FIVE STEP TO E-MAIL MARKETING SUCCESS

E-mail marketing has emerged as a powerful tool that facilitates customer communication, incremental sales and raises bottom-line results in the most immediate times. Properly put in place, e-mail marketing can be a very powerful weapon in a marketing and sales arsenal, especially for an economy that is slowing down for many franchise systems.

By Boris Bugarski

Imagine having a database of customers that have proven to spend money with the franchise company or customers that have raised their hands and volunteered to receive your marketing messages. Many companies have taken the easy task of asking their customers’ permission to send them e-mail and putting it into high gear to create more sales.

Creating a successful program takes time to plan and to try to “productize” a solution for franchisees, as they have a choice between what the franchisor may pay for or endorse or what they have already found.

To create a successful e-mail marketing program for the company and its franchisees, there must be a collective pool of agreement on how to roll out the program, including responsibilities. A system must be created at the top level to ensure that the franchisor has rights-to-send campaigns, including watching over the very brand they built; and the franchisee has rights-to-send and a solid management decision over local, neighborhood marketing tactics.

If the two factors raised above are not in agreement, then the franchise system will find itself with franchisees that will go it alone. This gives the franchisee 100 percent control over customer communication and the ability to send campaigns without the sense of brand management. In addition, this may lead to watering down the brand with generic templates that are offered with most e-mail marketing providers. Furthermore, the franchisor is locked out of the e-mail picture and can not enforce, or watch over, what is sent and how it looks.

Here are five must “dos” to make e-mail marketing a success:

1. Agree on roles, responsibilities and control: Quite a few franchisors find themselves in the awkward position of having franchisees control their own local marketing efforts 100 percent, including e-mail marketing. They use Web-based software (software available online as a service) to manage their own e-mail marketing efforts, equipped with generic templates that usually don’t adhere to brand standards.

Gather franchisees together and decide on roles and responsibilities of e-mail marketing. Which parties are responsible for paying and what are their responsibilities to the brand and system. Is it coming out of advertising or marketing funds? Should the co-op pay for it? Or can it be split between the corporate office and the franchisees?

Let them know the company’s expectations on using other service providers that the franchise organization doesn’t endorse. This may be allowed to be appended to the company’s local marketing policies. Or, provide them with an e-mail marketing service provider that meets the company’s standards; one that can guide franchisees with design or custom templates that the franchisor approves of–designs that meet brand standards.

Also, let franchisees know the organization may be willing to look into partially funding their e-mail marketing efforts through a co-op, franchise fees or other means, in consideration for having the ability to send campaigns to their customers on behalf of the corporate office. Another rule of thumb is to partner with an endorse provider.

2. Endorse or Choose a Service Provider: Before franchisees choose a provider, don’t hesitate to locate an e-mail marketing provider that the franchise company can endorse to its franchisees. This will help the organization devise a system that gives it and its franchisees control with brand standards in mind; a complete e-mail marketing system that offers control mechanisms for design so that franchisees don’t run amuck with generic templates.

There are many types of providers for e-mail marketing. Be sure to choose one that offers a complete system for franchises. There are software providers and full-service e-mail marketing companies. The software is a do-it-yourself approach, which may leave a company with less control. The full-service company does everything for both the franchisor and its franchisees. Do the research and find a solution provider that has a complete system that is complimentary to the company’s goals.

Know that the service provider is franchise friendly; that is, a provider that can duplicate a brand-controlled system for each franchisee, fully equipped with corporate approval, branded templates or a pre-approved design library. This is to ensure that all franchisees, including corporate, are on the same system, using the same design library and keeping it as consistent as the franchise system itself.

3. Devise a Communications Plan: The trick with all marketing is to let everyone across the system, including front-end employees, those that interact with customers, know what is being communicated to the end customer. This is very important, especially with e-mails that come from co-ops or corporate-wide e-mail sent to all lists.

If the franchise company has an e-mail marketing system that allows the corporate office to send an e-mail across all franchisee lists, then be sure to communicate the message to the franchisee level, and be sure each franchisee communicates it to the front-line employees. Although typically these e-mails are not coupons, they are a great source of new sales from promoting new menu items and other promotions.

Additionally, try to communicate a marketing calendar to franchisees. Devise a quarterly or yearly calendar and let them know in advance what promotions are on the horizon, and what day and time the franchisor intends to send an e-mail to their customers. This will ensure that the franchisor doesn’t have e-mails being sent to customers too close to one another or on the same day. This will also let franchisees know what is being communicated and when.

4. Create Buy-In: In many cases, franchisors are just looking at the possibility of moving to an e-mail marketing system. In those cases, many franchisees are not doing any e-mail marketing as well.

If it is necessary to move toward e-mail marketing, the company needs to sell it and create buy-in across the franchise system. This is a very important step as each franchisee who buys into the recommended e-mail marketing system will accept it with vigor and give it his or her best.

Many times when franchisees don’t buy into e-mail marketing it fails, or they don’t put any effort against the dollars that are spent, even when they know it is coming from advertising funds or marketing royalties. It is critical to get them to understand why it will work. Communicate the expected benefits of e-mail marketing to customers for both the franchisee and the system as a whole. Give franchisees the plan and describe how the franchise company intends to use e-mail marketing to increase sales.

5. Set Goals and Measure Success: Setting goals is imperative for success, especially with e-mail marketing. Franchisees may not know what to expect, how to roll it out, or how to make e-mail marketing a true marvel. A provider should help devise a system with goals, including the measurement tools to compare each franchisee side by side, from e-mail list growth monthly to open-rate comparisons for the franchisor’s e-mail send.

These five key steps will help franchise systems get off to a great, successful start with e-mail marketing. The true goal should be to organize and devise a complete e-mail marketing system that is consistent throughout the franchise company and each franchisee. Companies want to have an e-mail marketing program in place that is proven at the local level and that offers more than just e-mail marketing capabilities, including data-entry services, enrollment-card production and other services that will really take administrative burdens off of franchisees.

The success of an e-mail marketing program can come early with planning, setting goals and implementing good, strong follow-through from each participant. Again, create buy-in from as many franchisees as possible with an approved system. And when it comes down to costs, understand that e-mail marketing can provide the highest return on investment when compared to other direct, local marketing tactics.

Finally, remember e-mail marketing isn’t about just offering another marketing tactic to the organization’s franchisees. It can be a lucrative, long-term strategy that ensures brand consistency, regular customer communication, and ultimately stronger sales month after month for each franchisee and the system as a whole. Make it fun and easy for every franchisee to get involved. Keep it simple, consistent and be sure to know what it’s going to take to really make e-mail marketing a huge success.

Posted: 15/01/09 | Category: Franchise Marketing