Franchise Digital Marketing: Email and SMS 101

While all marketing has its challenges, franchise marketers have unique obstacles to overcome when trying to build the best possible franchise digital marketing strategy.

For one, franchise marketers have to balance multi-location marketing all while staying on brand. They also have to personalize their marketing for specific shoppers or locations and balance marketing with everything else that needs to get done to help a franchise run smoothly.

Investing in digital marketing and marketing automation is a simple way to balance all these challenges while creating an efficient franchise digital marketing strategy.

More specifically, email marketing and SMS marketing are two of the most affordable ways to get your brand or product in front of potential customers wherever they happen to be.

Let's take a look at what email marketing and SMS marketing can do, as well as the best ways for you to leverage them to create a marketing strategy you can be proud of for your franchise.

Email marketing remains one of the most effective franchise digital marketing channels, offering direct access to customers' inboxes and providing a platform for personalized communication. For franchise owners, leveraging email marketing brings several key advantages:

1. Building Customer Relationships: Emails allow franchise owners to nurture relationships with customers beyond a single transaction. By delivering valuable content, promotions, and updates, emails can foster trust and loyalty over time and lead to future purchases.
2. Driving Sales and Promotions: Email campaigns are instrumental in promoting special offers, new products or services, and seasonal promotions. Franchise owners can tailor messages to specific customer segments or franchise locations, increasing the likelihood of conversions.
3. Brand Consistency: Consistent branding across all franchise locations is crucial for maintaining a unified brand image. Email marketing allows franchise owners to reinforce brand identity through design, messaging, and tone regardless of who is running the campaign or what location it is supporting.
4. Measurable Results: Email platforms provide robust analytics that enable franchise owners to track open rates, click-through rates, conversions, and other metrics. This data-driven approach allows for the continuous optimization of email campaigns and other marketing efforts..
5. Cost-Effectiveness: Compared to traditional marketing methods, email marketing offers a high return on investment (ROI) with relatively low costs. Franchise owners can reach a large audience at a fraction of the cost of print or TV advertising, Plus, it's much more likely a prospective customers see an email in their inbox than traditional advertising.

Email marketing 101 can be overwhelming, especially if you're just diving into digital marketing for the first time. To maximize the effectiveness of email marketing campaigns, franchise owners should consider the following best practices:

• Segmentation: Divide email lists into segments based on demographics, purchase history, or engagement levels. This allows for targeted messaging that resonates with different customer groups.
• Personalization: Address recipients by name and tailor content based on their preferences and behaviors. Personalized emails have higher engagement rates and foster stronger connections with customers.
• Mobile Optimization: Given the prevalence of mobile devices, ensure that emails are optimized for mobile viewing. Responsive design and concise, scannable content are essential for capturing the attention of mobile users.
• Clear Call to Action (CTA): Every email should include a clear and compelling CTA that prompts recipients to take action, whether it's making a purchase, visiting a store, or subscribing to a newsletter.
• A/B Testing: Experiment with different subject lines, content formats, and send times to identify what resonates best with your audience. A/B testing helps optimize campaign performance over time so you always know what get people's people to open your emails and click through.

In conjunction with email marketing, SMS (Short Message Service), or text, marketing offers franchise owners another powerful tool for engaging customers in real time. Here’s why SMS marketing is indispensable:

1. Instantaneous Communication: SMS messages have an unparalleled open rate, with the majority being read within minutes of receipt. This immediacy makes SMS ideal for time-sensitive promotions and alerts.
2. High Engagement: SMS messages are concise and direct, making them highly effective for delivering urgent messages or exclusive offers that demand immediate attention.
3. Opt-in and Permission-Based: Customers opt-in to receive SMS messages, indicating a higher level of interest and engagement compared to other forms of marketing. This permission-based approach ensures messages are welcomed rather than intrusive.
4. Complementary to Email: SMS and email marketing strategies can work synergistically to reinforce messages and increase overall campaign effectiveness. For example, an email announcing a sale can be followed up with an SMS reminder closer to the event or just before it ends. You can also send a quick text message to remind your customers to expect an email from you. This helps to increase the chances that your email will be opened and read.
5. Trackable Results: Like email marketing, SMS platforms provide analytics that track delivery rates, open rates, and link clicks. Franchise owners can use this data to refine their SMS campaigns and improve ROI.
6. Drive Email Engagement: If you notice low email open and click-through rates, send a quick text message to encourage your customers to open and engage with your email.
7. Exclusive Offers and Discounts: Send exclusive offers and discounts to your SMS subscribers that are unavailable to your email subscribers. Not only will more people opt-in to SMS marketing, but this will help increase engagement and loyalty among your SMS subscribers.

