Franchise marketing is a challenging niche that requires your business to stand out among the competition while working harmoniously with other franchises. While there are many ways to do franchise marketing the right way, there are also plenty of pitfalls to avoid along the way. When you factor in a local element to franchise marketing, you do not want to compete with the franchise brand in your vicinity. After you review the rules for franchises operating in your geographic area, tackle these five local franchise marketing challenges in a search engine optimization marketing strategy that doesn’t step on the wrong toes.
Local Listings For Franchise Marketing
New franchises often overlook or use PPC landing pages too broadly. Instead, targeting a narrow radius for AdWords campaigns in the local area is the best way to improve local search results. You can choose to target customers within five to 10 miles of your location and miss out on customers who are searching from a work computer that is farther away. It is best to narrow down a range that your target customer lives and works within for optimal visibility. To pull off a successful PPC campaign, you should also work in conjunction with an established regional marketing group to create effective landing pages.
Duplicate Content
When fellow franchisees publish out the same content on their websites, they are unknowingly doing a SEO sin called “duplicate content.” Google has brought down its wrath against millions of duplicate content websites by killing search rankings. An efficient way to avoid this is to offer multiple versions of content for franchisees to choose from. From home pages with different variations to location-based copy, variety is key to creating an unique online platform for each franchise. You can also minimize duplicate content by focusing SEO efforts on three major cities within your metro area. This will allow you to tap into your local market and also distinguish you from the surrounding competition as well.
Mobile Website Management
When it comes to franchise marketing, a mobile website is every bit as important as a standard website. With more consumers accessing the Internet on smartphones than desktops, being accessible on mobile devices is crucial for generating new leads. Responsive website design is essential to ensuring that customers can access your website at its ideal resolution and quality on any mobile device. Like regular websites, mobile websites should be customized to city and state localization for ease of use.
Local Website Hosting
Many franchise systems begin by hosting all franchises on the same root domain. This practice can have a negative effect on SEO campaigns since Google only ranks a limited number of URLs from the same domain for a particular search phrase. URLs that show up on the same domain are also difficult to differentiate in search engine marketing. With a small amount of localization, it is possible to differentiate hundreds of location pages sharing the same root domain. Making sure your specific franchise location is represented on a landing page that is driving traffic thru location targeted search engine ads is one way to do this successfully.
Reputation Management
Another commonly overlooked aspect of franchise marketing is reputation management. When a public relations problem comes up involving another franchise, it is important to distance your franchise location from the issue while maintaining brand consistency. Once again, localization is a great way to do this. Localized content and advertising allow you to show that your franchise is part of the overall brand while separate from the publicized problems associated with a specific franchise location.
By stepping up to these common franchise marketing challenges, you can make your franchise location stand out amongst competitors and other franchise locations. And you don’t have to face these challenges alone. Click here now or call (817) 642-9686 for help with online marketing strategies for your franchise.
