How the Top 10 Service-Based Franchises Leverage Social Media

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Learn Expert Tips to Jumpstart Your Franchise’s Social Media Program

Countless discussions are happening all the time about your

franchise, both good and bad, on social networks – you can take

part in the conversations and exert a level of control and awareness

over your brand on the social web, or stand by and do nothing

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Empowering your organization on the web

Social media & networking has become a massive phenomenon that has dramatically

changed the way people communicate and share ideas. Its impact has touched nearly every

corner of the globe, and effected every size and type of organization. If you’re new to social

media & networking, here’s a quick snapshot of how predominant it’s become:

• 1+ billion tweets per month on Twitter

Twitter is the most popular micro-blogging platform

• 400+ million active users on Facebook

Facebook is the most widely used social network

• 55 million registered users on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the largest professional networking platform on the web

• 5+ billion video streams every month on YouTube

YouTube is the most expansive video sharing social media portal

What some franchise experts are saying:

• By developing a presence [in social media], your franchise will be able to capture the

audience that your competitors are ignoring.

– Gwen Moran (Entrepreneur Magazine)

• To compete effectively and communicate their brand message quickly and cost-

effectively while maintaining real-time communication, a franchise brand must

embrace social media. It’s not just happening, it’s here.

– Sally Facinelli, CFE (Franchising World)

• Ultimately, social media can improve the bottom line for franchisors and franchisees,

alike.

– Paul Segreto (franchisEssentials)

• Most franchisors will wait until the “other ones” climb aboard the social media

bandwagon train. It is a train. A really big, really fast, really serious train. All Aboard!

– Joel Libava (Franchise Selection Specialists)

Learn Expert Tips to Jumpstart Your Franchise’s Social Media Program

How the Top 10 Service-Based Franchises Leverage Social Media

Leveraging your social media

presence is a powerful way for

franchises to engage with a much

broader audience – right where

they congregate most.

Empowering your organization on the web

Leveraging your social media presence is a powerful way for

franchises to engage with a much broader audience – right

where they congregate most. Effective social networking also

offers the platforms upon which to accomplish real results for

your key business objectives, and analytics tools are becoming

more and more sophisticated to accurately measure the impact.

You now have the opportunity to show the helpful, appreciative

and human side of your franchise, and customers can more

easily ask questions, voice feedback and spread the word about

your products and services.

More to the point, countless discussions are happening all the

time about your franchise, both good and bad, on social media

networks – you can take part in the conversations and exert a

level of control and awareness over your brand on the social

web, or stand by and do nothing. But knowing the importance of

social media is only half the battle – where do you begin, who

should be involved, and how do you avoid the risky pitfalls?

We’ve compiled a report to show how the top 10 service-based

franchises* – those that don't require customers to visit a physical

location – are leveraging social media, offer our unbiased assessment

and feedback, and provide some expert tips on how you can jumpstart

(or revive) your franchise’s presence on the social web. We chose this

franchise segment because service-based franchises are particularly

well positioned to benefit from the massive reach of social media,

as they don’t generally have a bricks-and-mortar presence to drive

inbound sales and visibility.

We’ve looked at each of these franchises to see how involved they are

in social media & networking, and how franchisee adoption has fared.

We have ranked these franchises accordingly below, based on their

overall presence and activity on the top social media networks. It’s

impossible to comprehensively evaluate any company’s social media

presence without knowing their behind-the-scenes business plans and

objectives, however this review should give you a good understanding

of how some of the top performing service franchises are utilizing the

social web to better inform your next step.

1st Spherion Corporation

2nd Home Instead Senior Care

3rd Roto-Rooter

4th Interiors by Decorating Den

5th Express Employment Professionals

6th ServiceMaster Clean

7th Paul Davis Restoration

8th SERVPRO

9th Jani-King

10th Linc Network

FACEBOOK TWITTER LINKEDIN YOUTUBE

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On the right track Building momentum Falling behind Not applicable

Empowering your organization on the web

Spherion Corporation504 US Units

Staffing services & recruiting

Spherion has made a definite push to expand its presence in social media from the corporate level, however the momentum and effectiveness of

its efforts could really increase by including franchisees more in the system-wide initiative, which appears to be centered around promoting its job

opportunities and building brand reputation. Spherion has done a great job developing a viral marketing vehicle through its “The Temp Life” campaign,

which has a lot of potential to increase brand awareness and customer interest.

