How to Create a Blended Social Media & PR plan to Drive Franchise Sales

You can’t just invest in advertising…

…or a dedicated franchise website…

…or email…

…or trade shows. But, You need all of the above and more. Two channels in particular that work together nicely are social media and PR for franchise sales.

What PR Does for Your Brand

PR—also known as public relations—includes things like press releases and media mentions of your brand.

You could be interviewed for your local newspaper about how your restaurant is now offering franchises, or you could get quoted on an industry publication about how your business is dealing with the coronavirus.

Because it’s not paid advertising, PR can be highly effective at letting people know that your brand is one to take note of and actually get them to listen. That’s sometimes challenging with advertising.

With public relations, you earn mentions of your brand, which doesn’t beat people over the head with your messaging. If a publication decides to write about your brand, it’s because there’s something newsworthy that people should pay attention to.

Where Social Media Comes into Play

A great addition to your PR efforts is social media. If you were quoted in the Washington Post, you could share that link on Facebook or Twitter. Published a press release? Share that link too, in addition to posting it on your website’s News page.

Social media helps amplify what PR is doing, and shows your followers that your brand is moving and shaking.

Marketing company Hubspot says it takes, on average, eight touches with your brand before a potential customer (in this case, a franchisee) will make a buying decision.

By seeing your brand on social media and other channels, you create more opportunities to connect with that individual.

Creating a Process to Leverage Social and PR for Franchise Sales

So you now understand that the two are essential for helping you attract potential franchisees…but where to start?

Begin with a process. You should have a system to monitor mentions of your brand online (Google Alerts is a great and free place to start). Now you’ll receive an email whenever a site mentions your brand. With each email you should build a process to share on social media any mention targeting your franchise audience.

It’s important to just channel this content toward franchisees and not your general customers. Think that this content might be less relevant to them.

You may also want to send an email to your list for bigger PR wins, but be selective, so you don’t constantly overwhelm email subscribers with news.

Measure social media metrics like clicks, likes, and shares so you know which PR shares are getting the most attention. This may guide your future public relations strategy, since you now have information about what your audience cares most about.

If the prospect of doing all of this on your own, consider hiring an franchises agency that specializes in a variety of marketing and PR strategies. You’ll find some firms focus on just one aspect, like social media or content, but if you have a full-service marketing and PR firm, it will be able to connect the dots between your public relations successes and social media, and it can tailor a solution that fits your needs.

Conclusion

The more diverse—and yet deliberately targeted—your franchise marketing efforts, the better you’ll do at attracting potential franchisees who are excited to be a part of your company.