Franchise. Marketing. Benefits and best practices for a centralized approach.

Transcription

1 Franchise Marketing Benefits and best practices for a centralized approach

2 A Centralized Marketing Program Will Help You Boost Local Sales, Enhance Brand Loyalty and Control Your Brand on a Corporate Level. By 2015, companies that focus on integrated processes for Local Marketing Enablement will increase revenue from 15-20%. - Gartner Research Companies must begin the process of centralizing all of their communications to develop a more accurate picture of how their subscribers respond to various messages, as well as maintain controls to ensure that consumers are not overloaded by messages. - JupiterResearch StreamSend Franchise Marketing // 2

3 Think Globally, Act Locally National brands and marketers are faced with the challenge of growing sales at the local level while protecting brand equity. You may be surprised to find that centralizing and automating your marketing are powerful ways to localize your national marketing strategy. Unlike other marketing channels, a centralized approach to marketing allows you to deliver targeted, personalized, localized and measurable campaigns while maintaining consistent brand image. 50% This guide will provide you with best practices for centralizing, automating and localizing your marketing program. 3 \\ StreamSend Franchise Marketing

4 Contents p7. p9. p12. p17. Don t underestimate the importance of a solid database Use templates as a tool to enhance your brand Automation makes it easier for you, more relevant for your subscribers Sending the is just the start use analytics to monitor success StreamSend Franchise Marketing // 4

5 Why Centralize Your Marketing 80% 10% 20% Program? Overview For most brands, the marketing mantra is to maintain consistency of message. If your franchisees are executing individual campaigns, it will be next to impossible for you to control the messaging. A centralized platform with automation provides the best of both worlds: It gives you the ability to control the voice/tone of your brand, while allowing your franchisees to tailor the offer to their specific locations. 5 \\ StreamSend Franchise Marketing

6 Why centralize and automate? Let us count the ways: The arguments for centralizing are compelling: Managing s through a single platform enables companies to not only more effectively manage their brand and good sender reputation, but it s also much easier to manage the frequency of communication... Leverage don t lose your brand equity Manage brand consistency across the entire organization from one central location. Increase sales with a centralized marketing approach built on local relationships Send campaigns to customers franchise-wide with geo-targeted promotions corresponding to individual franchise locations. Collect valuable data A centralized approach will enable you to collect and immediately analyze actionable data franchise-wide to help you spot trends and tweak your campaigns for optimail results. Cheryle Ross, the ecommerce Marketing Manager of Xerox Corp., on the Experience Council Blog Multi-level reporting Report on campaigns globally or by individual locations, then find out what works (and what doesn t) so locations can learn from one another. Maximize time and minimize resources Leverage the data you collect franchise-wide to develop triggered, personalized communications that cross sell and upsell customers based on purchase history and preferences. StreamSend Franchise Marketing // 6

7 It All Begins with a Centralized Database 80% 10% 20% Overview Today s buzzword is big data, but it s the small details of your data that are key. The information you store in your database (and how it s organized) will largely determine the success of your strategy. If you fail to send your prospects and customers relevant content, they are more likely to opt-out from your list. However, by sending relevant, timely and personal communications, you can convert a prospect into a customer, boost the average order value of your s and increase the lifetime value of your existing customers. 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 7 \\ StreamSend Franchise Marketing

8 A few things to consider when organizing your database: Not all campaigns are created equal Begin by defining the types of campaigns you ll be sending. Weekly special offers with coupons that recipients can bring into the store? Ecommerce campaigns? Monthly what s new s? Interactive s such as surveys and contests? s incorporating your social media sites? automation Next, define the types of automated s you want to send. Welcome s? (These are advisable.) Cart abandonment reminders? Purchase association s? Birthday offers? Reactivation s? Database organization Segmentation Now that you ve defined the types of campaigns you ll be sending, think about how you want to segment those campaigns. What information will trigger your automated s (i.e., zip codes, purchases, birthdays, etc.)? Data capture Once you ve defined how you want to segment your campaigns and what type of information you want to leverage for automated s, make sure your database captures this information from your franchise locations, purchase forms and landing pages. 8 \\ StreamSend Franchise Marketing StreamSend Franchise Marketing // 8

9 Your s Are an Extension of Your Brand Overview A consistent brand image can increase brand loyalty and, consequently, sales. Project a consistent brand image via visual components such as logo and color scheme, as well as with messaging and tone. Your prospects and customers will not only become familiar with your brand, they will ultimately trust your brand. 9 \\ StreamSend Franchise Marketing

