2019-09-01 Entrepreneur Magazine

(Darren Dugan) #1

Grow Your Franchise


Brand in The Digital Age...


Before It’s Too Late


A Q&A with Charlie Adams


of FranSuite about why


modernizing your digital


marketing strategy is the


key to franchise growth.


Working with hundreds of franchise clients
to gain a keen understanding of franchise
business pain points allowed Charlie Adams
and his team at PwC to build a digital-fi rst
solution that can help franchises start, run
and grow their businesses.


FranSuite is an all-in-one digital platform
that harnesses the power of the franchise
network to improve brand consistency and
implement digital marketing that drives
real results. Here, Adams talks about how
missing opportunities to leverage digital
are putting everything from better sales to
increased customer loyalty at risk.


What are franchises doing wrong when
it comes to branding?


Managing a clear brand voice across multiple
platforms is where many brands fail. Managing
consistency in a franchise structure is hard—
really hard. Customers make choices about
buying products and services based on how
they identify and connect with your brand.
There’s a huge opportunity to use digital
channels to cultivate a distinctive voice, and
too many franchises are missing the mark.


Can social media really help
increase sales?
Social media provides a huge opportunity
to connect with customers 24/7. More than
a third of the customers we asked said they
use social media regularly when determining
what to purchase. At the same time, there are
more platforms than ever where consumers
can get recommendations and reviews
their purchases. Again, this is where brands
that can manage a consistent voice across
multiple platforms will win.

How should franchises think about
the marketing funnel?
Digital marketing is often an answer for driving
new customers, and it inherently provides a
way to monitor success because customer
interest and actions are tracked online.
Franchises should generate programs that
address customer needs, ranging from ones
that drive awareness for those that may not
yet be familiar with your goods or services, as
well as ones that drive very specifi c actions for
customers that are ready to purchase. When
customers move down the marketing funnel,
franchises fi nd new customers and more
revenue.

What’s your advice when it comes to
investing in new marketing technology?
Focus on technology that helps you take the
complexity out of other processes. Anything
you pick shouldn’t be hard to use. Given the
pace of change in automation and web-based
platforms, even the most advanced tech can

now be accessible from your phone, from
anywhere. New solutions are emerging to help
turn data from your sales and customers into
insights, so you can take action quickly to
ensure you’re moving customers closer and
closer to a sale or a visit to your location.

How do franchises know
what’s working?
Rich data exists, but many times, it’s
distributed throughout the network in
unusable pockets. Data is being created
and collected every day by franchisees, but
most of it is lost because it’s not captured or
shared appropriately. Find a tool or a process
that brings data from each location together
to derive insights and measure what you’re
doing. The days of throwing marketing dollars
into a program and not tracking results
instantaneously are over. Double down on
what is working and stop what is not. Tapping
into the data and applying that to your actions
is how a 10-unit brand will grow into a 1,000-
unit brand.

© 2019 PwC. All rights reserved. PwC refers to the US member fi rm or one of its subsidiaries or affi liates, and may sometimes refer to the PwC network. Each member fi rm is a separate
legal entity. Please see http://www.pwc.com/structure for further details. This content is for general information purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for consultation with
professional advisors.

For more information about how FranSuite
by PwC can help your franchise,
visitfransuite.pwc.com
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