• Number of Current Staff & Franchisee Profiles: 500+

• Average Number of Profile Connections: 250

LinkedIn Groups:

• Spherion Alumni: 1187 members

• Spherion Staffing Network: 565 members

• Spherion: 74 members

• Spheriontheweb Channel:

46,664 channel views, 374 subscribers

Features an alternative marketing campaign called “The Temp Life”, which also was launched recently as an iPhone app.

• Number of Fans: 8,378

• Average Number of Updates: 2 per day

• Number of Franchisee Fan Pages: 8

- Average Number of Updates: 2 to 3 per month

• Number of Franchisee Groups: 33

• Number of Staff and Franchisee Profiles: 500+

• Number of Staff & Franchisee Profiles: 14

Franchisor Performance**:

• Influence: 45.1

• Popularity: 49.5

• Engagement: 8.3

• Trust: 38.1

Facebook

LinkedIn

Twitter

YouTube

Sample Tweets:

Spherion has 24 new positions available see them here: http:// tinyurl.com/df6vo4 #jobs

@Spherion CEO: I am pleased w/ the uptick in worker confidence (Jan); it aligns w/ encouraging signs from our customers http://ow.ly/155sr

***Introducing the New Temp Life iPhone App*** Not only can you catch up on the latest episodes, read our blog... http://fb.me/5V4dhe6

1st

Empowering your organization on the web

Home Instead Senior Care 572 US Units

Nonmedical senior-care services

Home Instead Senior Care has become fairly active in social media, and has made some great strides in the right direction with a particularly strong

presence on LinkedIn and YouTube. The main area that could be improved is having better uniformity in the way franchisees are communicating the

brand, and more frequency and better engagement with its audiences. Building on the efforts of franchisees that are currently active in social media,

Home Instead has a great opportunity to tighten up its strategy and really push broader franchisee adoption.

• Number of Current Staff & Franchisee Profiles: 500+

• Average Number of Profile Connections: 87

LinkedIn Groups:

• Internet Marketing for Carebuzz Clients: 27 members

• Home Instead Senior Care Mountain View: 20 members

• Home Instead Senior Care Ireland: 13 members

• Home Instead Senior Care San Francisco: 9 members

• Home Instead Senior Care- Concord/Salisbury, NC: 9 members

• CSR Home Instead: 6 members

• Home Instead Senior Care Northern Colorado: 4 members

• Home Instead Senior Care North Wilkesboro NC: 3 members

• Home Instead Senior Care of Birmingham, MI: 1 member

• Home Instead Senior Care – WI: 1 member

• Home Instead Inc Channel: 8,821 channel views, 95 subscribers

Features customer and franchisee testimonials, exemplary employees (CAREGivers), and promotes Home Instead services.

• Home Instead Senior Care – Fairfax County Channel: 339 channel views, 3 subscribers

Features event coverage, client stories, and narratives from the franchisee about its services.

• Home Instead Senior Care – Portugal Channel: 29 channel views, 1 subscriber

Features photo montage videos and a Home Instead commercial.

• Stages of Senior Care Channel: 897 channel views, 6 subscribers

This channel features the authors of “Stages of Senior Care”, a book published by the founders of Home Instead Senior Care, discussing the content and value of the book.