Even if you're not tech-savvy, using an SMS marketing service will allow you to run several SMS campaigns at once. Here are some best practices for how to harness the full potential of SMS marketing.

• Timing and Frequency: Be mindful of the timing and frequency of SMS messages to avoid overwhelming recipients. Make sure to get and respect customer preferences regarding when they prefer to receive messages.
• Conciseness: SMS messages have a character limit (usually 160 characters), so ensure messages are clear, concise, and directly convey the intended message or offer.
• Value Proposition: Offer recipients something of value, such as exclusive discounts, event invitations, or important updates. This incentivizes customers to remain subscribed and engaged.
• Compliance and Privacy: Adhere to regulations governing SMS marketing, such as obtaining explicit consent from customers before sending messages. Respect customer privacy and provide opt-out options.
• Integration with CRM: Integrate SMS marketing with your franchise's Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to manage contacts, track interactions, and personalize messages based on customer data.

While both email and SMS marketing offer distinct advantages, their true power lies in their integration into a cohesive marketing strategy. By synchronizing these channels and aligning them with broader business objectives, franchise owners can create a seamless customer experience that drives engagement and loyalty.

Here’s how integration can be achieved:

1. Cross-Promotion: Include links to social media, email newsletters, or promotional landing pages in SMS messages and vice versa. Cross-promotion encourages customers to interact across multiple platforms, reinforcing brand visibility.
2. Lifecycle Marketing: Map out customer journeys and deliver relevant content at each stage of the lifecycle. For instance, welcome emails can be followed by personalized SMS messages introducing loyalty programs or upcoming events.
3. Automation and Personalization: Utilize marketing automation tools to trigger personalized emails and SMS messages based on customer actions or milestones. Automation streamlines processes and ensures timely, relevant communication.
4. Feedback and Surveys: Use email and SMS to gather customer feedback, conduct surveys, or solicit reviews. This not only shows customers that their opinions matter but also provides valuable insights for improving products and services and is a great way to improve your local SEO.
5. Analytics and Optimization: Continuously monitor performance metrics across both channels to identify trends, strengths, and areas for improvement. Use A/B testing and data analysis to refine messaging and maximize ROI.

Email marketing and SMS marketing are indispensable tools for franchise owners seeking to enhance customer engagement, drive sales, and foster brand loyalty. By leveraging these channels effectively—through segmentation, personalization, timely messaging, and strategic integration—franchise owners can cultivate strong relationships with customers across multiple touchpoints.

Moreover, the measurable nature of digital marketing allows for continuous improvement and adaptation to evolving consumer preferences.

As technology and consumer behaviors continue to evolve, franchise owners must remain agile in their marketing strategies. Embracing email and SMS marketing not only positions franchises for growth but also enables them to stay ahead in a competitive marketplace.

By investing in these digital marketing channels and adhering to best practices, franchise owners can unlock new opportunities for success and build a loyal customer base that supports long-term sustainability and profitability.

If you've read all this, you might be a little overwhelmed. Yes, email marketing and SMS marketing make sense, but how do you implement it into your franchise digital marketing strategy?

That's where ActiveCampain HQ comes in.

ACHQ is a franchise marketers' one-stop shop for marketing automation and digital marketing. With it, you can easily migrate your current email list, set up email and SMS campaigns, and begin integrating both together.

ACHQ also makes it easy to keep brand consistency while also personalizing your promotional material for specific locations and customers with synced templates and shared user accounts. Plus, you'll get a full analytics dashboard, testing capabilities, location tagging, and so much more.

Click hear to learn more.