The right marketing plan can make all the difference between success and failure in growing your brand through franchising your business, as well as in any other business venture.

Here's how to do it:

1. Attend a franchise exhibition

Attending a franchise exhibition is one of the most effective ways to market your franchise, especially if you are a new franchisor.

As you walk around, you can find out what other franchises are doing to promote their business and gain marketing ideas and knowledge from them. You can also hear firsthand about the challenges they have faced and how they overcame them.

In addition, you will be able to see how your competitors go about recruiting potential new franchisees at their stands, which can help you learn and understand the main objections a potential franchisee might have and, most importantly, how to overcome them.

The best part about attending a franchise exhibition is that it is completely free to attend. This can be an excellent way to decide whether you would want to pay for marketing at a show for your franchise in the future to get a good idea of the traction a show gets before purchasing a stand to market your business.

This allows you to get the most bang for your buck out of your marketing budget.

2. Social media marketing

You are already ahead of the game if you have a strong social media presence for your business.

Social media marketing is a great way to reach potential franchisees, and it also doesn't require much time or investment as you are tapping into an already existing audience you have built up over the time of running your business.

You can do this by regularly engaging with your followers and sharing posts that give information about your franchise and why it's an excellent opportunity. If you have already signed up, a few franchisees consider even sharing franchisee success stories since this can boost the credibility of your brand.

For example, if a franchisee exceeds their earning projects, all these stories can be good for PR and increase trust, allowing you to sign up new franchisees on a regular basis.

3. Use a franchise directory to generate recruitment leads
These days there are many franchise directories that list franchise opportunities available in South Africa for a small monthly fee.

These websites allow you to get your franchise opportunity in front of relevant eyes, allowing you to recruit franchisees as soon as possible.

4. Email marketing
Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to market your franchise.

Email marketing is so popular because it's a low-cost, high-impact form of communication that can be used to connect with all types of audiences. You can use email marketing to:

  • promote your business opportunity
  • chase up potential recruitment leads, and
  • answer any queries from potential franchisees.

5. Content marketing
Content marketing is one of the best ways to get your franchise opportunity in front of potential franchisees.

It's all about creating a valuable piece of content that will interest, engage and educate them about what your franchise has to offer and why it is unique.

When you publish this information on your own website blog or specific franchise recruitment page, you're letting people know they can find more helpful content about your franchise opportunity on your site, which will bring more leads regarding your franchise for you to follow up.

For more information, visit www.franchise-opportunities.co.za. You can also follow Franchise Opportunities on Facebook or on Twitter.