Ways to Market Your Franchise During Coronavirus
Sometimes it’s hard to see the forest through the trees and we are definitely stuck in the trees right now with the coronavirus pandemic. Hopefully, we are seeing the peak of this thing and a light at the end of the tunnel is starting to show. It seems like good news is emerging….or at least less bad news. Once this clears and the market begins to rebound, much like in 2009, there will be a lot of opportunities coming out of this and definitely a lot of people needing to find businesses/income opportunities when this clears up. Things like real estate, cost of goods, supplies and other items that businesses need will be less costly and there will be opportunities emerging in many markets. As many smart investor folks have said in the past, the time to buy is when everyone else is running.
In the meantime, here is what I would recommend doing to market your franchise and continue to create awareness for your franchise system offering:
- Create content- anything about the business, the brand and the industry, value to the customer, why your franchise brand makes such a difference for people and why your franchise brand will be even more relevant post-coronavirus. These can be used to create traffic now for people looking at businesses and ideas along with being great tools to market and sell with after things break free again and bounce back.
- Blogs – short, sweet and focused on individual points to capture attention and focus on one or two things which are relevant to the business you are offering.
- Articles – these are more extensive and will be lengthier, something that focuses on a topic and has a story feel to it.
- Write-ups – More quick posts, which can be used in LinkedIn, etc.
- Create Videos – this is big now…and can be done really easily on a computer or phone.
- Write a script and come up with a focus for the presentation, make sure there is a focus to the overall talk track.
- Make it fun and engaging!
- Have your contact information included in it.
- Post and engage online.
- People are really active on social media and online right now.
- Alignable and others are good venues to post about the company, etc.
- People are really active on social media and online right now.
- Virtual Tradeshows – every tradeshow company in the franchise industry has had to pivot with the issue of not being allowed to congregate – the answer is Virtual Tradeshow events which are new, but seem to be getting a strong foothold already. The following groups are doing these now:
- The Franchise Consulting Company – Great American Franchise Expo
- The Franchise Expo – National Events
- MFV
People have a lot of time on their hands right now and are spending more time on the internet than ever before. Take the opportunity to connect with them, share hope and vision, but do it with humility and a sense of empathy for those who are suffering. We’ve been through tough times before and every time emerged better and stronger than we were going into the downturn, there is no reason why this won’t be the case with the Coronavirus-driven downturn.
For more information on how to market your franchise during Coronavirus, contact Franchise Marketing Systems at www.FMSFranchise.com