Franchise Update Magazine Issue II, 2016 | Page 17
How PR and Content Marketing Influence the Decisions of
Your Franchise Leads
Public relations has stood
Public relations is no lonthe test of time as one of the
ger a luxury – it’s a critical
CLIENT: QSR franchise featured on Fox & Friends
single most powerful tools
need. Recently, a marked
for franchise lead generashift has taken place in the
tion, and content marketfranchise sales process that
45-50
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ing has recently fueled the
has triggered franchisors to
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137
franchise sales PR engine.
put even more emphasis on
After 25 years of working
PR and related content that
92
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with franchisors to grow their
can be found by potential
systems, the Fishman PR
franchisees.
WHERE
DID
THE
TRAFFIC
COME
FROM?
name has become synonyIncreasingly, candidates
mous with franchise sales.
are conducting more self-diOver two decades, we’ve
rected research. They scour
45%
ĉƖŢ
11%
6%
direct
referrals
social media
grown to be the largest PR
the Internet to educate themfirm in franchising, expandselves about their potential
ing our leadership team CLIENT: Educational services concept
investment before taking the
CLIENT: Entertainment concept
featured in Inc. magazine
üå±ƋƚųåÚĜĹBƚþĹčƋŅĹ{ŅŸƋ
and staff and our services
step of contacting a sales
to include content marketrep or filling out a lead form.
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ing solutions. We not only
The “story” they find online
1.4 MIL
drive third-party validation
is almost always the result
for your franchise brand
of PR and content marketvia traditional media coving efforts – or lack thereof.
erage, but also give your
An active and progressive
MESSAGE: Millennials in franchising
MESSAGE: Going from zero to $20-million hero
brand a voice by making
content
marketing strategy
OUTCOME: 30 New franchise leads
OUTCOME: Over 200 franchise leads in 24 hours
you a “publisher” of your
is the key to influencing the
nity. Sometimes, the media coverage decision-making process of your leads.
own powerful, educational content.
Today, we are trusted by more fran- is what drives an existing prospect That’s why Fishman PR complements
chise brands than any other firm. Hun- to cross the finish line with a signed its traditional PR by creating informadreds of franchisors have documented agreement.
tive blogs, e-books, white papers, inEarned media placements resulting fographics, franchisee testimonials and
case studies that correlate our secured
media coverage and creative content to from PR can take multiple forms:
email nurture campaigns.
• An online feature story on a busifranchise leads and deals. We’ve closed
It takes a professional PR firm experimore franchise sales deals through our ness website profiling a successful enced in franchising to truly understand
media coverage and content market- franchisee
how to create the right media coverage
•
A
national
TV
or
radio
interview
ing strategies than any other PR firm
and online content to drive leads and
with a franchisor executive on a trend- franchise sales. Over 25 years, Fishin franchising.
When a client looks at their franchise ing industry topic
man PR has grown in size and depth
• A local business journal covering of knowledge, with a reputation and
sales at the end of a year, deals closed
due to PR far exceed the cost of our the expansion of a franchise brand into connections to the media that no other
a new market
retainer fee, many times over.
firm in the space can claim.
• A trade magazine article focusing
Here’s the scenario: After seeing a
We continue to invest in staff trainlocal or national article or TV segment on a brand’s best practices in operations ing, media databases, social influencer
• Positive sentiment via blog reviews identification platforms and other techabout a brand, a prospect becomes
intrigued. The media coverage inspires about the franchise brand’s products nology to stay on trend. History and a
them to research the company. Dur- or services, which lends credibility to proven track record speaks volumes,
ing their research, they find compelling the franchise opportunity
but we’ll never stop pushing ourselves
• Major consumer media coverage to maintain our reputation as the precontent that we have placed in the
media, or published ourselves. Next, that raises brand awareness and brings mier and most trusted PR agency in
they inquire about franchise opportu- the franchise brand up in search engines franchising.
organic search
BUSINESS OWNERS/
DECISION MAKERS
READERS
OTHER
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ARTICLE SPONSORED BY FISHMAN PUBLIC RELATIONS
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5/9/16 1:56 PM