Best Practices for Franchisee Recruitment on Social Media

Telling personal stories and sharing them over social media can help engage new business

SPONSOREDUpdated 2:14PM • 04/27/16

A report from research firm eMarketer found that 89.5 percent of U.S companies would use social media for marketing purposes in 2016. It’s a powerful and inexpensive tool that brands can use to highlight their services, announce their growth and connect with consumers. But more and more, brands are leveraging social media to build awareness around franchisee recruitment.

Social media can help personalize the franchise recruitment process and emotionally connect prospective candidates to your brand through unique storytelling. While purchasing a franchise will always be a financial decision, social media allows brands to connect prospects with like-minded entrepreneurs already thriving in a system. Scott Thompson, vice president of franchise development for Premium Franchise Brands, said this is one of the avenues his brands use to help promote the JAN-PRO and Maid Right franchises.

“Content is king in terms of social media recruitment and if you provide well told stories about successful owners through those channels, you will be able to add a personal touch to your brand and get people on board quicker,” Thompson said.

Thompson went on to say the key to excelling in social media recruitment is to have a sound strategy. Simply putting one of these success stories up and sharing it across all social media channels is not enough. For instance, recruitment on Facebook can be a bit more personable because that site is used to connect with people, while Twitter can be used to highlight financial stats of a brand. It all depends on the type of platform you want to use for recruitment, but the goal is to engage with investors.

“The mistake is brands try to sell over social media, but the goal is for the candidates to engage with you. Each site has a different use and you want to connect with them in the way the site was designed,” Thompson said. “LinkedIn requires a more professional stance, so you want recruitment to be more business-like, while Facebook, you can interact with the people in a more personal manner.”

Possible investors can get the numbers about a brand once they meet with a franchise representative or dig into a franchise development website. But the quickest way to get them there is to show them that there is a history of success. Ryan Paul, vice president of digital for No Limit Agency*, said showing a relatable story over social media is the best way to go.

“You want to paint a picture over social media of a successful situation the potential franchisee can see themselves in. That is why it is better for brands to use more pull-marketing techniques, instead of push marketing,” Paul said. “It’s a tactic of using attraction over promotion because prospective investors aren’t going to go on social media to look at ordinary advertisements. You can mention tidbits about the brand and the investment opportunity, but you want to keep it relevant to your audience by showing them they too can be like current successful franchisees.”

*This brand is a paid partner of 1851 Franchise. For more information on paid partnerships please click here.

Best Practices for Franchisee Recruitment on Social Media

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