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Who owns local marketing? Examining the franchisor/franchisee gap

Who Owns Local Online Marketing? The Franchise/Franchisee Gap

5 Hanover Square, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10004 // 646.568.2308 // www.localvox.com LocalVox

The Franchisor/Franchisee Gap

Local Internet marketing is essential to the success of all local

businesses and it’s an interesting proposition for franchises because

it’s not clear who is responsible - the franchisor or the franchisee.

On one hand, the centralized brand is not responsible for local

outreach, but instead support with brand wide campaigns and

branding efforts, leaving co-marketing dollars to the franchisee.

On the other hand, there is a tremendous advantage to

implementing franchise wide systems for content sharing, social

listening and performance reporting and franchisees can struggle

with the complexity of local online marketing. The franchisor has a

vested interest in making it’s brand consistent across all the touch

points with tools that are more cost effective at a scale, but can’t

always be responsible for the localized message itself.

So where does local marketing fit for franchisors and franchisees?

The Franchisee: Local Marketing Pros and Cons

Marketing support by the franchise has been rated as one of the most

important factors when selecting a franchise, yet, 64% of franchisees

are dissatisfied with the marketing support they receive. But, in a

recent poll, 53% of marketing executives at franchise firms believe

marketing is critical to the franchise’s success, indicating there is a

genuine desire for the franchisor to support the franchisee.

Part of the challenge is a franchisee is part of a bigger brand and

marketing support infrastructure. On one hand they get:

• Brand recognition from marketing efforts greater than your own

• Design and branding guidelines

• Website infrastructure

of franchisees are disappointed by the marketing support they receive

see locally synchronized national campaigns as a competitive advantage



This means that they inherit the brand value. On the other hand the franchisee is

limited because:

• Marketing efforts are generic and not localized

• Brand messaging on local channels and directories is often missing or ignored

• Website infrastructure for the brand generally lacks what is happening at the

location level

What is gained in brand lift, is lost in brand control

at a local level. To provide the much needed local

support, many franchises provide a co-marketing

plan and budget to franchisees to co-promote the

franchise through local channels with localized

messaging that is consistent with the brand.

So where does local marketing fit? Does the Yelp

profile belong to the franchisee or the franchisor,

especially since Yelp reviews impact individual

location performance and can flow up to the brand?

Who is responsible for social media listening

platforms and other local customer touch points?

Why the “Local” in Local Online Marketing Mattersto Franchises

By nature, many franchises are local. They require the franchisee to market to their local

community. Historically, the franchisor could not/should not manage local marketing for

each location. Moreover, there is a reliance on the franchisee’s local knowledge to reach

local customers.

What has changed is that local channels have evolved so rapidly and many franchisees

simply can’t keep up. Furthermore, they are increasingly becoming a prerequisite for

the most basic marketing tactics. Some of your local online channels are akin to having a

website and a phone number for your business. You simply have to have one.

Franchisees already benefit fromcorporate marketing support.

Should local be included?



Today, the franchisor needs to understand

how each of these channels impact their local

strategy.

Localization for Google: A quick

service restaurant (QSR) with

600 locations increased web

site visits by 30,000 per week by making a

simple localization change to their locations

list on their website and started to rank on

Google+Local and map searches.

Localization for Local Directories:

Even though half of the 7.5

billion local searches are on local

directories and mobile apps, 40% of local

directory listings have basic errors of name,

address or phone and most are missing crucial

brand information like descriptions, photos,

etc. We find that adding the right information

increases search impressions 3-4x and conversion

2-3x for an overall benefit of 5-10x.

Localization for Facebook: Facebook has rolled out location pages for local businesses,

representing 12% of the search market. But most Facebook business locations lack any

information and no one is posting to them to take advantages of Likes, a consumers

way of opting in to communications.

Localization for Advertising and Content Marketing: A recent study showed that

localizing online ads increased effectiveness and engagement 68%. The same is true for

all content marketing, which is why so many brands invest in local outreach programs.

Additionally, you want to make sure you have the local marketing infrastructure to better

convert those ad dollars and not have them go to waste.

