Since most franchise owners are used to mail and phone advertising it is not easy for them to adapt to the social media marketing campaigns for their business. With little time at hand these tips can come in handy if you are a busy franchise owner and want to grab the attention of millions who are on social media and can directly impact your revenue bottom line.

Chances are that your corporate office might have training programs to get you up to speed on managing your own social media campaigns but in case you run a franchise which has been planning on adding this training but not quite made it there then begin with Twitter and Facebook presence. Log in to Twitter.com and Facebook.com and add your local franchise account – note it must be different from the main franchise name in case you are a part of a larger chain of franchise. Also it is a good idea to check with your corporate policy of there are some set guidelines on social media campaigns.

Also since we all know how busy managing a franchise can get, it is a good idea to set apart a budget to hire an external service / agency who can oversee your social media campaigns. There are quite a few around, Google search might help here.

Here’s a fair enough motivator statement from an article on Smartblog on Restaurants titled: Franchise Spotlight: How KFC measures its social media ROI which strengthens the reason for franchise owners to consider social media strategies to increase revenue and attract new customers:

Ogilvy released study findings that consumers who were exposed exclusively to social media ads for KFC were seven times more likely to spend more than the average consumer.

And here’s how you can implement some marketing campaigns in this direction:

  • Deal of the Week – keep the customers posted with a deal of the week through these social media channels. Run the deals a few times a day daily to ensure most customers can access this information since log in time are different for all.
  • Run small contests with incentives to increase your fan base. For example, you have a new dish get the picture online and ask your followers to name this dish, the one who’s more creative or apt gets a… (your choice on what you can offer!).
  • Green branding advertising – If you are environmentally conscious and would like to spread the word to the world on how your franchise is adapting sustainable practices and reducing the carbon footprints then social media information sharing on your actions (and using QR codes to lead customers to your info online) are quick and easy ways to receive kudos. Customer loyalty increases and your brand gets credibility. All these easily translate to an increase in revenue over time.

Whatever be your franchise and your networking skills know that social media campaigns are catching on fast and it is about time to grab attention through this effective marketing technique and reach out to the millions of customers who are happily and tirelessly playing around with their Smartphones and would rather not look up to see the billboards. It is a customer preference and not a choice after all.

What’s your franchise and what’s the new strategy that you plan to implement in the social media space?