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In the complex world of franchise marketing, understanding the diverse needs and capabilities of franchisees is crucial for success. As you consider franchisee marketing needs, three distinct buckets emerge: “Do It Themselves”, “Do It With Them”, and “Do It For Them”. Identifying and catering to these groups, or personas, is a critical step for franchisors to scale marketing efforts while maintaining brand consistency. 

Do It Themselves (DIY) 

These proactive and tech-savvy franchisees crave control over their marketing. They are likely to embrace self-serve systems, robust dashboards, and brand-safe tools that allow for independent execution. However, there’s a risk of them going off-brand if not properly supported. 

Examples of what franchisors can provide to mitigate these risks include:

  • brand-approved templates
  • mobile preview tools
  • training on segmentation and automation

Do It With Them (DIWT)

Motivated but not yet confident, DIWT franchisees require guidance. They benefit from co-creation, training, templates, and approval workflows that help them develop effective strategies. The challenge lies in ensuring consistency and completeness. 

Franchisors can take actions like: 

  • offering co-created content calendars
  • implementing approval workflows 
  • providing regular coaching 

Do It For Them (DIF)

Hands-off with little to no marketing involvement, DIF franchisees require fully managed campaigns with some local customization. While this approach ensures brand consistency, there’s a risk of inactivity or poor execution if not monitored. 

Franchisors can prevent this by: 

  • maintaining regular communication
  • providing performance summaries
  • encouraging audience response and interaction

By understanding these personas, franchisors can scale their marketing efforts more effectively. A persona-based approach combines brand consistency with tailored support, which in turn enhances franchisee engagement and adoption. Ultimately, all of these factors drive local results and ROI.

Implementing a Persona-Based Approach

To successfully implement a persona-based marketing strategy, franchisors should consider developing a 30-60-90-day setup for each of the personas. This framework provides a structured plan for onboarding, building workflows, and optimizing marketing efforts for each persona.

Sample plan: DIY 

30 Days – Empower Setup

  • Self-guided onboarding 
  • Connect CRM/data sources
  • Access branded templates
  • Join user community

 

60 Days – Build Workflows

  • Create campaign calendar
  • Set up automation flows 
  • Segment lists 
  • A/B testing training

 

90 Days – Optimize & Scale

  • Analyze performance 
  • Replicate high-performing campaigns
  • Participate in advanced training
  • Begin local content contributions 

Sample plan: DIWT 

30 Days – Guided Setup

  • Live onboarding 
  • Help import data
  • Set up first campaign together
  • Review brand guidelines
  • Campaign approval process

 

60 Days – Co-Build Workflows

  • Co-create 2–3 workflows
  • Add personalization
  • Review and adjust CTAs
  • Schedule templated content 

90 Days – Support Execution

  • Review performance
  • Send second wave campaigns with less support
  • Encourage light automation use 
  • Offer monthly coaching

Sample plan: DIF 

30 Days – Set Up for Success

  • Set up account, contacts, and branding
  • Preload evergreen automations
  • Add local info (address, hours, contacts)
  • Confirm opt-in compliance
  • Inform franchisee of each activity

 

60 Days – Run Core Campaigns

  • Launch initial workflows on their behalf
  • Track performance
  • Share condensed metrics
  • Begin localized social content

 

90 Days – Maintain + Light Personalization

  • Maintain cadence with HQ-managed calendar
  • Solicit user-generated localized content
  • Encourage low-investment interaction 
  • Send quarterly performance summaries

By embracing the concept of franchisee personas and tailoring marketing strategies accordingly, franchisors can create a more effective, scalable, and personalized marketing approach that drives both brand growth and local success.

About Constant Contact 

Constant Contact simplifies digital marketing for franchisors with an all-in-one platform for email, social, landing pages, and more—plus SMS. Whether you’re an emerging brand or an established system, franchisors decide how much control to maintain at the top while giving franchisees flexibility for local marketing success.

Learn more at Constant Contact.

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