The Client
Franchising.com, a division of Franchise Update Media Group, connects potential franchisees with franchisors. The company helps those looking to open a business learn how to make the right franchise decision, be a successful franchisee and find the franchise opportunity that's right for them.
The Challenge
Franchising.com pairs investors with franchise chains (also known as franchisors). As a division of Franchise Update Media Group—one of the franchise industry's leading and most-recognized publications—Franchising.com had a good start in making a name for itself with current franchisors. But that was only half the battle. To be successful, Franchising.com needed to be seen as the authority, the go-to resource, for investors looking to open a new business. And due to a declining economy, that group was decreasing at an exponential rate. The time for a strategic online marketing plan was now.
The Tactics
Recognizing that communication between Franchising.com, potential franchisees and franchisors was critical, Oneupweb developed a two-prong attack that included an aggressive Natural Search Engine Optimization (SEO) campaign and social media marketing strategy. The SEO campaign focused on refining keywords and keyword phrases, as well as writing informative content that could be readily indexed by the search engines. Identifying Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn as the best social channels for this group, Oneupweb went to work creating custom profiles for Franchising.com, and helped Franchising.com build a large following of franchisors and franchisees. Oneupweb also helped Franchising.com maintain their conversations in these outlets, setting up RSS feeds and designing a social site map to help Franchising.com in their efforts.
The Results
- In the first five months of the Natural Search Engine Optimization (SEO) campaign, the number of potential investors who visited the Franchising.com site rose 22%.
- In those same five months, the number of potential investors who requested more information from Franchising.com on specific franchises—the exact reason Franchising.com had been created—increased 65%.
- In just one month after the Franchising.com Facebook page was created, the number of brand advocates who were requesting to receive news and information from Franchising.com rose 320%, and it didn't stop there. Seven months after the Facebook page launched, the number of brand advocates had risen 6880%.
- One month after Franchising.com launched a Twitter account, the number of interactions with their brand increased 139%. And seven months into the Twitter campaign, that number had risen 1480% with over 1400 brand advocates reading their posts daily and retweeting them just as often.
- The first month that the social media campaign launched, the total number of people who followed a link from one of Franchising.com's social profiles back to the corporate website was in the thousands. This means that the social media efforts, in just one month, brought more than 2,000 potential franchisors and potential clients to Franchising.com.
The Takeaway
Your prospects are looking for your services online. They're conversing with friends on Facebook, scouring blogs, consulting iPhone apps, using search engines and more. Are you there to greet them?
At Oneupweb, we'll ensure they find you—no matter where or when they're looking. We're relentless when it comes to connecting brands to their target audience with digital marketing. It spelled success for Franchising.com, and it can for your brand, too. Because everybody's looking for something special, and there’s nothing better than finding it.
