Over the years I’ve worked with numerous franchisees for brands such as Costa Coffee, Zipyard, Bluebird Care, Raring2Go, Home Instead, Right At Home and many more.
One thing they all have in common is that as Franchisees they’ve taken ownership of their social media rather than leaving it to head office.
In this weeks blog we’re going to look at why leaving your Franchises Social Media Marketing to Head Office isn’t working
No Localisation
Customers expect content that is relevant to them on a local level.
We’re called Altrincham HQ and our content reflects that for a reason.
Sure, our skillset is universal and we’ve worked internationally, but if suddenly our Facebook page posted about New York for a month it isn’t going to make sense.
It might sound a little League Of Gentlemen with a “Local Shop For Local People”, but your franchise has more than likely got Franchise “Liverpool” / Franchise “Preston” / Franchise “Derby” in the title so make everything with a local focus.
Local People, Local Events, Local News, Local Knowledge.
Head office is NEVER going to do that.
Often Links Out Of The Platforms
Social Media Platforms make money when users spend time on the platform.
They don’t want people to come to our website, your website or the BBC.
And yet time and time again I go on to a franchisees social media pages and it’s link after link after link.
Anytime you include a link on your businesses social media, the post gets demoted in the algorithm.
I understand that you may have come to our social media through a link, but take a look at our socials and you’ll see our link based posts are no more than 20% of our output.
Use Links sparingly.
Bland Generic Corporate Graphics
If it looks like an advert then people will scroll on by.
Read that again
If it looks like an advert then people will scroll on by.
And be honest, most Franchises posts look like advert.
Nice photos, sure. Nice graphics, sure. But looks like the sort of post you might see in the local newspaper.
Can your posts look a little more human?
The purpose of your social media marketing is to drive sales and business.
And sorry to tell you this – pretty and perfect doesn’t always do that.
Lofi content taken on a smart phone with an interesting caption is often the content that wins.
Lack Of Understanding Of Organic Social Media
I honestly feel that most Franchises have a lack of understanding of organic social media.
We often work with small businesses with small budgets.
We have to squeeze as much our of organic social media for them as possible, as they don’t have deep pockets for social media.
With every post the audience give you feedback with every interaction.
If the organic content isn’t gaining traction, it’s time to rip up and change – not keep posting the same content for 12 months and hoping something with change.
Hope isn’t a strategy.
Tick Box Exercise & No Accountability
“We will post for you on social media for a monthly fee”
That is how social media is often sold into franchisees.
Notice how the phrase isn’t “We will develop a robust social media strategy, specifically for your local franchise, that will help generate awareness, consideration and sales.”
Social Media isn’t a tick box exercise and without accountability it will never change.
How has social media performed over the last 3 months?
Has social media generated any actual leads or sales?
What are the top performing posts?
How has the strategy changed based on previous content?
The Franchise Marketing Manager Isn’t Posting What You Sent
We spoke to a franchise recently.
They weren’t allowed to post on social media, but were encouraged to send content into head office to post.
It’s been a month now since they opened and the total number of posts on the local account are just 1.
This is despite chasing. Asking for Account Access. And needing customers.
There’s a clear blockage here and it seems to be a group wide issue.
This is extreme, but it does happen.
NEED HELP WITH SOCIAL MEDIA TRAINING FOR YOUR BUSINESS
Want more Sales for your Franchises?
Chat to us about Social Media Marketing for YOUR organisation , so we can better understand YOU and what will grow your organisation
We can chat about whether online or Face 2 Face is better for you
We can only find out what is unique to your business by chatting with you
Look at our Social Media Training and Social Media Management services
We offer Social Media Training on
* LinkedIn
* Instagram
* Facebook
* Twitter
* TikTok
* Blogging
We can do this
* 121
* Corporate Workshops
* Group Workshops
* Face to Face or Via Zoom / Skype
Please call Alex on 07806774279 or email alex@altrinchamhq.co.uk
