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 geographic 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 includes many aspects such as the management of:

• the online visibility : accurate and up-to-date point-of-sale information (address, hours, website, services, products, ...) on Google, Facebook, GPS, directories,...
• the e-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 ads (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 you know that’in 2021 close to 50% of Google searches on Mobile have been searches called “local” (search for a place, product or service nearby), appearing in the top search results can be the key to good traffic web-to-store.

All the more because Facebook records similar trends: two thirds of frequent users have reported checking a business’s local 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 être effective and être là où the customers are: Google and the réseaux sociaux (which make sense for the franchisés depending on their sector).

Google has an almost monopoly with more than 90% of the market share of search engine providers in France.

Facebook has more than 40 million d’active monthly users in France, which is close to 60% of the French population.

Let's not forget Instagram, TikTok and the média sectoriels (Tripadvisor, theFork, …) and GPS (Waze, AppleMaps, …).

What matters? Être present là où your target audiences look for information: search engine and média adaptés.

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) à from the Google and Facebook listings of a établissement, the 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 performed a local search visited a store within an 8 km radius" 

HubSpot Marketing Statistics 2021

A good SEO through local digital marketing allows you to stand out from the competition and influence consumers' purchase decisions.

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 underestimate: a consumer is more likely to leave a negative comment than a positive one.
And this can seriously damage the franchise's online image if such feedback is not handled with the necessary professionalism.

 To learn more about managing customer reviews, their impact and how to manage them between franchise and franchisees, consult 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

The digital marketing has many facets (updating of data, natural SEO, management of customer reviews, content publishing and local advertising, …) on different media (Google, Facebook, Store Locator, GPS,...)

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

Collaborating between the headquarters and local franchisees for marketing management is also sometimes a challenge.
There are specialized solutions such as Mobilosoft that allow 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 à this ?
A collaboration facilitée, a time saving both for the siège and the franchisés and a calendar of communication cohérent that guarantees respect of the l’image de marque, crée of client proximité and génère more traffic at point of sale! And of course a ROI more than significant 

Is your franchise network's digital marketing effective?

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