Franchisors should implement an online marketing strategy to help them make the most of their presence online and to increase their online visibility.
Here are some of the benefits of having an online marketing strategy for your franchise business:
Online visibility
Many potential and existing customers are going online to research businesses in their local area, in a particular industry or to purchase products and services. To get your website seen by these potential customers you need to increase your online visibility.
You can achieve this by improving your website’s search engine optimisation, including keywords on your website, creating quality backlinks and frequently updating your website content.
Another way to increase your online visibility is by creating a profile on an online business directory such as FranchiseBusiness.com.au. Online directories can provide your business with direct access to your potential customers, helping you to build your brand awareness and drive better quality leads back to your website.
By increasing your online visibility your website will get seen by more potential customers, which may lead to increased sales inquires and business growth.
Online customer engagement
Engaging with your customers online is important for your business to build a valuable relationship with your customers. When you have a high level of engagement customers are more likely to leave comments on your website, share your information or post questions on your website.
An online marketing strategy can help increase your customer engagement by creating the right content to post on the right channel.
Part of this strategy involves finding out where your customers are online and then building your business’ presence on this channel. For example maybe the majority of your customers are on Facebook. Your franchise business could then create a Facebook profile and start communicating with your customers.
By posting a variety of interesting content on social media, responding to questions, commenting on your customer’s profiles and providing great customer service you can start to build a relationship with your customers. Through this relationship you can increase customer loyalty, brand awareness and encourage people to visit your website or purchase your products and services.
Enhance your reputation and brand
Having a strong brand and reputation is important for franchise businesses because it can lead to increased customer trust and brand loyalty. When customers trust and recognise your brand online they are more likely to purchase your products or services and recommend you to their friends.
An online marketing strategy can help achieve this by ensuring you have consistent branding and key messages on all of your online channels. Your strategy can also help you to organise and create content for your website, social media profiles, eNewsletters, online directory listings and more.
A part of this strategy may include writing informative articles about your industry and providing expert advice and tips to your customers online. This can help to position your business as an expert in its industry and build your brand and reputation.
There are many benefits of implementing an online marketing strategy for your franchise business such as getting your website seen by more potential customers online and increasing your customer loyalty through online engagement.
