Sally Butters is Director of Media at Coconut Creatives
Any franchise is only as strong as its franchisees; making recruitment an extremely significant process that you need to get right, says Sally Butters, Director of Media at Coconut Creatives.
So, where does it all start? We say at the beginning – building the brand.
Potential franchisees want to better their working life, earn more money and have more free time amongst other things. They essentially buy into a company, its ethos and the growth of people associated to it. Marketing collateral is often the starting point at which a company develops a brand.
The reaches of marketing collateral are far beyond simply raising awareness, as it fulfils the key purposes of informing potential recruits about the following: what makes your franchise different, success testimonials, growth prospects and a call-to-action. Collateral can take many forms – from a brochure to a quirky jigsaw piece! Whatever collateral you decide upon, it’s vital to make sure that it doesn’t ignore any findings from your target market research.
A common mistake committed by companies is that they tend to use existing marketing arsenal for franchisee recruitment. Whilst this collateral might still be relevant, it was created for your consumers and might not specifically connect with the audience you are trying to reach. Worse still, it might be outdated. Imagine what a potential franchisee might think: “If they can’t invest in communicating directly to people like me, how are they going to support me if I come on board?!”
So, think about these before you begin to produce your collateral:
- Who am I talking to?
- What messages are important to them?
- Why are they looking at becoming a franchisee?
- How do they like to receive their information?
- What style of writing would they most positively react to?
- What will get them to contact me for more information?
To keep your prospect’s attention your collateral needs to incorporate:
- Creativity: It’s the most influencing tool used by any self-respecting marketer. But on its own, it can do more harm than good. You need to get to the point quickly and have a strong call-to-action.
- Consistency: Keep the design of the collateral consistent with the overall brand – nothing that deviates too much, unless it is a sub-brand that you’re trying to create.
- Jargon: Keep jargon and industry terminology to a minimum. You want to inform people, not intimidate them with something they might not understand!
- Quality: Don’t cut corners with poor quality print and paper stock. This makes the overall result look shabby. After all, the collateral is what represents your organisation.
To find out more about creating collateral for your franchise recruitment drive, why not leave a comment, and we’ll reply to you.
