Four underrated marketing channels for franchise marketers

Franchise marketing in some ways has never been easier. There’s countless exhibitions, franchise directories and magazines, plus the ability to bombard people with ads via the internet and social media.

The tricky part though is not to find the best time slot, but to browse through the dozens of available channels and choose which ones would be the best for your franchising brand.

Yes, the communication today can be seamless, but disrupting all the noise so your voice can be heard might prove a bit more complicated.

Among the dozens of marketing channels, there are certainly some favourites like Google, Meta, and LinkedIn.

However, there are also some hidden gems that are rarely used yet provide some outstanding value for the small amount that you'd need to invest.

Here are the top four underrated communication channels that almost no one uses in franchising but are genuinely golden.

Bing

The almighty Google may have 92% of the global search engine market, but advertising on it is definitely not a piece of cake. Expect fierce competition and high prices and although Google organic and PPC ads are a must, if you want to achieve anything in your franchising business, putting all your efforts there is simply counterproductive.

So, to complement your Google ads, you should check the second biggest search engine on the market - Bing. While it has a significantly lower share of users, it still gets over 1 billion monthly visits, which should be lucrative enough for any business owner to allocate some of their resources to the Microsoft-owned search engine.

To sweeten the deal, your ads will automatically be shown across Yahoo, AOL, MSN and other partner channels. Furthermore, you will get a 45% higher CTR, lower CPC and a much better cost per acquisition than you will on Google.

Most importantly, you will get to a brand new, untouched audience, as around 7% of users in the UK prefer Bing over Google. Furthermore, these clients are statistically much more prone to purchase. About 58% of all searches are about product research, and the users generally have higher household incomes.

Don't get me wrong. Of course, advertising on Google is a must, and in no way Bing can substitute for the ‘king’ of search engines, but allocating a small portion of your marketing budget towards Bing will bring you a long way.

SMS

With a 98% average open rate, not using this channel should be considered a crime against marketing. When you add the 45% response rate, it simply becomes unbelievable that anyone would say that SMS marketing is pointless.

Just as a comparison, email marketing, a cornerstone in each franchising marketing strategy, has an average open rate of 20% and a response rate of 6%. This massive reach is simply impossible through any other channel.

Naturally, there are some barriers, especially in Europe with the GDPR, but SMS campaigns are perfect for lost leads and those who have already agreed to share their number.

Moreover, the SMS allows for short sales pitches, which are perfect for the bottom part of the marketing funnel. But, of course, on the very top, SMS marketing is pointless, so just like any other channel, you first need to know its strengths and weaknesses before investing money and time in using it.

The biggest limitation, however, is the content. The copy should genuinely be brilliant. You have only 160 symbols to convince someone to take the next step, something that even the best copywriters in the world would find challenging.

Nonetheless, with a 98% open rate and nearly half of them responding, the investment is undoubtedly worth it.

Using these three underrated marketing channels should be done only after thorough research on their compatibility with your franchising business, industry and niche. Nonetheless, incorporating them into your communication channel mix would be a great way to reach a new untouched audience and generate fresh leads.

Referrals and brand power

There’s no better way of selling a franchise than getting successful, happy franchisees to sell it for you.

Educating franchisees on how to create a successful marketing plan and utilising your own network to build your brand locally via PR will naturally help people come to you.

You can also encourage franchisees to recruit others via an incentive or a reward-based outreach campaign.

These referrals will yield far higher conversion rates than cold leads. After all, people trust their peers more than adverts.

It’s also inexpensive and low risk. You only need to pay for the referral once they convert which means it costs far less than adverts with visible results.

Finally, as the franchisee knows what the business involves, there’s a higher chance that the people they recruit will be fit for purpose. Which means, in the long run, more organic (and free) PR and brand awareness.

Pinterest

The fact that marketers refuse to use the world's fourth most popular social media site is absolutely astonishing. It's like looking at an audience of nearly half a billion and just saying, "Nah, I can do better".

In the UK alone, there are almost 9 million people who spend their free time on Pinterest, and that's an audience you most probably won't find anywhere else.

I will agree that Pinterest is a bit strange in B2B communication. It's not a typical place you will be looking for a business partner. Thus many franchisors simply ghost it and instead put all their efforts on Google, Facebook, or, if they are more adventurous, X (formerly Twitter).

Nonetheless, if you manage to make Pinterest work, you will have the chance to dip your fingers in a fresh pool of leads who, among other things, are statistically much better paid.

Making it work is surely possible. Otherwise, it wouldn't have $1+ Billion in revenue from ads in 2021.