Franchising in Australia is a $144 billion dollar industry, with many of our franchises operating internationally and nation-wide. Australian franchises can be traced back to the 1970s with the expansion of US fast-food chains, which started to penetrate the Australian market. Initially franchising was a specialised marketing strategy, however, the industry has grown rapidly and now the competition is extremely fierce. In order to stay ahead of the game, franchisees need to implement effective digital marketing strategies and tactics. According to a US Digital Marketing Agency, the top three lead generating channels include the following:
a) referrals, accounting for 63% of leads;
b) social media, accounting for 55% of leads;
c) and SEO, accounting for 39% of leads.
It is interesting to note, that upon first glance intuitively you might think of referrals as being predominantly word of mouth (WOM), however, with the advent of social media a significant amount of referrals and WOM take place online now. Therefore, a strategic social campaign in order to generate customer driven referrals both online and off, should be at the top of the priority list in terms of digital strategies for your Franchise. Furthermore, an effective social media presence is able to not only generate more leads, but also add to Brand equity and Brand resonance.
Lastly the importance of a good SEO strategy is essential for increasing leads and in turn sales growth. However, due to the localised nature of Franchise outlets, a local SEO strategy as opposed to a traditional one is important because:
1) 89% of consumers search for local businesses on their smart phones in any given week;
2) 86% of consumers look for the location of a business on Google maps;
3) 76% of successful searches will result in a phone call;
4) 71% of consumers will look up a local business before visiting it for the first time.
Therefore, ensuring your SEO is localised and is geared towards consumer behaviour, will in turn increase the sales revenue and growth of your franchise, ensuring you stay ahead of an ever increasingly competitive industry.
Thank you for reading,
Warm Regards,
Eddie
featured image: http://www.snopes.com