I recently had the pleasure of hosting another Marketing Workshop with the International Franchise Association. Thanks to my co-emcee Kristen Pechacek of MassageLuxe, and to Sherri Fishman of Fishman PR and her Marketing & Innovation Committee, for putting these workshops together. By Jack Monson

I recently had the pleasure of hosting another Marketing Workshop with the International Franchise Association. Thanks to my co-emcee Kristen Pechacek of MassageLuxe, and to Sherri Fishman of Fishman PR and her Marketing & Innovation Committee, for putting these workshops together.

For this session we brought together franchisors, franchisees, and suppliers to workshop some ideas on Upper versus Lower Funnel tactics / Branding versus Lead Generation. How are franchisors and franchisees covering both ends of the marketing spectrum in a cost-effective way?

Here’s a list of the top solutions this group of marketing experts shared:

  • The corporate brand can reach out to franchisees asking to “tell us all something good” – practices to share with other franchisees and customers. Mutually sharing input can help everyone involved.
  • Be hyper vigilant on using consistent visuals, logos, and images across all locations.
  • Know who your buyer is now as well as who your buyer could be in the near future.
  • Spend more resources networking and making connections locally.
  • View the sales cycle not by your sales needs, but from the customer’s buying needs. This includes sharing good information early in the process to help educate buyers when they are ready.
  • Brand awareness at a local level amplifies and quickens every lead to a sale.
  • Storytelling feels like branding, not lead generation. However, having an affinity to a brand is key to growing local sales.
  • Your brand / lead gen mix is unique based on your competitive situation and level of awareness in your local market
  • Make sure your customers have options to learn about your business via every channel: emails, social media, blogs, and many more. Not all your customers are on one or two channels. Some of your customers on every channel.

Everyone in this group agreed that we cannot view Brand Awareness and Lead Generation as at odds with each other. The most productive brands see them as 1 + 1 = 3.

– Jack Monson

Jack Monson is the host of the Social Geek Radio Network, home of the Number One podcasts in franchising, including The Franchise News Podcast and The Facebook Franchise Podcast. Monson is also the chief revenue officer at Social Joey and has been working with franchisees and small businesses in social media marketing for 13 years. For more information, visit socialgeekradio.com, or email jack@socialgeekradio.com.