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Weekly UpdatesToday, the ever-evolving ways of communication are moving at lightning speeds across e-based platforms. To compete effectively and communicate their brand message quickly and cost-effectively while maintaining real-time communication, a franchise brand must embrace social media. It's not just happening, it's here.
The online information source Wikipedia defines social media as user-generated content or consumer-generated media. Examples include Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Yelp, Ning, Dig, Delicious, "wikis," blogs and Twitter.
In the Beginning
Online social networking began with people wanting to reconnect with former school friends. This has since expanded into social-media sites that help people connect with others who share their similar interests. Franchising is no exception. Industry suppliers, trade organizations, area developers, franchisees, potential franchisees and consumers are already communicating, connecting and utilizing one or more of the various online networking sites, inside the franchise community, as well as the larger-scale LinkedIn-type sites of the Web.
Social media are accessible and easy to use. The kids of today are "growing up social." Starting at the age three, they are using sites such as starfall.com, Webkinz and Disney's Club Penguin.
Having a social presence is essential for a franchise brand. The way a brand communicates with its audience has been transformed, and the need to be Web 2.0 (a later generation of World Wide Web development) and engage in the social-media boom, simultaneously connects a brand with a vast audience.
Social media communicates with consumers in their personal space (at home, after hours, etc.), where they are most comfortable, most open and therefore, most vulnerable.
However, a brand must know its target consumers' generation. For example, 80-somethings, known as the Traditionalists (1922-1945), are much less likely to use social media than the under-30 Generation Y, sometimes referred to as Millennials (1980s-1990s), who use social media almost exclusively.
As Generation Y matures, savvy brands are positioning themselves to communicate with these individuals by adding various social elements. Thirty-seven percent of adults and 70 percent of teenagers use social-networking sites at least monthly. The major social-networking sites have announced plans to open their platforms to developers and brands. This gives brands access to 500 million engaged users, with more than 250 million on Facebook and MySpace.
Franchisors can take advantage of social media by using two distinct approaches, either separately or in combination.
Applications Built by a Franchisor: A franchisor can add tools to its Web site that will generate viral campaigns. This option tends to be more difficult, involves more intensive ramp-up time and is usually more costly. In addition, the franchisor must build a marketing and advertising campaign around its unique and innovative tool. If a franchisor cannot afford these various resources, then the tool that it creates must be so unique that users will "self-generate" lots of content and will refer the tool on to others, creating a viral component cost-effectively.
Recently, the beer brand Bud Light created a clever application that allowed consumers to upload a photo of a friend, outline the person's mouth, and then type in whatever they wanted the mouth to say. Thousands of photographs were uploaded and forwarded around the world. This is an example of a viral tool that spreads rapidly.
Existing Applications: A franchisor may take advantage of existing online sites that are already communicating with millions of users. According to Web information database Alexa.com, Facebook, MySpace and YouTube are three of the top-five-most-visited Web sites in the United Sates.
These social-media sites allow sample research to be performed for free, research that would otherwise cost thousands of dollars. They also provide an outlet for creative marketing techniques, known as guerrilla and viral marketing that may or may not be accepted by the mainstream media.
How franchisors use social-media sites
On both Facebook and MySpace, the goal is to add "friends." The more "friends" a franchise brand collects, the greater its audience. The brand can then market its products and services to its friends. The franchise brand's social-media page must be unique and edgier than its corporate Web site, while still maintaining the brand image.
Within social-media sites, people have created and joined communities, known as groups that have similar interests. These groups are great places for a brand to interact and build trust with its target audience, because the groups are focused in specific areas. For instance, a food brand could target a group that specializes in information about cooking. A brand can harness huge groups of intensely-interested people and send mass e-mails for upcoming events, promotions and discounts, creating strong brand affinity and loyalty within the fickle 25-35 age group.
On Facebook, creating a "widget" (application) that people interact with is an effective way to reach a brand's audience. "Are you my relative?" is a widget that allows people to link up with their relatives, creating a "family tree." A franchise can brand its widget with its brand design. The more people who download their widget, the more times the brand is viewed.
YouTube is a social-media site that allows the uploading of videos. Used appropriately, this powerful, cost-effective tool generates maximum visibility for a brand. A company in the Midwest recently increased its sales by 200 percent using YouTube. The company spent $ 5,000 creating videos of its blenders smashing everything from food to golf balls. Imagine creating inexpensive, entertaining videos about various products or services and receiving this kind of enormous exposure. The company's inexpensive videos were viewed by a large number of people, which translated into increased visits to the corporate Web site, which in turn increased the company's sales.
Web Log = "Blog"
A franchise brand should also create an active community "blog" (Web log). Major corporations are using blogs extensively. Some of the most popular corporate blogs include those by Marriott CEO Bill Marriott, Boeing Vice Pres. of Marketing Randy Tinseth and Sun Microsystems CEO and Pres. Jonathan Schwartz.
According to Rich Stark, CEO of OC Web Logic and OC Search Pros, "A blog is a great way to deliver information on a specific topic or industry to other people who are involved in that industry. It allows someone who is an 'expert' in a given field to write about recent events and/or trends in an industry, and those articles can be delivered to thousands of people who subscribe to the blog. It's an excellent way to involve an attentive and very targeted audience. In order to be effective, blogs should be updated on a biweekly basis."
"Another benefit of blogs has to do with search engine marketing and the benefit of custom written content that is picked up by the search engines. The more content that is indexed by the search engines, the stronger the site will be with respect to keywords and phrases. Blogs can be optimized with keyword phrases for RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds, tagged for "technorati" (savvy online social networkers), and can be automatically displayed on Facebook and MySpace-type sites, and they can migrate over the Web at mind-blowing speeds."
President Barack Obama is the first "social-media president." He was the first presidential candidate to understand and harness the communication power of social-media platforms. He gained enormous exposure using social media, including blogs, Flickr, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and various faith-, age-, race- and event-based networks. By promoting one singular message "change," he energized Americans and ultimately won the White House race.
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According to David Asarnow, president and CEO of Clix Portrait Studios, "Our foray into social networking initially happened by necessity, we needed a way to continue reaching potential franchisees, while reducing on-line advertising expenses. In addition to reducing our expenses $8,000 per month, we learned that we could continue to drive potential franchisee interest. We also discovered through the use of blogging, YouTube and Facebook that the candidates were much more involved and knowledgeable about our brand, they really did their homework."
When a brand finds something that works, it should continue to explore the possibilities. Clix did just that with its social media and Facebook program, most recently creating an Easter Bunny event at its flagship Marietta, Ga. location, which, according to Asarnow, "drove nearly 80 visitors to Clix for the event with less than two days prior notice."
Ongoing lead-generation campaigns should be used to fuel social-media sites. When used wisely, social media has the potential to turn into "super" marketing-targeted, cost-effective ways to reach consumers.
BY SALLY FACINELLI, CFE
Sally Facinelli, CFE, is vice president of business development of St. Jacques Franchise grand Marketing. She can be reached at 973-829-0858, ext. 115 or sally@stjacques.com.
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