88% of consumers who search for a

type of local business on a mobile device

call or go to that business within 24 hours

(Google Mobile Movement Study, 2011)

70% of searches on a mobile device

are followed up with an action within one

hour (Bing)

70% of consumers are more likely to

use a local business if it has information

available on a social media site (comScore

Networks/TMP Directional Marketing)

20% of the searches made on Google

are for local information (Social Media Today)

LocaL Marketing

by the Numbers

CONCLUSION: Localization matters to consumers on social media.

http://localvox.com/are-you-throwing-traditional-ad-dollars-out-the-window/

http://localvox.com/are-you-throwing-traditional-ad-dollars-out-the-window/



Resolving The Local Internet Marketing Responsibility Gap

Local marketing touches many different areas and

expertise of the organization. Among the many multi-

location retailers and franchises we work with we find

there are multiple possible areas of ownership.

Often at large retailers with an eCommerce premise,

we see it in various online marketing departments

(SEO, online advertising, etc.), but their focus is on

centralized eCommerce not generating store traffic

and sales.

At large QSRs and hospitality organizations where the only commerce is local commerce,

we see this more in the general marketing and advertising departments. Rarely, we see

this in the co-marketing department with a standard and recommended stack and the

franchisee education needed to support a successful endeavor.

The gap is created, in part, because many of the tactics driving local online marketing

success fall into a grey area of ownership between national brand and local reach.

Additionally, they often are more complex than typical franchisees are accustomed to.

Furthermore, it seems like most organizations are still figuring out what local marketing

moves the meter, and with the landscape changing rapidly, are experimenting at local

levels with different programs to see what works.

» Centralize Local SEO and Directory Optimization

Base level branding responsibility lies with the central franchise. That means, to start,

making your names, addresses, phone numbers, and other data consistent and optimized

across all the standard local touch points, including Google+Local, Yelp, Yahoo, Bing,

YP, CitySearch, etc. Truly investing in this channel is an ongoing effort. The key driver is

ongoing citation building to driving real results from local search. (If you want to learn

more about local search and citation building, check out our Local SEO guide).

Ultimately, this is about brand consistency and the fact that local SEO is far more

http://localvox.com/local-online-marketing-blog/marketing-resources-case-studies/5-simple-steps-to-local-search-success/



effectively done centrally at scale (bulk Google+Local claiming, search monitoring and

reporting, etc.).

The central website should be optimized for local search, including providing individually

optimized location pages. The franchisor should also want to control all of these touch

points in case of branding or messaging changes. 7.5 billion local searches is a lot of touch

points where brand consistency matters.

How Buffalo Wild Wings Dominates Search with Local Vox

Like many multi-location retailers, Buffalo Wild Wings

had inconsistent and incorrect information across the

major online directories. As a result of these incorrect and

missing listings, Buffalo Wild Wings wasn’t being found in

basic organic searches.

In the first half of 2013, 11 Buffalo Wild Wings locations in the tri-state New York area have

been seen in hundreds of thousands of searches across the major search engines. They now

rank #1 on Google+ Local for critical keywords that include Best Buffalo Wings, Hot Wings,

Sports Bar and more, and have doubled the number of impressions they received during

March Madness. During this same period, they have:

» Reached over 132,000 interested customers on Google in the first half of 2013

» Ranked in Top 5 on Google for highly competitive terms Like “Buffalo Wings Brooklyn”

and “Best Buffalo Wings NY”

» Over 5,500 Profile Views on Google+ Local by Local Prospects and Customers



» Empower Social Reputation Management at the Franchisee, but Monitor Brand Wide

Again we see a mix of models here, but this should

be considered a core customer support function at

the franchisee level, brand building when managed

centrally. Having social monitoring and management

software available at the franchisee level with central

oversight provides both the franchisee and franchisor the ability to partner in engaging

with customers. National brands miss 86% of the feedback on social media channels.

At the same time, finding content to post is one of the primary channels of small

business owners.

A mixed approach to handle inbound and outbound content, addresses both

challenges effectively.

