Digital marketing is a hot topic right now. Franchisors are looking at how social media, content, loyalty, email marketing, SMS and apps can work for their brands, evaluating pros and cons and ROI and getting franchisees on board with new ideas and new technologies.

GET THE DATA RIGHT

There is no one-size-fits-all digital marketing strategy, nor is there one implementation framework that works for everyone. In fact, how to implement digital marketing is a key consideration in franchising, as the corporate office needs to think about a solution that will suit multiple site owners across the country, all with different local marketing needs.

The biggest challenge franchisors face with digital marketing implementation comes down to the data. With new digital channels opening up all the time, it is vital that data is held in what we call a single point of truth database: one database that feeds information to third parties as required to execute digital marketing. What you don’t want is data sitting in multiple locations.

Ideally, you can nominate a neutral location for the database, one not pegged to a particular digital channel. What happens when you want to shut down a particular channel that isn’t performing? You need to make sure you can easily take your data with you.

Data flow is also important. Consider a loyalty program where transaction details are captured at point of sale; make sure that data feeds back to the database so that you can understand customer behaviour and customise digital content for that customer. Digital creates so much opportunity for targeted messaging; you want to be able to take advantage of that.

CONVERT THE NETWORK

In a franchise environment, not all franchisees are going to want to warm to digital channels right away. However, online training modules, case studies with success digital campaigns and also ‘how-to’ guides can help the corporate office to roll out digital channels by giving franchisees something tangible to work with: a stepping stone before jumping into an online channel.

Likewise, support from field teams can really help to demystify digital marketing for franchisees and to demonstrate how digital channels can be harnessed at a local level.

Finding the right digital suppliers is important too, as you are going to need to promote their services to stakeholders. There is a perception around digital channels as cheap, so it can be a challenge to get franchisees on board unless the digital platform is seen as the right solution for the network – in terms of functionality and price. 

KEEP IT LOCAL

Digital marketing implementation is often considered in terms of SMS, email marketing and loyalty programs; however for franchisees there can be some real opportunities in their local area outside of these channels. But the challenge for the corporate team is being able to seamlessly push out content to fit these one-off situations – such as digital screens in shopping centres.

A simple solution is to give franchisees  access to artwork online, such as a template system where they can choose the size of the digital screen, then pick the offer they want to display and download the file. A digital asset management system will give the corporate office access to tools like this pretty easily.

STAY IN CONTROL

One of the ongoing challenges for the corporate office with any channel is empowering franchisees to run their own local marketing, while ensuring it stays on brand and fits best practice. For digital, this means implementing controls for approving customised content and messaging, and creating pre-approved content for the network to use.

Giving franchisees access to digital channels and content is the first step to empowering them to talk to their customers. But don’t forget to build in some anti-spamming parameters – no one wants to be bombarded!

CONTENT COUNTS

One of the advantages of digital channels is how quick to market they can be. However, having ready and available the content that franchisees want is vital – as is making it flexible enough to be customised at a local level.

Footy season, Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day – a suite of specific templates that the network can optimise with a local flavour can be really effective. Talk to your digital team about creating variable fields where individual stores can customise the content without having to come up with the whole campaign idea. Build it and they will come, so to speak.

Having said that, some franchisees want to build relationships with customers by making content highly store specific. Dish of the week, sales staff of the month – consider how to administer highly customised digital content from the corporate office, without over investing resources in a single campaign idea. Again, a digital asset management system can be an easy way to drive generic templates.

Giving stakeholders in a wide store network the tools to talk to local customers via digital channels can see them achieve real results, and importantly, they are measurable. With the right controls in place to protect the data and customers, franchisees can test the waters in their territory until they find the content that works.