Managing Your Franchise's Social Media Marketing

The Importance Of Social Media In Promoting Your Franchise

Social media refers to online communication platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter, whose popularity only continues to grow with new subscribers from around the world joining each day to pursue their interests and improve their knowledge of brands and other topics of interest.

Businesses can capitalize on these free resources to build brand awareness, expand their customer reach and sell and promote their products and services. While there are risks involved in using social media, the benefits generally outweigh them. If you don't already use social media to your advantage, here are eight reasons you should.

• Social media is a fun, easy and free way of engaging with your customers - Reels and stories on both Instagram and Facebook allow you to get creative with videos and photos, producing an eye-catching and entertaining advertisement for your business that can be easily shared to a wide range of potential customers through the sensible and focused use of hashtags.

• Finding out what people are saying about your brand - You can run searches on social media platforms for yours or your franchise's name to find out what people are saying about you, and more importantly, you can act on this feedback, whether it's good or bad.

• Advertise new products and services - Because most forms of social media allow the use of videos and photographs, it's a great way of subtly advertising new products. You can also run promotions and giveaways based on customers liking and sharing your page or post, which further increases your reach and develops brand awareness.

• Attract new customers to your brand - Nowadays, more people turn to social media than Google to research brands and businesses, so a positive, regularly updated social media presence is a boon.

• Perform market research - Just as customers are researching you on social media, you can research your competition. You can find out what products and services they are promoting; see what posts, photos and videos are generating the most public interest; and use this information to develop and promote your own offerings.

• Exchange ideas - Being part of a relevant social media community allows you to discuss ideas with other like-minded people, developing a suitable marketing strategy and testing your ideas and strategies on people who may have experience in the field or can advise from a consumer's point of view.

• Recruit - Because social media provides a wide reach, it is an ideal platform for listing job adverts and recruiting staff. You can either seek applications through the social media platform or point applicants toward your website or business premises.

• Improve your website's search engine ranking - An active social media presence with links back to your website will encourage customers to click through to either find out more about you or place an order. Whatever their motivation for clicking through to your website, it will result in a better search engine ranking, which is always a good thing.

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Managing Your Franchise's Local Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing is a smart and affordable way to market your franchise locally in Canada. Of course, you will have to ensure you follow all of your franchisor's rules regarding social media marketing, but chances are you will be allowed to have accounts dedicated solely to your location. Before you embark on your social media marketing strategy, here are some simple yet effective tips to try.

• Choose your platforms - Before you can start anything on social media, you will have to decide which platforms you want to be on. There are a lot out there, from Facebook to Instagram, so it's crucial you stick to one or two platforms to start. If you try to handle too many at once, you may become overwhelmed and burn out. Platform selection will largely depend on the demographics of your focus customer base--you want to be on the platforms where most of your buying audience likely is.

• Try some online courses - If you've never done social media marketing, it may be helpful to take some courses online. Even if you're already using the platform personally, posting as a franchisee is going to be different. There are many free courses online to choose from. Look for one that is tailored to your skill level and platform choice.

• Talk to your franchisor - If you haven't already done so, speak to your franchisor about your local social media marketing. Your franchisor may have guides, images and other tools you can use to build your accounts. If you are not yet very familiar with your brand's social media rules, now is the time to become an expert on them. If your brand doesn't have rules for social media accounts, create your own. Come up with a plan for content creation and posting frequency so your channels are consistent in posts, tone and brand voice.

• Build up your following - Once you have a plan in place and your pages created, it's time to start building a following. One way to do this is by inviting friends in your area to your page. Then, you can motivate them to invite their friends by hosting a giveaway or contest. The more reasons people have to share your page, the faster your audience will grow.

• Automate your posts - Social media posting doesn't have to constantly eat up your time. You can use tools to schedule posts in advance, and they will automatically appear on the date and time you select. This way, your channels are constantly updating, but you don't have to take time each day to manage them.