With the promise of creating your own income through franchise ownership, the thrill of owning a franchised business is more appealing now than ever before. According to Steve Chambers of Franchising World, interest in franchising is growing as the workforce increasingly desires control over their professional choices, expressing job dissatisfaction and hoping for a better work-life balance.
So for franchisors looking to capitalize on the continued expected growth in the franchise market, developing a quality franchise marketing guide that incorporates franchise printing is critical to seeing their business grow and thrive in the years ahead.
What Is a Franchise Marketing Guide?
When good businesses turn into great ones, it is usually because a solid business plan was put into place. And businesses that are ready for expansion into the world of franchising are no exception. In fact, creating a plan for budget, marketing, personnel, and brand identity are all critical parts of taking your one storefront company to a handful of locations around town, around the country, or even worldwide.
So businesses hoping to take this next step should be developing a detailed franchise printing guide to direct and support future franchisors in their own journey as well as to ensure the brand maintains its quality standards to achieve success in each new franchise location.
This guide is a comprehensive document containing all aspects of the plan for a franchise to find success while maintaining all brand requirements and expectations. And while every franchisor has their own priorities for moving their brand forward, printing a franchise marketing guide for all future franchisors and locations to use is the best way to promote your brand consistently and with the utmost professionalism.
8 Things to Include in Your Franchise Printing Marketing Guide
Make the most out of your franchise printing project by including everything future franchisors will need to be successful while you keep the brand’s focus clear. Consider including branding, budgeting, customers, store locations, a troubleshooting section, guidelines for marketing, how franchisors can acquire feedback, and a defined rollout plan.
1. Solidified Brand Identity
One of the most critical parts of a marketing guide is developing and explaining every part of a brand’s identity. From the Pantone colors used in all advertising, communications, products, and location outfitting to the digital representations of the brand, a cohesive brand presentation helps you present the company with a consistent look and feel.
- Cross-Brand Identity: Whether consumers encounter your brand in person, in print, or digitally, everything about the brand should be the same. This means that the logo, fonts, colors, slogan, tag lines, and other representations should all be identical regardless of where they are used. A franchise printing marketing guide should specify each type of brand usage to ensure consistency and compliance.
- Brand Changes: Another aspect of ensuring brand identity is clarifying how tweaks or changes to the brand will occur. Imagine if one location implemented upgraded branding using new colors or a different tagline while another franchisee did not choose to make the switch over.
How would customer trust in the brand be affected when they encountered a different look or feel at each location? To avoid damaging the brand identity and customer perception, address brand change expectations in the marketing guide for all brand usage and when or where any changes are made.
2. Budget Parameters
Since franchisees typically expect to spend between 7-8% of their total budget on marketing, franchise owners will want to clarify exactly what that large chunk of the budget will be used on. As many franchisees need to keep a tight reign on their budget costs, the franchise printing marketing guide should focus on the franchise goals and then explain what tools will be needed to achieve them.
3. Knowing the Targeted Customer
Another key concept that should be part of franchise printing is a focus on understanding your target customer and seeking strategies to reach them effectively through the right marketing campaigns. Learning the way the customer thinks about your brand and interacts with the industry will help franchisors to develop the most effective marketing campaigns.
4. Location Guidelines
Selecting new franchise locations comes with a set of franchise expectations so your franchise printing marketing guide needs to include exactly how to determine the best spot. Address location choices such as freestanding versus conversion of existing spaces, the adjacent businesses or business types that work best, and whether or not this franchise will work well inside of a mall or other larger business. The location guideline section can also encompass the ideal customer goal and how each location will capture the targeted market.
5. Identified Potential Problems (and Solutions)
Use the franchise printing marketing guide to uncover the potential pitfalls the franchise may face as well as encourage specific solutions for future franchisors. Including this section in your marketing guide will not only assist with your and any future franchise’s successes, but it will also foster an environment of transparency with those who are considering their own franchise location.
To do this, first think about the potential problems or failures that may happen with marketing efforts to reach the target market. Then consider what would avoid the concerns in the first place or how to overcome them if they do come to pass. Another aspect of identifying problems with your marketing strategies is to think about the business partners used to complete the marketing campaigns with franchise printing.
Franchisees may work with graphic design teams, photographers, printing companies or other marketing fulfillment businesses to accomplish their marketing goals, so it is a good idea to encourage partnering with a trusted company to make sure your campaigns are successful. And of course, a solid strategy also involves focusing on your goals rather than losing sight of your objectives when small roadblocks or diverting issues pop up.
6. Marketing Standards
Once your marketing plan addresses the brand identity, the budget, the target customer, location best practices, and any potential problems the franchise may face, it’s time to focus on the marketing strategies with franchise printing.
This portion of the franchise printing project hinges on understanding the key demographic you are trying to reach, so structuring the marketing campaigns around the most effective ways to reach the customer is critical. Your marketing strategy should contain four main components:
- Advertising: Digital marketing through sources like Google ads should be included as an essential part of your marketing strategy, since they are known to be four times as likely to be clicked on than other digital media platforms.
- Print Media Marketing: Raising the visibility of your franchise in the community is a smart marketing strategy and franchise printing media campaigns that include flyers, posters, business cards, magnets or other imprinted novelties are a proven way to do it. Using print media can guarantee the brand will be seen and franchise printing marketing campaigns using printed materials will use less of your budget while still reaching your target demographic.
- Social Media: No modern franchise printing marketing campaign is complete without a comprehensive social media strategy. Combining digital and print media graphics, reaching customers and connecting with the community and industry through social media outreach is a cost-effective way to increase brand awareness and brand identity.
- Website: Every marketing plan should focus on using a well-designed website that speaks to your target demographic and makes connecting with the business simple. Your marketing campaign standards should include how the franchise will handle its website and how future franchise locations will be integrated into the base site.
7. Plan for Feedback Opportunities
Every complete strategy provides an opportunity to evaluate how well the plan has been working. So part of your marketing guide should address making a feedback loop available.
And since most people report consulting online reviews before patronizing a business, this feedback loop is crucial for franchisors to see shortfalls or problems and fix them before becoming overwhelmed with negative reviews. Some strategies include:
- Ask customers directly about their experience.
- Set up a QR code or website link to provide feedback about the franchise.
- Request reviews on sites like Google, Yelp, or another site that is specific to your industry.
- Reward customers for referrals to encourage participation.
8. Develop the Rollout Plan
The final portion of the marketing plan guide should address the purpose for everything else: the rollout plan. Formulate steps and stages of each to keep the whole team working seamlessly to prepare for day one.
Whether you are starting your own new location or deciding on the rollout plans for future franchises to follow as the business grows, a concrete rollout plan is the final step in realizing the efforts of a strong marketing strategy to get the franchise up and running as smoothly as possible.
Partnering with a Trusted Printer
Working with a reliable and professional printing company will help you and your franchise take your business from concept to reality without having to worry about the quality of your franchise printing needs. Dazzle Printing is ready to be your partner and has been helping franchisees and their businesses produce beautiful print products for decades so contact us today to get started!
