Franchise Marketing 101: How to Accelerate Franchise Growth

There are several components that go into growing a franchise brand. Clearly, a great product that has a distinct point of differentiation, and strong unit-level economics are table stakes. Then, of course comes strength of the vision, cost to get in, potential earnings and territory availability, all of which lead into validation. Equipped with the necessary growth ingredients, how you market those assets can make or break your franchise.

Some franchise brands ride the economy. Meaning, things go well, the brand spends; things go poorly, the brand pulls back. But given the tiny percentage of brands that make it to 100 units (likely less than one percent) and those that make it to 250 (likely less than one percent of brands that make it to 100) and then those that make it to 500 (you get the picture), there must be an outlier that helps propel that growth.

Is it that those brands know what portals, franchise brokers and marketing mix to spend? Is it that they have a secret? 

No. 

They roll with the fundamentals and spend when buyers come out of the woodworks. They budget properly (yes, those one percent of one percent of one percent probably spend more than the typically recommended $10,000 per deal in marketing). Yes, those brands invest in leadership and support teams that truly give scaffolding to the franchisees (thus creating more validation). Yes, those brands continue to innovate.

Just because a brand is a franchise, that doesn’t mean it has permission or a pass to not behave like a great business. Great businesses jump all over opportunities and invest properly.

Dear franchise industry, now is your opportunity. But please, don’t come to the opportunity with false expectations.

Leads take time to mature. You don’t go out and buy a car at first sight. You nurture your process. Just like flowers, or cooking, or marriages — buying a franchise takes time.

There are several candidate categories you should disperse your budget to:

1. Actively searching now: These are people who have already inquired to own another franchise or are about to because they have already performed their homework on the franchise industry. These people are farther along in the pipeline and thus, more ready to buy. How do you get in front of them? Messaging and marketing around look-alike brands, encouraging the prospect to consider your brand, too.
2. Franchisees of other brands. These are tougher because they already have expectations — cost to get in, what they can make, truths to the sell (does the brand really support them). The one thing that can throw this group is territory availability being gone. This is a hop point.
3. First-time franchisees. This will take a little more time, but these are the multi-unit franchisees of the future. If you qualify right (set your qualifications at a point that helps you say Yes to the right buyers), you can build 20 franchisees who each own five units. Ah, a breath of fresh air — fewer franchisees to support and grow.
4. Existing franchisees. Far too often this group is not encouraged as much as they should. Who can scale? Are you giving them the teaching lessons to help them grow their business? Are you helping them identify growth opportunities in real estate and labor? You should.

When the economy gets turbulent, the middle manager’s job gets shaky. The middle manager is typically someone who has built enough wealth (and financial resources) to do something else. They are comfortable. They don’t love change. They like systems.

Ding, ding, ding, Johnny, tell the franchisor what they’ve won.

Opportunity.

Right message (why you, why now). Right marketing budget. Right deployment. Right focus. And jumping when the pond of franchise buyers gets nice and full are the tricks to franchise growth 101.

But, remember, you cannot put lipstick on a pig. If you have holes in your franchise system (poor unit-level economics, validation, modeling) this won’t magically make your brand great. Fix those things concurrently, because the shakiness of the economy will be unpredictable and then you will be back casting, wishing you would have done things differently when a once in 10 years opportunity hit you.