The Franchisors Marketing Mix

Whatever mix of tools you apply to fulfil your business objectives, it is vital that they all communicate a consistent message designed for the target audience.

So what exactly is marketing?
Marketing is a widely misunderstood term. Even the Chartered Institute of Marketing are in the process of creating a new clearer official definition. When asked it becomes very apparent that many people don’t really know the importance of marketing or how much it can benefit their business.

Marketing is a business culture that affects every level of your organisation, it is not merely a new name for advertising or PR which are tools of marketing. At a high level marketing is a strategic planning process to aid profitability. It helps to assess where the business should be in 12 months time or even 5 years time. At an operational level the strategy is translated into a set of tools which are used to perform specific activities which all help to achieve the business objectives over the desired time period.

Most successful organisations now actively include marketing at director and board level as the value that it can bring to the strategic direction of the organisation is somewhat profound. Utilising marketing as a process ensures a forward thinking, innovative culture which leads to differentiation from your competitors and increased profitability.

It’s about being proactive, not reactive to the odd advertising opportunity that comes along. It’s about thinking of the big picture then breaking it down into bite sized chunks.

There are many different tools which make up the marketing mix. Some will be more suitable than others to respond to the specific objectives and type of business that it serves. Here is a list of the most commonly used tools within the franchise industry.

Commonly Used Marketing Tools for Franchisors

• Branding (colours, fonts, logo)
  
• People (attitudes and presentation)
  
• Product / Service
  
• Advertising – including offline and online
  
• Website / Landing Pages / Micro-sites
  
• Email (style of writing, the footer)
  
• Telephone / Mobile Phone
  
• PR and Copy Writing
  
• Literature/ franchise prospectus
  
• Packaging – including your point of sale
  
• Affiliates

Teach your people to think marketing!
While many businesses spend valuable time and money on making sure that their brochure or website is just right with the correct language and pantone colours. It is just as important to invest in the people within the organisation, as they too are involved in the process of shaping prospective and current customers mindsets. The human contact creates or reinforces the perception of your brand, your product and service. So encourage a culture that communicates a consistent brand message with a clearly defined path to success. Often much more difficult to achieve within a franchised business as franchisees do not sit within the head office absorbing the business culture 8 hours a day.

You will find that by employing these proactive tactics you will be protecting your valuable brand.