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In 2019, by the time a franchise candidate reaches out to a brand representative to request more information, they&rsquo;ve already completed extensive online research into their prospective franchisor. That&rsquo;s why today more than ever, brands that franchise must invest in top-quality franchise development websites.

That might sound easy for franchise development professionals&mdash;after all, their job is to speak to the business opportunity embodied by their brand&mdash;but it can be easy to misstep and lose clarity of messaging in the process. 

The first and most critical step to building a franchise development site?

&ldquo;Know your audience,&rdquo; said Paul Pickett, Chief Development Officer of birding retail franchise <a href="https://franchise.wbu.com/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=how-to-validate-your-brand-the-importance-of-the-franchise-development-site-2709849" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">Wild Birds Unlimited</a>. &ldquo;For many brands, the audience that consumes the product and the audience interested in becoming a business owner are very different.&rdquo;

Oliver Gunanto, Vice President of Digital at <a href="https://www.nolimitagency.com/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=how-to-validate-your-brand-the-importance-of-the-franchise-development-site-2709849" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">No Limit Agency*</a>, illustrated Pickett&rsquo;s points with an analogy: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the difference between talking to a person that eats the sandwich your brand makes versus someone who wants to make a living with your brand&rsquo;s sandwich. [On franchise development sites], you&rsquo;re talking to that second group, the audience wanting to know if your company could benefit their livelihood.&rdquo;

Because of the difference between consumer and franchise candidate, then, brands must make sure that the messaging on their franchise development site clarifies the business opportunity available to prospective franchisees. 

&ldquo;When building a franchise development site, it&rsquo;s important to put yourself in the shoes of a prospective franchisee,&rdquo; explained Ashley Mitchell, <a href="https://www.soccershotsfranchising.com/?utm_source=qiigo&amp%3Butm_medium=ppc&amp%3B%3Fvs_key=Ch4NmliLu8UqbAAo&amp%3Bgclid=EAIaIQobChMIl4i6moT94QIVT_DACh2KxQYQEAAYASAAEgKU_fD_BwE&utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=how-to-validate-your-brand-the-importance-of-the-franchise-development-site-2709849" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">Soccer Shots Franchising LLC</a>&rsquo;s VP of Marketing and Communications. &ldquo;What would each persona want to know? What questions can you preemptively answer to get them engaged enough to reach out to talk to your franchise development team? A common mistake is building a duplicate of your consumer-facing site and ignoring the business reasons behind becoming a franchisee.&rdquo;

And the goal of targeted messaging and content on a franchise development site?

In Pickett&rsquo;s words, it&rsquo;s &ldquo;to generate qualified leads and to tell your culture and your brand&rsquo;s story to candidates so that they really get it.&rdquo; Franchise development sites must therefore &ldquo;meet candidates where they want to be met,&rdquo; Pickett explained. &ldquo;Franchise development sites should provide information that encourages engagement while candidates do their research.&rdquo;

What drives engagement? According to Pickett: High-value content, appropriate forms and sufficient information related to candidate qualifications and level of investment.

&ldquo;You want your site to do everything it possibly can to communicate your brand&rsquo;s culture; you&rsquo;re answering the candidate question, &lsquo;Could I see myself in this culture?&rsquo;&rdquo; Pickett said. &ldquo;So of course, you need the bare minimum requirements to be a qualified candidate&mdash;liquidity and net worth; any Item 19 information that&rsquo;s approved by legal; your brand&rsquo;s target markets, and so on.&rdquo;

Danessa Itaya, Senior Vice President of property management franchise <a href="https://www.propertymanagementinc.com/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=how-to-validate-your-brand-the-importance-of-the-franchise-development-site-2709849" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">Property Management Inc.</a>, said that a successful franchise development site will also clearly illustrate &ldquo;the candidate journey.&rdquo;

&ldquo;You need to telegraph clearly the step-by-step process that prospective franchisees will follow, from Discovery to grand opening,&rdquo; Itaya said. &ldquo;It helps everyone when you&rsquo;ve set that expectation right up front.&rdquo;

Additionally, Pickett said, franchise development sites can minimize user bounce rates with relevant video content that avoids a &ldquo;hard sell&rdquo; approach, as well as forms that invite candidates to submit minimal personal information, also in the interest of avoiding a hard sell.

&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve made the mistake of having too much mandated information on our FD forms, and that doesn&rsquo;t align with what candidates are looking for today,&rdquo; Pickett said. &ldquo;That said, you also need to be transparent with your story, so you don&rsquo;t want to be too withholding.&rdquo;

When asked how web developers for FD sites know how to strike the balance, Pickett was emphatic. 

&ldquo;Listen to what your candidates want&mdash;they&rsquo;ll tell you,&rdquo; Pickett said. &ldquo;Give people the option to be communicated with how they want; offer text and email options. The old game of only putting enough information on your site to get candidates to call you doesn&rsquo;t work anymore.&rdquo;

Mitchell spoke to the deluge of content that today&rsquo;s franchise candidates inevitably find themselves navigating, offering the ultimate call to action for FD site developers: don&rsquo;t hold back when it comes to answering &lsquo;So what?&rsquo;

&ldquo;The nature of lead generation in 2019 is that there are a lot of options and a lot of information out there, about your brand and others. It is unrealistic to think that a candidate will only go to your website for information,&rdquo; Mitchell said. &ldquo;Knowing this, it&rsquo;s even more important than in the past to make sure you are clearly showcasing your brand differentiators and why someone would want to partner with you instead of another franchise.&quot;

How To Validate Your Brand: The Importance of the Franchise Development Site

1851 Franchise

Spotlighting your brand’s culture, surfacing engagement-driving content and tailoring communication methods to candidate preference are all among best practices.

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