The Best Ways to Advertise Your Franchise
You are probably an expert in your industry, but marketing is a different animal. Some entrepreneurs who legitimately had good ideas have failed because they did not know how to market those ideas. If you are struggling with digital advertising, there are a few places to start.
Content Is King
This has become a pretty popular adage among digital marketers. There is a concept known as inbound marketing. It relates to organic traffic produced chiefly by real content. Write about anything related to your industry. If you are in a ‘go green’ type of business, write about going green or anything related to the home. People who come to your site for information will remember you for this.
Local SEO
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) relates to your ranking on Google. Local SEO is your ranking when regionally relevant keywords are used. You can optimize your local SEO by inputting these keywords into your articles. This begins with market research. If there are other local companies in your industry writing blog posts, you will have to make your content unique.
A good approach is to write long-form content. Long-form content is a detailed article about your industry. If you write longer articles while your competitors do not, Google will favor your website. On the other hand, short-form content might be appropriate if other companies are not blogging at all. Short-form content entails writing shorter blog posts that merely survey an issue in your industry. These are typically between 350 and 1000 words. Research your competitors and assess what sort of blogs they have.
Direct Mail
Sometimes the old ways still work. People are still receiving direct mail. This has a few advantages over digital newsletters. When writing a newsletter, the only guarantee is that the recipient will see the subject line. This has inspired some entrepreneurs to write spammy, click-bait titles. In contrast, a consumer who receives direct mail will at least see your logo and business name. That is known as brand repetition.
Ask For Reviews
People are usually pretty happy to give their opinion. If you are lucky, you might get a few scathing, negative reviews. Negative reviews are more useful than you might think. They can alert you to potential errors. You can show consumers that you care about their concerns by adapting your product accordingly. In contrast, you might get some positive reviews that will tell you what you are doing right and where you should focus your energy. They can also improve the overall morale of the workplace. Many businesses offer discounts for customers reviews.
Install a Live Chat Feature
Many consumers like knowing they can get in touch with a company quickly. They do not want to call because that requires energy. They also do not want to write an email because it can take 24 hours to get a response. WordPress has live chat plugins that are pretty easy to implement.
Write for an Audience
It might be tempting to write generic content on social media or your blog, but generic content does not speak to individuals. Think about the demographics you are targeting and how to appeal to them. If you are writing for several different demographics, then write different posts relevant to each one. For example, millennials typically respond to emotion and social causes. Keep up with trends and write relevant posts about non-controversial topics.
Beyond that, many entrepreneurs use the live video functions on social media outlets. Find somebody on your team who has a charismatic personality and put a camera in front of them. Use video editing software to tactfully place helpful infographics and lists. People are more likely to watch a video than read an article.
You should not think your product will sell itself. That happens sometimes. But even hotcakes need to be marketed when there are ten other hotcake vendors in the area.