10 A few things to keep in mind: The template is your friend Create a series of templates that can be used for different types of campaigns / messages, such as coupons, what s new, special offers, events, surveys and more. Branding across templates Each template should have a different layout based on the content it features. However, all templates should be branded consistently. Use consistent colors and fonts, and be sure to place the logo toward the top so it is visible in preview panes. Include your company name in your logo s alt tag in case the recipient s client blocks images. Always include your company name in the from address as well. How are they viewing your ? According to Pew Internet Research, 91% of the adult U.S. population owns a cellphone. If you re not optimizing your s for mobile devices such as cellphones and tablets, you ll be losing out to your competition, who is. Responsive templates ensure that your s display properly on all screen sizes, making them easy to view and engage with regardless of where they are being viewed from. The voice While different communications may call for different tones, be sure to maintain a consistent brand voice across all s. It s OK to have s that are serious, playful, emotional... but you need to be consistent, not schizophrenic, when it comes to your brand. StreamSend Franchise Marketing // 10

11 Landing pages Landing pages are extensions of your s, so make sure your landing page design is consistent with your s. Also, make sure they complement your s. In other words, avoid a disconnect between your and your landing pages. Your should have the information that will prompt recipients to click on the . Your landing page should include content that will take them further down the sales funnel. Habits Be sure to consider your target s habits as you design your s. Are your readers printing your s and bringing the coupons into the store? Alternatively, are they bringing in their mobile device so they can present the coupon on their phone? Are they clicking to purchase online? Are they researching online, then purchasing in store? A well designed template combined with an effective landing page can increase sales and build brand equity. Demographics The demographic breakdown of your readers should not be overlooked, particularly for franchises with numerous locations. For example, if your target audience is skewed a little older, you may want to use a larger font size. Or if your audience has more disposable income, you can feature higher-ticket items. 11 \\ StreamSend Franchise Marketing

12 Automation Overview Forgive us for stating the obvious, but if you show people that you understand their interests, they ll be more receptive to your message. If you send them an when they re considering making a purchase, they ll be more inclined to buy. The reason automation is effective is because it is accurate. Each triggered communication is prompted by an action or data coming directly from the person receiving the message. 70% 12 \\ StreamSend Franchise Marketing

13 Below are several types of automated campaigns, but not all are right for every business: Welcome s When someone subscribes to your list, a welcome sequence can (and should) be triggered. This is your opportunity to make a good first impression. It s also your chance to set expectations of what they will receive in future communications. Trial series If you offer a trial period of your product or service, you can set up a sequence of s to educate the consumer and eventually encourage them to upgrade to a paid account. Types of automated campaigns Cart abandonment If you have an ecommerce site, you know that cart abandonment is a major issue. Cart abandonment s can increase sales significantly by triggering an reminding online shoppers of their incomplete purchases. Dynamic content For a more relevant , you can use dynamic content to tailor a national template with a different promotional offer for each franchise location. You ll see much better results than if you send a blast-batch, one-size-fits-all . StreamSend Franchise Marketing // 13

14 s triggered by landing pages and forms Remember that s and landing pages work both ways. We have discussed how a click-through from an must take the subscriber to a landing page that contains content relevant to the . On the flip side, landing pages and forms can trigger s. A form asking customers to fill in their preferences will then generate an stream based on those preferences. Let s say your franchise is a restaurant chain. One customer s form input reveals that they are a family of four, with children under 12, most likely to visit the restaurant between 4 and 6 p.m. on weekdays. That customer would receive s with family-friendly content (kids meals, early bird specials, etc.). Another customer s input reveals that he is a single person who frequents the bar area. That customer would receive s featuring happy hour specials, live entertainment and the like. Replenish and repurchase s If your product or service has a usage or repair lifecycle, replenish and repurchase s can be triggered automatically whenever a visitor s account runs low. Or if your audience has more disposable income, you can feature higher-ticket items. 14 \\ StreamSend Franchise Marketing

