Franchise Update Magazine Issue IV, 2014 | Page 51

be executing on. What surprised you most about your research findings? Fewer than half of the brands surveyed have mobile-friendly websites, and only 30 percent used clickto-call technology. While brands have started to notice the importance of social media, they are not truly using Google+, which can drastically help brands on the local level; about 40 percent of the brands surveyed have fewer than five reviews on their local Google+ pages. What are franchisors/development teams doing well? Franchise development teams are doing a great job with getting their franchise sites to show up on the first search results page in Google, making it easier for people in the market for a prospect to find them. What do franchisors/development teams need to improve? Franchise development teams aren’t doing a great job of leveraging existing social channels as an additional outlet to promote their franchise opportunity. Fewer than 30 percent of brands have a franchise opportunity page on Facebook, and only 19 percent of brands have a franchise lead generation form. Technology, such as video, is also underutilized on franchise development sites. Video has proven to be engaging, yet fewer than 39 percent of brands use videos on their franchise sites. The other area for improvement is to create a more guided path through the franchise sites: only 20 percent of them used a unique starting point and fewer than 30 percent had a step-by-step process of learning. Is there still a wide disparity in how franchisors are using social media? While brands in the franchise category are joining more social networks, they are not as active on them as they should be. The number of franchisors responding to reviews in a public way has doubled year over year, but it is still at only 13 percent, leaving much room for improvement. We’re not sure if this is an intentional lack of oversight because of limited resources, or the result of not having access to the local listings where the reviews are left. Both issues can be easily addressed. Based on your research, what would you recommend that franchisors/development teams change or do differently? They need to devote more attention to communicating with consumers and potential franchisees where they spend most of their time: on social channels. The communication from the brand needs to be engaging and showcase what makes them different from other brands in their category. n Grow Market Lead Mystery Shoppers ISSUE 1 OF 20 5 1 ADVERTISING DEADLINE JANUARY 13TH, 20 5 1 Call [phone] ext. 202 - or email [email protected] to reserve your ad space! Franchiseupdate ISSUE I V, 2014  49