Brands Winning at Franchise Marketing: Great Clips

With more than 1,000 franchisees operating more than 4,200 salons in markets across the U.S. and Canada, Great Clips* has become one of the largest hair care franchise brands in the world. There are any number of factors contributing to the brand’s consistent growth, not least among them a streamlined operational system, a robust suite of support systems and a model built to scale up quickly, but one of the most crucial components of the franchise’s health has been the strength of its owners.

Finding the best owners is one of the primary challenges for any franchise brand, and Great Clips is no exception. Still, the brand has found an edge through a sophisticated franchise marketing strategy that employs a range of tools and channels to reach prime franchisee candidates.

We talked to Beth Caron, Great Clips’ director of franchise development, to learn how the brand communicates their message to prospective franchisees and how that strategy has evolved.

1851: What are some of the ways Great Clips markets to prospective franchisees?

Caron: We use a variety of different marketing tools to create one comprehensive program. That includes digital ads, content production, PR work, SEM, referral programs within our franchisee network, expos and even a few prints ads, just to name a few.

1851: What are Great Clips’ key points of differentiators from other hair care brands, and how are those points communicated through marketing?

Caron: Great Clips is the largest and fastest-growing brand within the haircare industry, and we’re not shy about emphasizing that in our marketing materials. We’re also 100 percent franchised and privately owned, and we lead the industry in our technology and training programs.

Not all marketing materials allow us to use this much detail, but if we have the opportunity and space to share, we’ll often try to include our franchisees’ perspectives on how Great Clips leads the industry in all of those ways. That’s one reason I love advertorials and content marketing; it’s not just a quick visual representation of the brand, it’s an opportunity to share a compelling story and include some of the differentiators and how they impact franchisees.

1851: Has Great Clips’ approach to franchise marketing changed over the past five years?

Caron: Yes. Marketing, especially marketing in the digital world, is an ever-evolving beast.  What worked five years ago isn’t the same as what works today. You may have some of the same components, but there is certainly a trial-and-error element involved. From Great Clips’ perspective, our needs have also changed. Even five to 10 years ago, we had different geographic opportunities available for new franchisees and we now have to be even more targeted to the areas where we need to find those qualified candidates.

1851: How does Great Clips tailor its marketing strategy to attract the most qualified candidates?

Caron: Digital marketing allows us to get in front of more specific demographics, and that’s incredibly helpful. When it comes to creating marketing to attract our target candidates, it’s all about whether or not those people see what attracts them to being a business owner in the first place. What’s helpful about being part of a large brand is that we have a large selection of really amazing franchisees, and we can tell their stories in order to find other candidates who are just like them.

1851: Does Great Clips market to existing franchisees to promote expansion?

Caron: No, we don’t have to market to our existing franchisees to promote additional growth.  Great Clips is designed as a multi-unit opportunity, and our franchisees are generally very attracted to the business because of the future growth potential. When growth potential exists within a market, our operations and real estate teams simply connect with the local franchisees to alert them of the opportunity. We have a very established system for franchisees to raise their hands and indicate their desire for that continued growth, and more often than not, they are incredibly eager to take on the additional opportunity.