National Franchise Marketing Strategies

For large, national advertising campaigns, it's not just about getting the geographical locations right. New digital targeting technologies can help you zero in on your ideal customer base to avoid wasted spend. This is especially helpful in channels that have traditionally leveraged a "spray and pray" approach, but that can now be much more targeted—like TV.

Back to Brand: Social wins the day! For a franchise with a national presence, killer social content is crucial. Don't forget about interacting promptly with users who message and comment.

DOOH or Digital Out of Home marketing (digital billboards, bus ads, etc.) is an obvious answer for national franchises who have presence in various markets across the country and therefore need to scale (efficiently). And unlike traditional billboards, digital ones can go live with just a few clicks!

A website with stellar user experience is table stakes. But many national franchises are also going live with seriously awesome mobile apps that provide a consistent experience for customers regardless of their franchise location. This is a great way to gain better control of the customer message/experience at scale.

SEO efforts for national franchises often take a two-pronged approach—location-specific/local SEO, plus an SEO approach for your corporate/overarching brand. As the corporate owner, you should drive the strategy/goals for both, even if franchisees handle SEO at a local level.

Catch consumers at the right time and place with carefully targeted ads on key digital channels (including search and OOH) to bring business through franchisees' doors. Bring them back with retargeting ads and offers, loyalty programs (including mobile app offers) and other incentives to keep your brand sticky.

To build a national franchise brand you have to scale; to scale, you have to build your brand. It's a bit of a conundrum, but you do have quite a bit of control. Use brand-friendly marketing channels like connected TV, display, social and OOH to market to consumers and potential franchisees alike. This way, you'll have a head start when you enter new local markets.

While some of this may be out of your hands, you should have a strategy and SOP to help guide franchisees on ways to manage their local online reputation. This can be tricky at scale, so depend on an expert agency partner to help offer solutions.