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Franchise Marketing, Understanding the Client's Journey
Understanding the Client's Journey
Marketers often spend too much time reflecting on what we refer to as the “customer journey.” This goes to show that we care about the experience between our customers and us, starting from the moment they learn about our existence till the time they buy from us, and even beyond.
The best way to appreciate this experience is by dividing it into steps, and understanding that clients are likely to drop out of the process at every stage. Most corporate marketers recognize these steps as the “sales funnel.”
Here is a simple example of a
Franchise Marketing
sales funnel; take out some time to determine the things that happen at every stage of the experiences your customers have with you, and you will learn a lot about how you can influence the process and assist your customers at every stage.
List of Services
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1. AwarenessItem Link List Item 1
It is at this stage that a customer learns about your existence for the first time and begins to form opinions about you based on their perceptions.
Naturally, this stage is managed by the activities of corporate franchisors – although it is also possible through references and referrals that are generated from the franchisee.
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2. DiscoveryItem Link List Item 2
At this stage, the customer has learned some information about your product, and then, he begins to deliberately seek to know more about you. This stage often entails research on the internet and physical inquiries.
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3. EvaluationItem Link List Item 3
At this stage, the customer has most probably decided to purchase something that is similar to what you are offering, but then, he is still in the process of deciding where to buy it from. He might stop by at your business, give you a call, or visit your website at this stage in order to look at your menu, hours, or price list. This stage can be influenced by the activities of both the franchisor and the franchisee.
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4. IntentItem Link List Item 4
At this point, the client has made the decision to buy from you. This means that they are already your customer to lose. Franchisors can lose the client at this stage through misinformation in the local business listings of the brand – such as incorrect hours, or wrong directions that will lead the client to the wrong place, eventually causing them to give up.
On their part, Franchisees can lose the business via poor experiences on the premises – such as uncleanness, low inventory, long wait times, poor customer services, or pricing.
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5. PurchaseItem Link
It is at this stage that the transaction takes place, and it is normally within the total control of the franchise.
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6. LoyaltyItem Link
This stage entails whether or not a customer will come back to buy again, if he will become an evangelist for your brand, or if he will offer you good or bad reviews. This stage is also normally within the franchisee’s control, except the issue is a decision to be made at the level of the franchisor – like pricing, product/menu, or policy.
Sometimes, the entirety of the sales funnel can occur in the time which it takes to spot an ice cream sign and buy a double scoop sundae. Other times, it might take weeks.
Understanding your customer's thought and decision making processes are quite important and will provide you with enough guidance for your sales activities and decision-making both as the franchisor and the franchisee.
Scooping Out The Competition
Many brands have already planned their positioning, considering other national brands. So, this is mainly directed to franchisees. Take out some time to find out your direct local market competitors. It is possible that they are other big brands, but then, they can also be other local small businesses that are not yet on the radar of the corporate franchisor. You should understand:
- Areas where they are stronger or weaker than you
- The people they attract, in comparison to who you attract
- The strategies they use for marketing their business
Knowing these things will assist you in setting up yourself for winning a larger piece of the local pie. For instance, if your competitor is a gym center, you can consider questions like; do they have better weight training equipment than you? Are they targeting mostly younger athletes and men?
Do they advertise on local radio? etc. If the answer to these questions is positive, then perhaps, you should take the opportunity to target women and older clients. Also, adding some nutrition classes for weight loss might give you an edge too, among others.
Establishing Your Authority
When you have known who your customers are and how they buy, as well as how you want to position your brand in the local market, then you can begin to implement the plan by creating content for it. For corporate franchisors, this entails investing some time for the creation of an interesting, informative brand website that carries engaging and dynamic content. Your content should be purposed to inform, educate, and entertain, more than it is meant to sell. Doing this will always encourage your customers to come back, as well as contribute to your organic SEO. The content that you place on social media should also be fashioned after the same precept so that it ultimately leads back to your business as much as is possible.
Experts say that you should put effort into making 60% or more of the posts you put on social media engaging and timely. 30% should be shared posts, and just about 10% should be about promoting your business. You should also invest in building links, as this will demonstrate the influence of your site, as well as boost your ranking and authority for Google’s algorithm.
Here are some tips to help you;
- Locate sites that are not linking to you yet but are linking to your competitors, using the GT Tools “Find Opportunities” features.
- Locate people who are referencing your site already and request that they hyperlink back to you.
- Make some public relations or news-making efforts and request that articles be linked back to your site.
- Request for links from commerce groups, local trade organizations, and community organizations.
- Sponsor scholarship programs and post them on local .edu websites.
- Sponsor events and request that they link back to you.
