Localised marketing – Are franchisors and franchisees missing the boat?

Improve the effectiveness of local marketing and advertising campaigns by getting onboard with geo-location targeting and SMS campaigns

Contributed by Demographica

At the cost of subverting a popular phrase - it's all about location, location, location. “Franchises that rely on national branding campaigns to build their franchisees' businesses are missing the boat”; so suggests Megan Louw, Brand Manager of Demographica, South Africa's largest digital database marketing agency.

Franchise marketing provides an interesting case study for the way in which marketing has evolved - or not, as the case may be.

By its very nature, franchising offers tremendous benefits to entrepreneurs who wish to grow a business within the framework of an established brand, systems and infrastructure. National and even international brand marketing campaigns generally form part of the franchise agreement and no doubt contribute to broader awareness and trade.

"The question, however, is whether this is enough to drive traffic to particular stores or outlets," says Megan. "The responsibility for localised advertising and promotion tends to fall to the franchisee, and is often the weak link in their armour as other concerns like cash flow and savings take precedence."

The disconnect between national brand advertising and store-specific sales promotions can be particularly damaging to the financial well-being of a store. Considering the high cost and unfocused nature of traditional print advertising, it is understandable that franchisees shy away from advertising that has an uncertain impact.

The appeal of geo-location targeting via SMS campaigns is therefore apparent.

Franchisees now have a tool to target a specific location with specials that they know will drive traffic to their store. As opposed to national brand advertising, such campaigns have far greater direct sales consequences and provide a way to start building a local community of loyal customers.

"In fact, the franchisors could include geo-targeted SMS campaigns in their overall mix and leverage their buying power to obtain a bulk rate that their franchisees can use for local promotions," says Louw. "So they needn't experience or perpetuate the disconnect between national campaigns and local sales."

Developing and managing a geo-location targeted SMS campaign provides many benefits to franchisees. Via service providers such as Demographica they are able to roll out campaigns with ease and speed while targeting specific audiences based on a mix of location, demographic, preferences and habits.

"Apart from the technology and infrastructure, we have a comprehensive, verified database of people who have agreed to receiving SMS marketing messages. So, not only is it a targeted audience, it’s a receptive one," says Louw.

The mobile phone has become an indispensable communication tool for millions of South Africans, and one on which they are increasingly happy to receive product and marketing information. Ignoring the value in speaking directly to a customer who you know is likely to visit your store, is certainly inviting commercial doom. 

Demographica

www.demographica.co.za

+27 11 447 7373