7 reasons to invest in digital marketing for your franchises

What is local digital marketing?

Local digital marketing is the set of digital strategies to attract customers to stores, based on local search trends.

It is based on three main points: social networks, the use of digital tools (smartphones, tablets, computers) by consumers and their geographical location.

These local marketing strategies are designed to complement national communications, while highlighting local specificities, such as actions, promotions and events specific to each point of sale.

Digital marketing has many aspects such as managing:

• online visibility: correct and up-to-date point of sale information (address, opening hours, website, services, products, ...) on Google, Facebook, GPS, directories, ...
• thee-reputation (customer reviews and comments) on Google, Facebook and specialized sites (Tripadvisor, Trustpilot,...)
• the publication of content on local store pages (Google, Facebook, Instagram,...)
• the publication of local advertisements (or Local Ads - Local SEA) on Google, Facebook, and Instagram

What is the objective of local digital marketing for a franchise network?

The main objective is to complement cross-channel customer acquisition strategies (Print, media, ...) and attract local customers through a digital showcase on Google, social networks, GPS and directories.

This "digital storefront" aims to best represent the franchise and the local specificities of its franchisees.

In addition, digital marketing makes it possible to track various customer engagement metrics (impression rate, clicks, activations, etc.) and provides a concrete view of the invested budgets and what they bring, both in terms of the number of visits to the establishments and in ROI.

Why invest in local digital marketing?

When we know that in 2021 nearly 50% of Google searches on Mobile were so-called “local” searches (searching for a nearby location, product or service), appearing in the top search results can be the key to good web-to-store traffic.

Moreover, Facebook records similar trends: two-thirds of frequent users reported visiting a local business page at least once a week (Facebook, 2022).

Here are the top 7 reasons to invest in local digital marketing for a franchise network:

1. Be where your (future) customers are

Local marketing takes time, so it's best to be effective and be where your customers are: Google and social networks (which make sense for franchisees depending on their sector).

Google has a near-monopoly with over 90% of the search engine market share in France.

Facebook has over 40 million monthly active users in France, or nearly 60% of the French population.

Let's not forget Instagram, TikTok, and industry-specific media (Tripadvisor, theFork, ...) and GPS (Waze, AppleMaps, ...).

What matters? Being present where your target audience is looking for information: search engine and adapted media.

2. Better visibility = more traffic to points of sale

It may seem obvious, but the more points of sale have good online visibility and are listed in the top search results, the more Internet users will see them and be led to visit them. However, this depends on the online information that will answer the following questions:

• What services and products does this establishment offer?
• What are the hours?
• Where can I find more information?
• How can I get there?
• ….
  

We have noted at Mobilosoft that by publishing posts and local advertising campaigns (Local SEA / Local Ads) from Google and Facebook listings of an establishment, web-to-store traffic has increased by 60% for our clients.

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3. A digital showcase to highlight the brand, products and activities of the franchise and its franchisees

Internet users may know the name of your franchise, but most do not know all the services and products offered, especially at each franchisee.

Investing in Google and Facebook business listings allows, in addition to the website, to highlight the specifics of each and how it meets the needs of web users.

4. A digital showcase to reach a wider audience and influence purchasing decisions

Local businesses are generally known to people who frequent the neighborhood. However, more and more people are looking for a product, service, or type of establishment online before moving around.

"Nearly 80% of consumers who conducted a local search visited a store within 8 km" 

HubSpot Marketing Statistics 2021

Good local digital marketing referencing allows you to stand out from the competition and influence the purchasing decisions of internet users.

5. Master your brand image, build your online reputation

Internet users primarily trust online reviews. And the overall rating of an establishment, as well as the responses provided by the owners, have a significant weight in local online search rankings.

"84% of Internet users rely on online customer reviews"

Brand Advocacy France

However, there is a global trend not to be underestimated: a consumer is more likely to leave a negative comment than a positive comment.
And this can seriously harm the online image of the franchise if this type of review is not handled with the necessary professionalism.

💡 To learn more about managing customer reviews, their impact and how to manage them between franchisors and franchisees, see the article Should you involve points of sale in managing customer reviews?

6. Customer growth and loyalty

Managing the online presence of franchises through their digital marketing makes it possible to gain visibility and attract more customers to the store/restaurant, but that's not all!

• This also allows franchisees to maintain a connection with their customer base and build loyalty through the sharing of local news, offers, and promotions specific to each entity. 

• This also makes it possible to create an image of proximity, locality and connection, even with franchises on a national scale.

7. A significant return on investment

Investing in local digital marketing therefore makes it possible to gain visibility, maintain good customer relations, but how to quantify this? What does this bring in practice?

On average, per month, for every €1 invested, the point of sale generates an average turnover of €1300. This figure varies depending on the sector and can reach up to €9000 in the catering sector!

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In summary

Digital marketing has many facets (data update, natural referencing, customer review management, local content and advertising publication, ...) on different media (Google, Facebook, Store Locator, GPS, ...)

Ensuring the integrity of the brand image between local and national communications is a challenge every moment.

Collaborating between headquarters and local franchisees for marketing management is sometimes a challenge too.
There are specialized solutions like Mobilosoft that enable franchise networks to easily collaborate with their franchisees on managing Google, Facebook, Instagram, GPS, and Store Locator pages to generate more in-store traffic!

The advantage of this?
A facilitated collaboration, a time-saving for both the headquarters and the franchisees, and a coherent communication schedule that guarantees the respect of the brand image, creates customer proximity, and generates more traffic in-store! And, of course, a more than significant ROI 🚀

Is your franchise network's digital marketing effective?

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