When franchise executives come together to swap ideas and tackle shared challenges, magic happens. That's the beauty of gatherings like Netsertive's April 2024 Franchise Executive Roundtable - they create a dynamic space for marketing leaders and industry thought leaders to connect, collaborate, and problem-solve in real-time. For this roundtable, we dove into breakout discussions on three key areas: Data & Analytics, Franchisee Communication & Support, and Franchise Development.
Here are some key takeaways from each group!
Data & Analytics: Making Insights Digestible for Franchisees
In the Data & Analytics session, leaders shared different approaches for presenting marketing data in a way that resonates with franchisees. Some use outsourced dashboards while others integrate metrics into their point-of-sale systems. The consensus was that setting clear expectations upfront on what marketing KPIs franchisees should focus on is key to getting buy-in and avoiding concerns down the road.
Top 5 Takeaways
- Use outsourced dashboards or integrate metrics into point-of-sale systems to present data in a digestible format.
- Set clear expectations upfront on what marketing KPIs franchisees should focus on to get buy-in and avoid concerns.
- Educate franchisees on the role of agency partners in optimizing campaigns and driving results.
- Encourage franchisees to focus on lead follow-up and conversion, which they can directly control.
- Consider offering different levels of data visibility based on franchisee preferences and needs.
Franchisee Communication & Support: Grounding Conversations in Data
The Franchisee Communication & Support roundtable emphasized using data to justify marketing investments to franchisees. By breaking down how many leads are needed to achieve growth targets and sharing benchmarks on conversion rates, the corporate team can make a stronger case for the appropriate spend level.
Top 5 Takeaways
- Use data to justify marketing investments by breaking down lead volume needed to achieve growth targets.
- Share benchmarks on conversion rates to demonstrate the impact of marketing spend.
- Communicate rising marketing costs in the context of broader industry trends and competition.
- Incorporate testimonials from successful franchisees who are investing sufficiently in marketing.
- Consider offering mental health resources to help franchisees manage the stresses of business ownership.
Franchise Development: Strong Start to 2024 Despite Headwinds
Despite the challenges of a tight real estate market that's pumping the brakes on new openings in certain markets, it's clear that the franchise model is performing well in this economy and attracting plenty of interest from potential owners.
Top 5 Takeaways
- Most franchise development teams met or exceeded Q1 goals, despite ongoing real estate challenges.
- Opinions are mixed on the effectiveness of Facebook for franchise lead generation.
- Targeting the ideal franchisee avatar is key to optimizing lead generation spend.
- Resales are a major opportunity for mature brands to drive growth through existing franchisees.
- Having a clearly defined resale process is critical to avoid surprises and capitalize on leads.
Across all the discussions, it was clear that franchise marketers are grappling with similar issues and can learn a great deal from each other. While each brand is unique, many of the core challenges around communicating with franchisees, justifying investments, and adapting to a changing landscape are shared. Gatherings like the Netsertive Franchise Executive Roundtable play an important role in strengthening the connective tissue of the franchise marketing community. Through the power of peer learning and collaboration, franchise leaders can find new ways to overcome obstacles and drive growth in their systems.
Erin Martin
Erin leads the marketing organization at Netsertive. She has over twenty years of experience in the marketing technology space, most recently at Mixpo, an ad tech company acquired by Netsertive in 2017, where she had leadership roles in marketing, client services, and operations. Her happy place is where marketing and operations collide, and is passionate about creating systems that put the right people, process, and technology together to do extraordinary things. She applies the same type of analytical thinking to her personal life and enjoys finding areas where work and life principles coincide. Erin has a BS in Marketing from Colorado State University where she graduated with honors. She lives in Seattle with her husband, daughter, and son, where she enjoys anything that involves the outdoors.
