Franchise Update Magazine Issue II, 2014 | Page 56

Grow Market Lead

International
BY WILLIAM AND
HEATHER EDWARDS

Going Global – Socially
Social media use varies by country

I

ncreasingly, U.S. franchisors are
using social media sites to build
brand awareness, attract new customers, focus marketing on their
ideal customer demographic, and even
to recruit new franchisees. In the U.S.,
the primary social media platforms used
for these purposes are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Foursquare.
Some of these sites are also important
marketing opportunities in other countries. This is especially true in emerging
markets with fast-growing numbers of
middle-class consumers who we want to
be customers at our franchise outlets in
their countries.
This article examines social media use
by the franchise sector in the U.S. and
in other countries where U.S. franchises
are growing. We will see some major
differences in social media use outside
the U.S. and Canada.
In December, Franchise Update Sales
Report ran an article about a survey on
social media marketing benchmarks that
clearly showed the pluses and minuses of
social media for franchise businesses. On
the plus side, this tool can build brand
awareness and focus a consumer on what
you specifically want them to see about
your brand. Challenges include maintaining and managing the content, using
high-quality videos online, and marketing to the right customers.
An April 2013 article on the role of
social media in small businesses (read
franchises) on the Fox Business website
stated that more than 25 percent of small

businesses plan to invest more in social
media, and that 40 percent of the 1,200
small businesses polled say they have already seen a return on their investment
in social media.
Writing on FranSocial in February,

Global Internet
penetration is
35 percent,
social media use
26 percent, and
mobile phone
penetration
93 percent of
the population.
Paul Segreto stated that the ROI of
social media for franchisors is building relationships and a consumer community. Social media allows customers
and potential customers to see how a
business works and builds a customer
experience, if done properly. An article
in Entrepreneur magazine following the
2012 IFA convention stressed the value
of social media to franchise brands such
as Painting with a Twist and Nothing
Bundt Cakes to get their message out to
customers. Since then the value of this
marketing tool seems to have grown
exponentially in the U.S.

Outside the U.S., the use of social
media is both similar and different. The
website wearesocial.sg indicates that of
the 7.1 billion people on this planet, there
are “only” 2.5 billion Internet users, 1.9
billion social media users, and 6.6 billion mobile phone subscribers. Viewed
another way, global Internet penetration is 35 percent, social media use 26
percent, and mobile phone penetration
93 percent of the population.
Facebook. Seventy-five percent of
Facebook users are outside the U.S.
About 50 percent of the population in
Australia, New Zealand, Dubai, Singapore, Turkey, Chile, Canada, and Taiwan
use Facebook. More than 25 percent of
the population in Indonesia, Eastern
Europe, South Korea, Thailand, Brazil,
Peru, and Germany is on Facebook. In
the U.S., 55 percent of the population
are on Facebook.
YouTube. Eighty percent of YouTube
traffic comes from outside the U.S., and
this social media venue is localized across
61 languages. The U.S. is not even in
the top 10 countries for YouTube use.
In many emerging countries, broadband Internet is much more available on
mobile devices (largely smartphones)
than in a “fixed” mode in businesses and
homes (see chart). Cellular service and
texting are fairly expensive, bu Ё͵