Creating a franchise social media marketing strategy can be tough and complicated. It requires a lot of thought and planning to make sure you balance a unified voice with the engagement necessary for local audiences.
Benefits of a Social Media Strategy
When a franchise social media marketing strategy is carefully planned and implemented, it allows for franchisees to connect with their target audience. This connection creates a community and encourages engagement, which ultimately means better customer service.
Franchise Social Media Tips
Here are 5 tips to make your social media strategy work for your corporate franchise brand and individual franchisee locations.
- Differentiate your franchise brand from the competition — Social media is a great tool for getting your franchise brand to stand out above the crowd.
- Determine goals in social media — Lay the foundation for your social media goals by asking yourself what you want to achieve. Is it brand awareness, customer education, an increase in sales, or all of the above?
- Listen before speaking — Franchisors should know what is being said before joining the conversation. Listen to what your audience is saying on social media. If they have a complaint, don’t react emotionally. Try to understand where they are coming from and respond with compassion and understanding.
- It’s not about the number of followers you have. It’s about engagement. — Vanity metrics don’t matter as much as we often think they do. The real measure of social media success is engagement. Do your followers react, like and comment on your posts? Do they share with their social networks?
- Use video — The social media trend for 2019 is video. Why? It sells. One way to use video is to leverage your existing testimonials. Have someone read and respond to testimonials by video.
Incorporating a franchise social media marketing plan into your overall public relations strategy offers brands numerous opportunities to connect and engage with new and existing customers. It also helps you build a loyal client base for repeat business.
If you need help creating and implementing a social media franchise public relations strategy for your franchise brand, consider partnering with the experts at Ripley PR. We have helped many franchise brands create a plan and grow their social media accounts and engagement to get your franchise great results. Email us or call us at 865.977.1973 to learn more.
