Today nearly every marketer will tell you that having a diversified online presence is the key to achieving your advertising objectives. Online advertising is no longer treated just as a single source anymore, but rather a diverse array of channels reaching out to different demographics and different stages of a consumer’s journey.
Whether it’s early-stage buyers using search engines, existing subscribers reading your email campaigns, or perhaps you’ve connected with someone through a social media platform - there are so many different ways to connect online in 2019. The internet offers advertisers such a broad mix of channels to target prospective buyers that it can become overwhelming.
For franchisors looking to find prospective franchisees, the online challenge is no different. The savvy franchisor today will be using social media, SEO, pay-per-click and other channels to find new leads. While big companies with dedicated marketing departments can take on this task, smaller companies and emerging franchise brands will find it difficult.
Franchise portals offer franchisors an advantage in this area when looking to promote a franchise opportunity. To tackle the complexities of multi-channel marketing, these are the ways in which franchise portals give you an advantage:
1. The diversification of your online presence
Advertising on franchise portals is a great way to diversify your online presence. By not only being present on your own website but also on a franchise portal you have access to a wider range of potential buyers. Imagine trying to sell your house on your own, without the use of a real estate website? Franchise portals operate the same way. To put it in perspective, Franchise Direct reaches over 500k+ visitors every month from across a wide range of demographics and interests.
2. The capacity to reach out to early-stage buyers
Early-stage buyers are more likely to land on a franchise portal first, rather than on a specific brand’s website. Why is this? Early-stage buyers won’t have much familiarity with the thousands of different franchise brands that exist. They won’t be aware of the journey involved in investing in a franchise. This is why early-stage franchise searches generally end up at a franchise portal. Put yourself in the shoes of an early-stage buyer – they want to own their own business, but they don’t really know yet what it is. Generic and broad searches will likely lead them to a franchise portal through a search engine such as Google.
Furthermore, it is important to keep in mind that on average the closing time for a new franchise is up to 12 months. Your emphasis should not only be those looking to purchase a franchise today but also these essential early-stage leads for these will eventually be represented in the closed franchise sales of the year.
3. The optimisation of your lead acquisition strategy
Because franchise portals invest a much higher budget in traffic acquisition and are constantly optimising their SEO strategy as the internet evolves, they tend to rank very highly on all relevant search engines. Top franchise portals are generally represented in the prime positions for the majority of the priority keywords used by potential candidates who are looking for a franchise. They also have far-reaching pay-per-click budgets. For instance, someone searching for a pizza franchise might eventually settle with a fitness franchise. Portals can target both in a way a franchisor’s website simply cannot.
Want to learn more about how a franchise portal can help you? Talk to us today and let us show you how we can help grow your franchise brand.
Conclusion
From the market research carried out and from the continued popularity of franchise portals, this lead source clearly remains one of the most cost-effective solutions for acquiring franchisees in 2019. Incorporating an effective franchise portal advertising strategy into a well-defined lead generation strategy will produce results and allow you to continue to grow your franchise system.
If you have any questions regarding this article, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. We are always happy to have a chat and to give more information on how to improve your franchise leads acquisition strategy.