The International Franchise Association’s IFA’s 2022 Annual Convention – franchising’s biggest event for business and personal entrepreneurial growth – is right around the corner! Featuring informative speaker sessions, networking opportunities and more, this year’s convention will be held in San Diego, California from February 25th to March 1st. Among the sponsors attending are some of the top marketing resources for franchises, and we’re giving them a deeper dive in this week’s post. 

Marketing is the lifeblood of any business, and in the competitive franchise space maybe even more important than ever. Studies have shown that brands that stop marketing see revenue fall by 16% in their first year, and 20% in their second. If you’re a new or smaller brand, these figures are even worse. But this data simply reinforces what we all know – we need to get the word out about our businesses as early and as often as we can. And in a world of proliferating channels, it can be difficult to know exactly how.  

As an example, a study by Marketing Evolution found that before buying in-store, 70 percent of smartphone owners use their devices to conduct further research. The study also found that online shoppers are 80 percent more likely to visit a physical store location if they can view their inventory online and 88 percent of consumers on smartphones who search for a store on Google Maps visit a related store within a week. 

Data like this reinforces how important local search responsiveness is to franchises. Below are the top five franchise marketing resources ready to help in 2022. 

AnswerConnect 

For the past 25 years, AnswerConnect has been providing 24/7 live call answering and virtual reception services to help franchises respond to and engage with customers while maintaining brand tonality. Based in the U.S., AnswerConnect provides industry-specific reception experts to franchises in industries including legal, healthcare, technology, property, financial, marketing, media, and more. To learn more about AnswerConnect, click here. 

Franchise Update Media 

Franchise Update Media delivers content marketing, data research and industry analysis through a number of magazines, websites, conferences, eNewsletters, online training programs and more serving the franchise industry. The company’s brand engages with more than 3 million unique visitors online and reaches more than 10,000 multi-unit franchisee readers and 6,000 franchisor readers. To learn more about Franchise Update Media, click here. 

Scorpion 

Scorpion provides marketing technology and services for both franchise and non-franchise businesses. Scorpion offers creative design, lead generation, marketing strategy, and planning guidance, as well as tools to help franchises operate local marketing efforts such as SEO, review outreach, advertising, email marketing, social media and more. To learn more about Scorpion, click here. 

Silvercrest Advertising Inc. 

Silvercrest Advertising Inc. is a marketing and media platform for brands that specializes in the multi-unit and franchise categories. The company’s marketing portal, Local Marketing Automation Platform, helps franchises market their brand on both a national and franchisee level through social media, digital marketing and paid media. To learn more about Silvercrest Advertising Inc., click here. 

Unleashed Brands 

Unleashed Brands focuses its marketing support on STEAM-targeted franchises, using a marketing platform and franchise-specific business development strategies to help these companies accelerate growth and help owners focus on the day-to-day tasks of running a franchise. To learn more about a franchise opportunity with Unleashed Brands, click here. 

 

Sources: 

Marketing Evolution 

PRNewsWire 

MarketingScience 

 

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