Attention Franchisors: Consumer and Franchise Development Marketing Spend Should Be Working Together

Consumers and franchise prospects may be considered two separate entities that should prompt different marketing goals among franchise brands, but there is actually considerable overlap between the two. For this reason, franchise brands that are looking to appeal to both B2B and B2C audiences would do well to coordinate marketing efforts between consumer marketing and franchise development departments. 

1851 got some insight on this topic from Michael Mohammed, CEO of the taco-focused restaurant chain Chronic Tacos, and Nick Pesko, Marketing Manager for acai bowl brand SoBol. 

“Franchise development and consumer marketing spending are both focused on growing brand awareness and keeping brand messaging consistent,” Mohammed said in an email. “The overall brand benefits from franchise development spending because it leads to the growth of the system, and the available funds for consumer marketing in correlation.”

Pesko noted that SoBol tries to keep the same plan in place when marketing to both prospective franchisees and consumers. SoBol is also focused on efforts that allow the brand to track progress and see a return on investment. 

“They’re both customers, just with different purchasing habits,” Pesko said of consumers and prospective franchisees. “You still have to allocate a significant budget to advertise to both of them.”

To that end, a brand’s franchise development and marketing departments should make sure to communicate and coordinate their efforts. Not only are they, in a way, attracting the same people, but they also want to make sure the messaging is consistent across the board.  

“It is important that the marketing and franchise development departments work together on all communications regarding franchise development to ensure that brand messaging is consistent from all content aspects such as graphics, copy and media,” Mohammed said. 

Pesko echoed this. 

“They certainly have to be on the same page,” Pesko said of a brand’s franchise development and marketing teams. “You can’t be marketing one message and then have the franchise development team or sales team relate a different or contradicting one.” 

One method SoBol uses is what Pesko referred to as “room strategizing,” meaning members from marketing and franchise development teams gather to brainstorm customer and prospective franchisee marketing ideas. “We even have our operations team members in the room,” Pesko noted. 

Chronic Tacos also makes sure to keep all relevant parties in the loop and communicating regularly. 

“We have a process in which all marketing initiatives are filtered through all departments, including operations and franchise development, so that all teams have an opportunity to provide input and are aware of current marketing projects and what is being communicated to all audiences,” Mohammed said. 

By keeping messaging consistent for prospective franchisees and customers, “we’re presenting a unified voice to these people and not confusing them,” Pesko said, adding, “It’s so important for everybody to have the same plan and the same idea.” 

Another great reason to ensure that franchise development and marketing departments are on the same page, Mohammed noted, is that brands often derive prospective franchisees from their customer base. 

“While the marketing and franchise development departments are approaching two different audiences, there can be a great amount of overlap in the messaging,” Mohammed said. “It is important to understand that consumers and fans of the brand often become franchisees. Expectations on what is delivered as a consumer stay the same with what is delivered to a potential franchisee.” 

Without coordination between departments, catastrophe can strike. 

“If our messages are not in alignment, then we look like we’re a mess,” Pesko said. He added that when disjointed messaging occurs, a brand loses consistency in processes and procedures across the franchise system, which can create a fragmented brand experience for the customer. “Then, you’re no longer a franchise,” he warned.