Social media presence in franchising: why local presence is important for franchisees

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Co. - social networks have taken the Internet by storm and today are an integral part of the online life of millions. Registered companies have long recognized the potential of advertising in social media and contribute significantly with their own appearances and ads to influence the buying and consuming behavior of users. In franchising, however, the use of social networks seems controversial: Often, a significant portion of the advertising and marketing measures is implemented centrally by the franchisor, and neglects the own online presence of the licensees. Engel & Völkers explains the background and clarifies the benefits of using social media for franchisees.

Social Media: Not very common among franchisees

Most franchising companies have limited human and financial resources, especially when it comes to small businesses with just one location. The establishment of a social media presence and above all the necessary maintenance of the contents of the accounts are associated with a certain effort, which many franchisees are not ready yet to carry. They estimate the marketing and advertising measures that their franchisor carries out centrally and supra regionally as sufficient, and thus place little value on a locally perceptible identity of their own company. However, the economic potential that escapes you is immense...

As a franchising company, you can address customers directly and use local advertising favorably

The scope of a franchise is mostly limited to its license area, so it should be in the interest of the franchisee to reach out to potential customers in the area. However, the nationwide presentation of the brand by the franchisor can not do this sufficiently, since the qualities of the individual franchisee can not be taken into account in the anonymity of supra-regional campaigns. In order to maintain its competitive position with other suppliers in the same industry in the area, the franchising company must also be aware of its customers locally.

Social media is a viable option for franchisees to gain visibility and interact with customers locally. Thanks to the settings offered by these portals, the published content is only displayed to users from their own license area. For example, marketing events can be promoted, special offers can be announced, or general information about the franchising company can be communicated.The so-called storytelling turns out to be more and more important: Through regular posts from the business life, the customer is directly involved in the events of the company, so that an emotional bond to employees and offer can arise. In addition, the customer can use the chat function to seek direct contact with the franchisee in order to communicate his questions and suggestions directly.

Ideally, the company of the franchisee receives an individual personality that stands out from the mere brand name and is characterized by additional qualities such as particularly courteous service or sympathetic staff. Compared to traditional advertising formats in print and broadcast media, online marketing in social media can address a significantly larger and more focused target group at a much lower cost - a well-tended social media presence is therefore recommended to every franchisee.

Which social networks make sense for your franchising company?

In order to balance the effort and benefit, the number of social networks used by the franchisee should be limited. The choice should fall on portals whose users have the largest overlap with the franchisee's target group. Large networks such as Facebook or Instagram offer themselves as options, as they unite a large number of different target groups and offer opportunities to specifically target users with specific interests. In addition, smaller, specialized networks can be used, which operate exclusively in the industry of the franchise system. Although these are often less well-known, cleverly placed postings are more effective here, since the users there are thematically interested in any case. A combination of both network types combines their advantages and should prove to be an efficient strategy.

In the real estate franchise of Engel & Völkers, every franchisee has numerous options for customizing their own online presence. In addition to our own website in Engel & Völkers Corporate Design, our licensing partners are free to set up additional social media appearances in order to best present their own offerings. Are you interested in a franchise partnership with Engel & Völkers or do you have questions about our offer as a franchisor? We are happy to help you by phone or email!