Customer feedback should be the responsibility of every local business owner, franchisee

or not. Monitoring customer interactions provides unique insight into what customers

are experiencing across each location. Nowhere can you find such honest and sometimes

brutal feedback. And you can view it all at once at a glance. What products and services are

working? What areas of the customer life cycle are broken? You can find out in an instant.

So franchises should provide social listening software such as our social inbox including local

social media accounts and review site monitoring. Franchises should provide best practice

guidelines (see our blog for recommendations on how to respond to bad reviews, how to

get more reviews, etc.).

That said, the central brand should be monitoring all locations

to proactively identify potential problems and protect the

brand. Though you may have ceded ultimate control of

customer interactions to the franchisee, monitoring consumer

feedback and looking for anomalies can help stave off

problems before the full financial impact is felt. Furthermore,

useful patterns of feedback across locations can provide

direction to future products and services and uncovering new

business opportunities.

National brandsmiss 86% of the feedback on social media channels

http://localvox.com/small-business-marketing-solutions/social-inbox/



» Provide Centralized Brand Message Distribution and Selectively Em-power Local Content Marketing

Content marketing continues to outperform

traditional advertising channels (52% greater

viewing and 18% better purchase intent).

The improved effectiveness of content

marketing is why 96% of marketers are

increasing or maintaining their budgets for

content marketing, representing on average

26% of online marketing budgets.

With so many customer touch points in search,

local, social and mobile, there are tremendous

opportunities to distribute marketing messaging

and reinforce your brand.

The struggle is often in content creation: 53% of

marketers admit that keeping up with the content

creation needs of local campaigns is their primary

challenge. How do brands overcome the content

creation, localization and syndication hurdle?

» Localize National Campaigns and Distribute Them at Every Customer Touch point

Many local marketing campaigns begin as national programs that are pushed down and

evolve into locally owned initiatives. Lidia D’Opera of Top Franchise says in a franchise

business model, local area marketing is another phase of a broader national campaign,

as single franchisees live and breathe the local community and have the knowledge to

customize marketing messages for that particular suburb or region.

National campaigns such as sales and promotions, brand stories, events or new product

announcements can be distributed through next generation local marketing platforms

such as LocalVox’s LocalCast platform. LocalCast publishes content centrally to local

marketing channels including social, mobile, email and local news channels. This allows

“Ideally, in a franchise business

model, local area marketing is

another phase of a broader national

campaign, as single franchisees live

and breathe the local community

and have the knowledge to

customize marketing messages for

that particular suburb or region.

- Lidia D’Opera of Top Franchise

88% see localized national campaigns is a competitive advantage.

53% of marketers say localization of content is their primary marketing challenge



both the franchisor and franchisee access to a single comprehensive platform to share

content and manage the messaging and local engagement either centrally or locally.

Potbelly It’s not a national brand message. It’s about learning to leverage local content.

Local marketing is at the core of Potbelly Sandwich’s marketing

strategy. According to Potbelly’s website and PR efforts,. Potbelly

is “probably the world’s largest purveyor of live music (at least

when it comes to the number of

music venues).”

Creating custom events that reflect and attract the local community is critical to success.

Additionally, Potbelly offers the ability to organize fund raisers and charity events at their

locations. Potbelly’s perspective on marketing is to take a neighborhood approach and turn

customers into fans. They also use customers to help develop new products that encourage

repeat business.

Their approach creates a tremendous amount of content and opportunities to connect with the

community through social media, email, local directories, and search. Live performances could

be emailed to local customers and published to social media, news aggregators, and directories,

leveraging the artists existing social media presences to amplify the brand message. Making

this content available and discoverable to local customers helps the franchisee strengthen the

community connection.

And of course, sharing all of this content also affects local search rankings. Three out of five mobile

restaurant seekers have no particular place in mind upon starting their search, which provides a local

business countless opportunities to impact a customer’s purchase decision.



The key is to localize the message wherever possible including but not limited to:

• Posting on behalf of the location to location-specific marketing channels (location pages,

directory listings, social media, email lists).