• Number of Fans: 476

• Average Number of Updates: 6-8 per month

• Number of Franchisee Fan Pages: 90

- Average Number of Updates: 2-4 per month

• Number of Franchisee Groups: 14

• Number of Staff and Franchisee Profiles: 500+

• Number of Staff &

Franchisee Profiles: 19

Facebook

LinkedIn

Twitter

YouTube

Sample Tweets:

Volunteering helps fight frailty, study shows. http://seniorhomecareadvisor.blogsp

We’re in the News! http://www.homeinstead.com/701/mediaroom/default.aspx

Frequent Mental Lapses May Precede Alzheimer’s http://bit.ly/a8gq6L

2nd

* Twitter Tips

-Track Your Metrics: Make sure you closely track conversations about your franchise,

click-through rates of your posted links, conversions, and other success metrics you've

established. By tracking and measuring your metrics, you'll be able to identify ways to

tweak your strategy to see improved results.

Empowering your organization on the web

Roto-Rooter548 US Units

Residential and commercial plumbing and drain cleaning

Roto-Rooter has built a great brand where humor plays a key roll in exposing its strong customer service, and the types of plumbing expertise offered by

franchisees. They seem to understand that the brand can really be leveraged across the social web to accomplish meaningful results, however they need

more momentum behind their efforts to realize the true benefits. The main elements Roto-Rooter is lacking in is higher frequency in its communications,

better inclusion of franchisees, and more engagement with its audiences – by focussing on improving these areas in refining its strategy, Roto-Rooter

would very likely see some dramatic improvements in the results of its social media initiatives.

• Number of Current Staff & Franchisee Profiles: 172

• Average Number of Profile Connections: 86

LinkedIn Groups:

• Roto-Rooter Franchisee Association: 11 members

• Fans of the Roto-Rooter Bathroom Reader: 2 members

• Number of Fans: 653

• Average Number of Updates: 2 per week

• Number of Franchisee Fan Pages: 8

- Average Number of Updates: 1 per week

• Number of Franchisee Groups: 1

• Number of Staff and Franchisee Profiles: 314

• Roto-Rooter TV Channel: 660 channel views, 6 subscribers

This channel appears to be managed by the franchisor, and features Roto-Rooter commercials, media coverage, customer testimonials, and educational videos about its services.

• Roto-Rooter Plumbers of Savannah Channel: 356 channel views, 5 subscribers

Features educational and entertaining videos, along with media coverage, about the franchisee’s services.

LinkedIn YouTube

Facebook Twitter

• Number of Staff & Franchisee Profiles: 2

Franchisor Performance**:

• Influence: 22.3

• Popularity: 40.5

• Engagement: 5.7

• Trust: 14.8

Sample Tweets:

Ever wonder what your sewer pipe looks like on the inside? http://www.rotorooter.com/residential/videocameralineinspection.php

Teachers Ordered To Monitor Cleaning Of Hands In Morning, Before And After Lunch And After Every Restroom Visit http://bit.ly/SMYKU

Install flood alarms in your home. These small inexpensive devices sound an alarm when they come in contact with water.

3rd

Empowering your organization on the web

• Number of Current Staff & Franchisee Profiles: 249

• Average Number of Profile Connections: 71

LinkedIn Groups: • Decorating Den: 72 members• Interiors by Decorating Den: 32 members• Decorating Den_JR: 1 member• Eastlake Woodlands [Decorating Den]: 1 member

• DecoratingDen Channel: 3,517 channel views, 94 subscribers

Features a series of “how-to” decorating videos with host Sue Pelley.

• Number of Fans: 194

• Average Number of Updates: 2-3 times per week

• Number of Franchisee Fan Pages: 16

- Average Number of Updates: 1 per month

• Number of Franchisee Groups: 5

Franchisor Performance**:

• Influence: 21.5

• Popularity: 37.1

• Engagement: 23.1

• Trust: 13.6

Facebook

LinkedIn

Twitter

YouTube

Interiors by Decorating Den 425 US Units

Interior decorating services & products

The social media strategy for Interiors by Decorating Den that appears to be in place focuses almost exclusively on distributing information about recent

projects completed by its designers to followers, fans, and group members. Although they are doing fairly well in terms of being active across the key

platforms, their social media marketing would be much more effective if they spent more time interacting with their audiences. Encouraging interaction

on Facebook fan pages and on Twitter would help by giving customers a place to ask questions, give praise and feedback, and share ideas, not to mention

provide a much more fertile environment for sending out sales and marketing messages.

