Practical and affordable multi-channel marketing campaigns can help a franchisee’s business. Here Paola Tanner, director at Fuse Franchise Partners, offers some tips on how a franchise network can stay ahead with message delivery.

The communications landscape is not changing¬it has already changed. Twenty years ago families would crowd around the television with undivided attention to watch their favourite broadcast. Today, people will be watching their favourite reality TV show, while interacting through a text message voting system, engaging in a discussion about it via their smartphone on social media and shopping for the shows’ promoted products online through an augmented reality catalogue.

In order to not only survive but to thrive and cut through to a target audience in today’s highly competitive market place, you cannot rely on a single channel alone. A good franchise marketing manager now executes a successful multi-channel strategy.

A multi-channel marketing strategy is simply about using many different platforms to reach potential or existing customers with the same messages. There are ways to automate this process with the help of a platform that can help manage multiple channels. This way the franchise marketing team can focus on ensuring there are relevant offers and messages available for each channel so that franchisees can execute autonomously.

Here are some examples of how franchisees can get help from franchisors to apply multi-channel marketing techniques.

Go social:

More than 75 percent of Australians are engaged in some form of social media; there are 13.4 million Australian Facebook users, YouTube has 13 million unique audience users, WordPress.com has 6.1 million Australian users, Tumblr 4.6 million and LinkedIn 3.9 million users.

Does your franchisor understand the target market and the social media platforms customers use? Have these platforms been integrated into the marketing mix? Having a good set of guidelines for social media activities really helps franchisees.

Get local:

Does the franchisor make it easy for franchisees to collaborate with other businesses or franchises in their local area with a similar customer base by providing them with ideas, contacts and collateral? Local letterbox advertising campaigns are a proven way to reach your local audience and bring in new customers; your franchisor could supply content specifically designed to fit through the letterbox.

Combine online and offline:

Will your franchisor combine digital and traditional channels to maximise your reach? For example, you could promote a sale using a local press advertisement combined with local letterbox drop, including a QR code to link to your website or social page to capture basic contact information. The franchisor could send out an email and SMS campaign as a reminder closer to the sale end date, linking everything back to you.

Sponsor the local school or charity event:

Does the franchise provide franchisees with the content needed to connect and participate in their local community by sponsoring a local event? This is a great way to get the brand out there in each local community, particularly in a peak promotional time for your business.

Get mobile:

Australia has the second highest smartphone penetration in the world with 7.5 million Australians using the internet via their mobile phone during the day. As a franchisee you will want the tools to include mobile marketing into your multi-channel strategy, whether it’s search or SMS marketing, an app or a mobile optimised website. If you’re not mobile, you are losing customers.

Email marketing:

Email marketing remains the most effective and profitable way to turn potential customers into customers so it is critical your franchisor provides tthe right tools for this. Does the franchisor offer an intuitive interface that ensures franchisees can manage their own database and have access to pre-approved email templates? This empowers you with the flexibility to easily communicate and engage with your customers, while ensuring brand compliance and messaging.

The best franchisors:

• Encourage franchisees to think multi-channel, hitting their target market numerous times with the same message
• Make it easy for them to access execution tools and consider investing in a multi-channel platform to reduce costs and administration
• Try to keep a consistent theme for brand and offer recall.
• Synchronise marketing channels and adapt content to each channel.

You can’t just use different channels sporadically and expect results. The best return on investment comes from a synchronised strategy, with consistent messaging and branding.