Leader in email marketing identifies proven techniques to help franchise businesses succeed
WALTHAM, Mass. – As the franchise industry gears up for the IFA’s 49th Annual Convention to exchange ideas, explore new opportunities and learn about new tools to grow their business, the economic outlook is a common concern. To help franchise businesses overcome these challenges, Constant Contact®, Inc. (NasdaqGM: CTCT), a leading provider of email marketing and online surveys for small organizations, is offering its top five marketing tips for franchise businesses to help them survive and thrive over the coming months. Constant Contact has a long history of serving and supporting franchise businesses with affordable, flexible solutions that fit their diverse email marketing needs.
“The franchise industry is a major driver of local business development, job creation and significant economic growth in many communities,” notes Kevin O’Brien, director of franchise development for Constant Contact. “Because of Constant Contact’s long history in providing email marketing tools to the franchise market, we understand what it takes for a franchise to succeed. Marketing is critical for franchises that want to maintain, or even grow their businesses today and will be a key tool for franchisees who wish to emerge from this economic period stronger and more successful than ever.”
Despite the current market uncertainty, there is still vast opportunity for growth in the franchise industry. Constant Contact recommends the following email marketing tips for franchise businesses to improve communications, boost customer loyalty and attract new and repeat business.
1. Define Your Objectives. Understanding what you want to achieve with an email campaign should determine your content, and thus, your success. A promotional campaign is the best format to drive more sales or registrations for your business. To create brand recognition and reinforce your expertise in your industry, educational newsletters are the way to go. The most effective email strategies are those that offer value to your subscribers: either in the form of educational content or in the form of promotions.
2. Build a quality list. A quality, permission-based list is a vital component of any email marketing campaign. Ask for permission at every customer touch point such as your website, on the phone, or at the register.
3. Listen to your customers. It is critical that franchises understand their customers’ needs. Easy-to-use online surveys allow franchises to ask specific questions about customers’ preferences, interests and satisfaction, arming franchise owners with valuable information they can use to improve their products and services to best meet the needs of their customer bases.
4. Send only relevant/targeted communications. Don’t alienate your customers by sending irrelevant communications. Find out about their specific interests when they sign up, and then, send only relevant content to those subscribers. Your customers will appreciate the extra effort.
5. Leverage your brand/empower your franchisees. A major benefit of the franchise model is brand recognition. Make the most of your brand and empower your franchisees with email templates that include approved, branded content. Templates allow franchisees to promote their local activities and events while ensuring brand consistency and increasing awareness.
“At i9 Sports, our brand is more than just a name, so it’s important that our franchisees communicate it consistently,” says Christy Atlas, vice president of marketing, i9 Sports. “We use Constant Contact to provide a branded template that all our franchisees can use to create their own email newsletters for their local leagues. This not only empowers our franchisees and helps them leverage our brand more effectively; it serves to remind our customers of our name as well as our commitment to quality and dedication to our customers.”
Constant Contact Fits Your Business
Email marketing and online surveys are two highly effective solutions that can help franchise businesses remain top of mind with their customers. The Constant Contact Franchise Program offers special account pricing for franchisees, branded templates that support both corporate and local content, a dedicated Franchise team and Constant Contact’s award-winning free personal coaching and support.
Kristy Bell, director of marketing and communications for Denver-based franchise Bark Busters, first learned of Constant Contact at an International Franchise Association conference. Shortly thereafter, Constant Contact attended Bark Busters’ own annual franchise conference to roll out the program to its franchise owners.
“It was a great way to begin the partnership,” Bell recalls. “We were prepared with ‘ready-to-go’ newsletter templates, and the Constant Contact representatives stayed for three days to answer questions and help people sign up.”
Bark Busters franchise owners love the time-savings and efficiency of Constant Contact’s email marketing solution. In addition to the ease-of-use and flexibility, Bell notes that Constant Contact offers the “best customer service of any third-party vendor I’ve ever worked with. Our franchise owners are amazed by the level and quality of their customer service.”
Constant Contact at IFA Annual Convention
Franchises attending the IFA’s 49th Annual Convention are invited to stop by booth #509 to speak with Constant Contact’s franchise experts. Also at the conference, Constant Contact’s Kevin O’Brien will host a discussion on email marketing at the Technology Summit on Sunday, February 15th and address the issues associated with “Maximizing your marketing budget by leveraging your existing customers” at the Supplier Forum Business Solutions Roundtable on Tuesday, February 17th.
For more information on the Constant Contact Franchise Program, please visit http://www.ConstantContact.com/franchise or call 1.866.899.3710.
About Constant Contact, Inc.
Constant Contact, Inc. is a leading provider of email marketing and online survey tools for small organizations, including small businesses, associations, and nonprofits. Launched in 1998, Constant Contact has more than 250,000 customers worldwide today. To learn more, please visit www.constantcontact.com or call (781) 472-8100.