Sample Tweets:

We’re so excited to introduce you to our Decorating Den Interiors Canadian $ 10,000 Dream Bedroom Makeover Contest... http://bit.ly/922Fn9

We love our franchise owners. Happy Valentines Day! http://bit.ly/bOzXMR

Beautiful Condo in Atlanta by Barbara Elliott and Jennifer Woods fo Decorating Den http://bit.ly/aKTrpe

* Facebook Tips

-Welcome Discussion: Make sure you're encouraging discussions on your fan page by

posing questions to your fans, holding contests, and responding to comments.

4th

Empowering your organization on the web

Express Employment Professionals 527 US Units

Staffing services & recruiting

Express Employment Professionals has a lot of potential to leverage social media, because its consumer audience is constantly hunting for job

opportunities online. The problem they face is developing and executing a unified strategy – right now there are a number of fragmented efforts, which

lack consistency and the engagement of its audiences. Leveraging Twitter more in particular is highly recommended, where they can tweet out new job

opportunities and engage with job seekers by answering questions and offering tips.

• Number of Current Staff & Franchisee Profiles: 500+

• Average Number of Profile Connections: 275

LinkedIn Groups:

• Express Employment Professionals Employees: 151 members

• Job Connection with Express Employment Professionals: 152 members

• HR and Hiring with Express Employment Professionals: 136 members

• ExpressSRG Networking Group: 56 members

• Express Employment Professionals Franchisees: 33 members

• Express Employment Professionals: 8 members

• Express Employment Professionals Seattle: 4 members

• Express Employment Professionals Orem, UT: 1 member

• Portland ME and Dover NH Employment Opportunities: 3 members

• Express Professional Staffing Division Networking Group: 3 members

• Number of Fans: 1,598

• Average Number of Updates: 2-3 per month

• Number of Franchisee Fan Pages: 75

- Average Number of Updates: Less than 1 per month

• Number of Franchisee Groups: 24

• Number of Staff and Franchisee Profiles: 500+

• Number of Staff &

Franchisee Profiles: 7

Sample Tweets:

Looking for a Computer Tech. with 5 years experience with working on servers. = Health Insurance available! Call 409.898.1168 if interested.

Production and manufacturing positions on 2nd and 3rd shift. Starting @ $10.50/hr. Temp to hire jobs. Park 100 call 297-2341. #jobs

Our first webinar is the Thursday, February 11th. Request your spot now! The topic is Social Media, it will be a... http://bit.ly/bnIQ9q

Facebook

LinkedIn

Twitter

YouTube

• Expressep Channel: 301 channel views, 1 subscriber

Features testimonial videos of people who Express has helped find job opportunities for, along with general branding videos.

• ExpressProsSeattle Channel: 26 channel views, 2 subscribers

Features general company branding and consumer education about Express’s services.

5th

Empowering your organization on the web

* Twitter Tips -Gain Credibility and Brand Equity: Tweeting out your blog posts and press releases

is great, but don't limit your Twitter usage to one-way sales and marketing messages.

By sharing industry news stories, responding to relevant questions, and tweeting out

advice and tips, you'll become viewed as a valuable source to your followers and

you'll gain credibility. The more you can engage in conversations and provide value to

the community, the more your brand will benefit.

ServiceMaster Clean 3020 US Units

Commercial & residential cleaning & disaster restoration

ServiceMaster Clean has a fairly good presence on LinkedIn, but could really use some more energy put towards strengthening its other social media

efforts. The franchisor, in this case, needs to have more control and participation in the discussions happening around its brand and services, because

currently we have observed a number of questions and comments from consumers that have gone unanswered.