• Publishing on the web in a way that is optimized for each location’s local search terms.

• Syndicating into local publishers and news aggregators.

» Empower Local Specific Messaging at Regional or Single Location Scale

Of course, the best local messaging is locally or regionally

specific. That’s why so many brands invest in local outreach

efforts, local PR and provide localized promotions. For

example, Whole Foods empowers Directors of Marketing

at each location to manage social media feeds, local

promotions, individual events and advertising efforts.

Such a distributed marketing environment at the

individual store location is rare, however.

More frequently, there are shared resources at the regional or national level that can

be leveraged. Enabling message distribution doesn’t have to be hard. Messaging can be

as simple as sharing an event, announcement or deal. Increasingly, brevity is better as

consumers continue to engage with shorter and shorter content on email, the web, social

media and mobile devices.

» Create Shared Metrics and Measurement at Every Level

Whether it is monitoring social reputation or seeing where customers are interacting

most with local content, it is crucial to have an infrastructure that measures results.

Short of point of sale integrations of promotions, there is a definitive perception gap

between online results and in-store sales. How much is the value of an email address,

Facebook like, article read or request for directions? It’s dependent for each business

and their economics. The average price point and life time value of a quick service

restaurant is fundamentally different than an appliance chain. The business modeling and

ROI justifications should be based on these economics, but should be standardized and

measured and should be done at both a brand, regional and local level.



As an example, LocalVox tracks:

• Total brand impressions

• Brand messaging reads

• Profile interactions

• Email list growth and performance

• Social media audience and engagement growth

• Content engagement and referrals (broken down by Facebook, Twitter, Google+,

Yelp, etc.)

• Organic local search rankings

• Google+Local search rankings (for local search terms, maps, mobile phones, etc.)

• Local directory performance

All of these are easily accessed from the brand to the location level so that content

marketing efforts and their lift on a location basis can be measured.

Starting Down the Path of Local Marketing Enablement

95% of retail is local and as a result, the industry is seeing rapid shifts in online marketing

spending towards driving in-store sales. With so much fragmentation and complexity in

local marketing, the easiest path is to put the onus on local franchisees to figure it out.

However, such an approach ultimately leads to failure, because it leads to inconsistent

brand interactions, varied implementations and unnecessary cost. Preparing the

organization for centralized national marketing at a local level, while empowering

local-specific marketing messaging does not have to be hard with the right technology

infrastructure and process development.

Across the board, consistent content marketing creates marked improvements in

marketing performance from local discovery, conversion to long term customer

engagement and loyalty. Simple localization techniques alone can increase exposure

3-10x. With over 40% of multi-location brands increasing their investment in local

marketing and the market doubling over the next 3 years, the time to establish a

leadership position is now.



See how LocalVox can help your franchise dominate local marketing. Contact Us

Engage Local Customers with LocalVox

A Comprehensive Local Marketing Tool That Puts Your Business Everywhere Online

Modern customers are using online channels like search, social

media and mobile to make local purchases. In fact, 95% of consumers

search online for local businesses, and 80% of those searches result

in a call, email, or visit to a nearby store.

LocalVox puts your brand everywhere you need to be online to drive

these online prospects into real customers.

SearchReach new customers in all your markets on websites like Google+ Local, Yelp, Bing and

dozens of other search engines.

SocialManage social media on the local level by

connecting Facebook, Twitter, Yelp and CitySearch into a

universal social inbox.

MobilePromote your deals

and capture the email addresses of local geo-targeted customers on thousands of popular

mobile apps.

ContentPublish hyperlocal

content that reaches customers in nearby

neighborhoods through our revolutionary local PR newswire, NearSay.

Big Brands Trust LocalVox to Attract New Customers

LocalVox

“LocalVox will forever impact the way we distribute and gather information about our favorite local spots.” -- Business Insider

Adolfo VelasquezNational Sales646.545.3400

[email protected]

Search, Social, Mobile and Content Marketing Solutions for Multi-Location Businesses

“Your business here”

http://localvox.com/enterprise-local-seo/

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