Local Area Marketing

Responsibility for undertaking local area marketing is usually the responsibility of the franchisee and many franchise agreements stipulate that a specified percentage of franchisee gross turnover must be spent on local area marketing.

Unfortunately many franchisors fail to provide their franchisees with the tools they need to be effective local area marketers and this can lead to serious disputes or to potential franchisees overlooking their system in favour of other franchise systems that provide quality support in this area.

Successful franchise systems will usually create a Local Area Marketing Manual which outlines successful local area marketing strategiesemployed by the franchise in the past, and provides the franchisee with a description of all the options available to them for local area marketing. It also clearly specifies what is expected of the franchisee in this area, which in turn minimises the level of disputes over responsibility.

The Local Area Marketing Manual will also include advertising or promotional templates that the franchisee can modify to suit their business in their local area. It can also include a planning and budgeting template to assist the franchisee in planning and funding activity, and the franchisor in monitoring what activity has taken place.

The Local Area Marketing Manual becomes an integral part of the franchisor’s intellectual property and in addition to assisting the crucial task of generating sales for the franchisee and the franchise, adds credibility to the franchise in the eyes of a potential franchisee.