• Number of Current Staff & Franchisee Profiles: 500+

• Average Number of Profile Connections: 95

LinkedIn Groups:

• ServiceMaster Alumni: 314 members

• ServiceMaster QRV Marketing Professionals: 259 members

• ServiceMaster Alumni Group: 23 members

• ServiceMaster Franchises pursuing growth and success: 20 members

• ServiceMaster Clean: 16 members

• ServiceMaster Clean of Traverse City Area: 15 members

• ServiceMaster Clean of Grand Traverse: 5 members

Franchisee Channels:

• Portland Unit: 14 channel views; 0 subscribers

• Wichita Unit: 13 channel views; 0 subscribers

• Unknown Location: 268 channel views; 1 subscriber

• Maryland Unit: 269 channel views; 1 subscriber

• Number of Fans: 191

• Average Number of Updates: 4-6 per month

• Number of Franchisee Fan Pages: 4

- Average Number of Updates: 1-2 per month

• Number of Franchisee Groups: 2

• Number of Staff and Franchisee Profiles: 103

• Number of Staff &

Franchisee Profiles: 8

Sample Tweets:

Not all carpet cleaning solutions and equipment clean equally well. So to find out which ones are best go to http://ow.ly/15d0I

Water damage claims increase substantially if prompt action is not taken to contain the damage. WeCleanYourStuff.com 719-471-8313

We do the best service in cleaning due to smoke, water, mold and disaster related losses. We’re available 24/7 888-333-4488

Facebook

LinkedIn

Twitter

YouTube

* LinkedIn Tips -Continuously Build your Network: The value of LinkedIn depends heavily on the

number of meaningful connections you have. To start, add all of your existing

contacts as connections. You should then make it a habit to always add new contacts

you make as connections, and add an "opt-in" option on your mailing lists gaining

permission to connect with people on LinkedIn who sign-up.

6th

Empowering your organization on the web

Paul Davis Restoration217 US Units

Insurance restoration services

Paul Davis Restoration clearly is trying to build a stronger social media presence, but like many other franchises, they would see greatly improved results

through initiating better audience engagement in conversations and increased franchisee adoption of a cohesive strategy. We see an opportunity to

really showcase Paul Davis Restoration’s technical expertise, as they appear to be innovating in the renovation services industry. Content around this

expertise could be leveraged through the YouTube channel and LinkedIn Groups to educate consumers and build even greater brand awareness and

credibility.

• Number of Current Staff & Franchisee Profiles: 370

• Average Number of Profile Connections: 41

LinkedIn Groups: • Paul Davis Restoration: 9 group members

• Paul Davis Restoration, Inc. Channel: 547 channel views, 19 subscribers

Feature Paul Davis Restoration commercials.

• Number of Fans: 214

• Average Number of Updates: 2 per day

• Number of Franchisee Fan Pages: 77

- Average Number of Updates: 2 per week

• Number of Franchisee Groups: 4

• Number of Staff and Franchisee Profiles: 500+

• Number of Staff & Franchisee Profiles: 17

Franchisor Performance**:

• Influence: 20.5

• Popularity: 27.2

• Engagement: 17.5

• Trust: 11.8

Facebook

LinkedIn

Twitter

YouTube

Sample Tweets:

PDR Northeast Wisconsin completes fire restoration project for Univ. Wisconsin: http://bit.ly/azBBKi

Got mold in your bathroom? Spraying bleach makes mold spores go airborne. Moisture control & keeping the surface dry is the key.

Paul Davis Restoration reveals the best ways to avoid accidents from electric space heaters http://bit.ly/bEyikK

* Facebook Tips

-Publishing Schedule: Create a manageable publishing schedule on your official fan page, and try to vary the types of content you publish. Try to work in photo and video updates whenever

you can, share helpful links, and update your fans on news about your franchise.

