Opening a New Franchise Location: Part 6, Marketing

This is the final installment in a 6-part series on opening a new franchise business. For part 1, Finance, click here. For part 2, Real Estate & Site Selection, click here. For part 3, Construction, click here. For part 4, Permitting, click here. For part 5, Training, click here.

Finally, you’ve reached the end of construction. Your staff is being hired and trained, and you’re ready to open your new location. But before you unlock the doors and turn on the signs, you will need to ensure that your local community is aware of your existence and eager to visit. That means marketing your new franchise location well in advance of your grand opening.

Successfully representing your business to locals should be a joint effort between you and your franchisor. Brands are responsible for providing franchisees with the necessary tools to market their business, including offering regional marketing support. Advances in digital marketing have changed how this is done, making your marketing efforts more efficient and hyper-targeted to specific locations. Franchisees are expected to use the provided tools to spread the word about their location themselves.

Your marketing efforts will be easier depending on the location of your new franchise. “You need great visibility, easy access (ingress/egress), and great signage,” says Craig Dunaway, COO at Penn Station East Coast Subs. “If you think logically of just driving down a busy road, you must be able to stand out and be seen quickly. When we work with franchisees, they must understand that they have to market within 3 to 5 miles of their restaurant and try to ‘own’ that trade area. It takes a lot of shoe leather, shaking hands, greeting people, and offering them something to come visit your brand for the first time.”

Too often, newer or smaller franchisees neglect to develop a formal marketing plan to reach their potential customers, simply hoping that by turning on the “Now Open” sign, customers will appear. Your grand opening and follow-up strategy should be a forethought, not an afterthought.

With the ups and downs of today’s economy, marketing has never been more critical. Says Dunaway, “As consumers are struggling with less cash in their pockets, it’s created a hyper-competitive environment.” Another reason it’s critical to keep your brand top of mind. He finds that brands or franchisees often cut back their marketing spend during rough economic periods, when many say that’s when it’s needed most.

Finally, today’s consumer has a dramatically different attention span than they had even 5 years ago, thanks to social media. “Ten years ago, everyone ran 30-second or 60-second radio or television spots,” Dunaway says. “Today, you can’t spend that much time to gather someone’s attention and communicate a message that is supposed to resonate. You have much less time today.”

Opening your first franchise location may feel like climbing a mountain, but the lessons learned are valuable. If you opt to open additional locations, the experience you gained from each past location makes this process much more manageable. You will have a better feel for what works and what doesn’t.

However, when it comes to your new franchise location, training and marketing are both stages that will be ongoing for as long as you operate your business. They might change over the years as your brand grows and adapts to meet new customer needs, but as the saying goes, “Your work there is never done.”

Ginny Gaylor is an award-winning writer and editor based in Greensboro, North Carolina. She has more than 25 years of experience writing on a variety of topics from home furnishings to health care, hospitality to lifestyle. She can be reached through her website, ginnygaylor.com.