive elements and should have a single goal: drive action.
For this, you need to have a franchise brochure ready and establish simple steps to lead the prospective buyer to the sale after submitting their enquiry. This necessitates effective email sequences to assist them in the buying decision.
Conclusion: Tracking your strategy
Finally, I always advise measuring the success of your lead generation campaign. Note what works and what doesn’t, so you can tweak and refine the approach.
I can’t overemphasize how important it is to create clear and measurable KPIs. Because the team and I at Franchise Fame specialise in this entire process, you can always reach out for a chat to discuss your processes and get extensive help in finding the perfect strategy for your franchise.