15 Ways to maximize automation: Strategy Begin by defining your goals and the type of remarketing campaigns you want to implement. Cart abandonment reminders? Purchase association s? Benefit-driven landing pages and triggers? Welcome s? Product trial upgrade s? Requests for consumer reviews? Planning Once your goals are clear, determine the triggers for your s. You ll need to capture this information for timely, personal s later. To deal with cart abandonment, test ing a few hours after, then a day later if needed. Second s often lift conversions considerably. Also, during a product trial, test sending feature and benefit-driven s throughout the trial cycle. Maximize Segmentation Automation is most effective when it s used in conjunction with segmented lists. This is particularly true for franchises. For example, if you re promoting a nationwide event, you can automate when the deploys according to the date/time for each location (time zone specific, segmented by customer area code). You also can include locationspecific information such as address and phone number. Lastly, you can tweak the offer to include location-specific details such as special appearances and more. StreamSend Franchise Marketing // 15

16 Messaging Customize plans for the various segments of your database: existing customers, existing prospects, past or inactive customers, new leads, people who bought X, people who abandoned a shopping cart, etc. Again, people will unsubscribe if you don t address their needs. So be consistent and mindful. Testing Automating your s does not give you carte blanche to schedule them and ignore them. As noted above, testing is how you can get the most out of your marketing campaigns. Your strategy should not be set in stone. If you re not getting the expected lift from your cart abandonment s, for example, consider changing the frequency or messaging. If subscribers aren t responding to your re-engagement s, consider changing the incentive. As an marketer, testing, testing should be your mantra. 16 \\ StreamSend Franchise Marketing

17 It s Not Rocket But... Analytics Can Propel Your Campaigns to the Next Level Overview Your campaign doesn t end when you hit send! Analytics provides you with crucial insight into what is (or isn t) resonating with your audience. In order to maximize engagement, be sure to pull reports for campaigns franchise -wide as well as for each individual location. 17 \\ StreamSend Franchise Marketing

18 Following are several metrics you should track, beyond the obligatory opens and clicks: (and be sure to differentiate between total opens/clicks and unique opens/clicks) Click activity Which areas of your received the greatest percentage of clicks? Do images fare better than copy, or vice versa? Does the call to action do its job of getting folks to your site? Do certain areas of your s draw more clicks? If so, you ll want to place your content accordingly. Tracking Beyond clicks Not only should you track the number of people who click from an to a landing page, but also the number of people who actually take action on the landing page. This can easily be tracked by creating goals in Google Analytics or by using your own ecommerce functionality. Unsubscribes Keep tabs on your unsubscribes. If you see a spike, look for a correlation such as an increase in frequency. A surge in unsubscribes also could signal that your content simply is no longer relevant. If so, revisit your segmentation and messaging. StreamSend Franchise Marketing // 18

19 Forward to a friend Tracking this action can reveal not only what messages were worthy of forwarding, but also which subscribers found the messages interesting enough to do so. Social media engagement Monitor click-throughs to your social media sites. If your audience has a strong presence in social media, you may want to consider more content/promotions involving your social media sites. Opens by day or time If you want to increase your open rate, take a look at when your s are being opened. Do people open them during their lunch hour at work? After hours? On weekends? Opens by device Not only should you track how your subscribers are reading your s (desktop vs. laptop vs. tablet vs. smartphone), you should track what brand device. Your s do not render exactly the same on all devices/ brands, so you should take this into consideration during the design stage. 19 \\ StreamSend Franchise Marketing

20 The bottom line A centralized approach to your franchise marketing will result in more opens, more customer engagement, and more business for you. Most importantly, it will help you manage your brand, keeping its integrity across all your franchisees. Not only that, it will make your job easier and your work more efficient, as everything will be consolidated and accessible via the same system. A centralized system not only makes your job easier and your work more efficient, as everything is consolidated and accessible via the same system, but it allows you to tailor your communications for each audience so that what they receive in their inbox is relevant and click-worthy. It also will add layers to your reporting so you ll be able to compare national to local, and one area to another as you continue to fine tune your campaigns. 20 \\ StreamSend Franchise Marketing

21 Franchise Marketing Automation Bridging the gap between central marketers, franchises and the local community Schedule your demo today! Call , ext. 832 or visit StreamSend.com/FMGuide Watch this video to Learn more! Use StreamSend Franchise Marketing Automation to send campaigns to customers franchise-wide with geo-targeted promotions corresponding to individual franchise locations. Global Branding, Local Marketing Protect Your Brand - and Your Business Automatically Collect Valuable Data Benefit from Multi-Level Reporting Personal Support