My franchisees don’t believe digital advertising works, how do I make them believe?

With little (or no) franchise marketing expertise, many franchisees are left to do their own digital marketing, sometimes with the help of one or more local agencies. 

Launching a franchise advertising program is a lot to ask. After all, there are customers walking through their doors, they have signs placed prominently in their community, their referrals are working...why do digital? And where should they start? 

For the franchisees who do take action, their first few hundred dollars likely go to agency fees, which doesn't leave much to actually pay for the actual ad buys. A small local budget may get one campaign on one channel, and for a short period of time...test and see what works. 

This is a recipe for failure. 

The fate of that franchisees’ local budget hinges on that one campaign.

If it doesn't work, the brand risks losing that local budget being in-market driving more system sales, forever. 

That's why getting franchisees to believe in digital advertising is critical. How have we seen it work best? You have to democratize digital advertising:

Make it easy to understand

Franchisees don’t need to understand the technical ins and outs that so often overcomplicate digital advertising. They need to know it's an investment, not a test: good advertising for any local business builds awareness, gets people in the door, and keeps them coming back. Focus your efforts on teaching the business concepts to your franchisees and the need to invest where their audience spends their time.

Make it simple to access 

Your brand team leverages sophisticated digital advertising across multiple channels and relies on data to improve results. Your franchisees should do the same. 

If you partner with a multi-location advertising platform you'll help franchisees by taking care of the hard advertising stuff so they can launch local ad programs in a click or two. What will that deliver? 

• best practices instilled in every community
• more local ad dollars in-market supporting brand sales, and
• increased trust between your brand and your most valuable asset - your franchisees.

What are the different multi-location marketing platforms? 

Democratization is about making something easy to understand, and making it simple to access. Democratize your brand’s digital advertising for your franchisees and experience local advertising nirvana, by getting your franchisees to believe in digital.

If you want to learn more about breaking down silos in your franchise digital advertising, read our guide to find out how modern brand marketers are uniting national and local advertising. Just click to open!