Ongoing and expert support continues to be one of the standout benefits for people who choose to get into franchising. An established franchise should offer a proven business structure where an individual is guided to avoid the classic mistakes made by independent business owners. One area that continues to be vital in growing a business is the correct use of marketing and PR. In the online world, the two disciplines have never been so closely intertwined, and both must be utilised to ensure your network’s continued success. Here, Kevin Thackrah, Director of Petpals, describes the journey that his award-winning pet-care franchise has been on to ensure they remain an industry leader in the digital age.
Changing with the times
We have always aimed to supply the best initial and ongoing support for the franchisees in our network. Our annual conferences and franchisee forums are brilliant for finding out what we can do to improve our package as the world changes around us. During these discussions, it became clear that marketing and PR have become more complex for our franchisees with the growth of online platforms, and our network needed a new form of support. As a result, we identified both disciplines as areas where we could put in steps to improve our overall offering.
Over the past few years, we have rebranded the whole business, which included a revamped marketing and PR package. A good place to start when improving or finessing your business offering is to look at your network and evaluate if you have the infrastructure in place to make these important changes. Otherwise, outside support from specialists in that particular field may be required to get the best results for your franchise.
Going to the digital market
In 2021, we revamped our marketing strategy. The recruitment of an expert Digital Marketer was a key factor in making these changes. Since starting this new approach, we have seen a 161% increase in inbound enquiries on Facebook. One of the strengths of having a dedicated Digital Marketer is that they act as a touchpoint for franchisees who need assistance. At Petpals, we are proud to have franchisees with a variety of life and career experience. Often when it comes to marketing and PR, one franchisee may have a completely different skillset to another. However, every single member of a franchise network deserves bespoke assistance.
The fact that marketing has become more and more digital means there is now far more to consider for both franchisor and franchisee. From Facebook Ads to Search Engine Optimization, the avenues available to reach potential customers have never been more wide-ranging. Due to the changes we have made, I feel confident that we are in a stronger position to help franchisees flourish in the digital age.
The public view
We have also started working with a specialist PR firm that has helped us optimise our national and local PR strategy. Not only have they helped us build relationships with national titles, but they have also supported us with our local franchisee activities. We see them as an extension of our team, and franchisees know they can reach out to them if they have any stories that they need support on. The firm also shared insight into how franchisees can generate their own coverage at our annual conference. This relationship is helping our franchisees to develop a greater understanding of the power of targeted public relations, and, as a result, helping us build our brand throughout the UK.
The decision to collaborate with an external agency was due to the realisation that we could make a greater difference to our network if we worked with industry experts. Collaboration in my view should be celebrated rather than discouraged in a forever developing sector. Since we have started this relationship, we have achieved an incredible total audience reach of 4.6 million in the last six months of 2021. And those results certainly speak for themselves.