7th

Empowering your organization on the web

Insurance/disaster restoration & cleaning

• Number of Current Staff & Franchisee Profiles: 193

• Average Number of Profile Connections: 42

LinkedIn Groups:

• SERVPRO: 69 members

• SERVPRO marketing group of Tennessee: 27 members

• SERVPRO of Lima Fire, Water and Mold Restoration: 5 members

• Number of Franchisee Fan Pages: 96

- Average Number of Updates: 1 per month

• Number of Franchisee Groups: 4

• Number of Staff and Franchisee Profiles: 500+

• Number of Staff &

Franchisee Profiles: 30

Sample Tweets:

Thanks to everyone who attended our Water Restoration Continuing Education classes in Sonora and Jackson and for... http://fb.me/4WnhoSS

Just finished inspecting a denied claim. Keep a close eye on your home’s plumbing and don’t neglect any leaks.

Just posted on ActiveRain: Electrical Hazards Associated with Water Damage http://activerain.com/t/1481704

SERVPRO1459 US Units

We have found an overall lack of brand and message continuity in SERVPRO’s social media efforts, and there’s a clear opportunity for the franchisor to

get involved, take back some control, and provide its franchisees with the guidance and training they need to succeed with their independent efforts.

Introducing video content through a YouTube channel would be a great way for SERVPRO to showcase its franchisees, services, and customers, whereby

it could increase brand awareness, drive customer leads, and work to accomplish any number of additional objectives SERVPRO has.

Facebook Twitter

LinkedIn

* LinkedIn Tips

* Twitter Tips

-Participate in Groups: Group discussions are where the majority of interactions

take place on LinkedIn, and participating regularly is a great way to expose your

credibility, promote your brand, and build your network. Join as many relevant groups

as possible, and consider how starting one or more groups of your own can support

your overall social media strategy and add value back to the community. Groups

are also a great opportunity to expand your franchisee recruitment efforts, but be

cautious not to use hard sales tactics that will turn off group members.

-Be Authentic: Don't be afraid to show the personal side of your brand, and always

be as transparent as possible. Sharing information that's humorous, unexpected,

or "personal" about your franchise helps humanize your brand and show your

authenticity.

8th

Empowering your organization on the web

Jani-King10,663 US Units

Commercial cleaning

Jani-King does not appear to have taken any steps towards building a social media presence, and with well over 10,000 franchisees, there’s great

potential to leverage that network to really promote and strengthen its brand through. There is a particularly good opportunity for Jani-King on LinkedIn,

where there is a large pool of prospective customers that can be reached, as well as a place where franchisee recruitment can be promoted.

• Number of Current Staff & Franchisee Profiles: 206

• Average Number of Profile Connections: 64

• Jani-King Australia Channel: 54 channel views; 0 subscribers

The one video on this channel promotes Jani-King’s history and industry credibility, and is geared towards attracting new franchisees.

• Number of Franchisee Fan Pages: 1

-Average Number of Updates:

No updates since December 2009

No presence on Twitter

Facebook

LinkedIn

Twitter

YouTube

* Facebook Tips

* LinkedIn Tips

-Ensure Brand Continuity: Make sure the profile image you use is clear and doesn't crop out any parts of your logo or name. Provide the most optimal image file to your franchisees, and request

they use it on their franchise fan pages and groups. Also establish a consistent naming convention for franchisees to use for fan pages and groups they may start, so that you don't end up with

dozens of pages and groups with the same name and no visible differentiation.

- Optimize your Profile: Having a complete profile with keyword-rich content will help improve your SEO. Make sure to include relevant hyperlinks to news stories and other relevant content about

your franchise on the web.

9th

Empowering your organization on the web

Linc Network129 US Units

Commercial HVAC service and energy solutions

Linc Network has practically no presence in social media, which is surprising for a franchise of its size. Depending on its current business objectives

and strategy, Linc Network could benefit greatly from building its activity on LinkedIn particularly, where it could engage potential customers through

distributing information about its services, discussing industry best practices, and opening up conversations about potential customers’ projects.

LinkedIn could also be a great platform for franchisee recruitment efforts, as well as better engaging its current community of franchisees through

discussing customer successes, challenges, and new ideas in a closed group environment.

• Number of Current Staff & Franchisee Profiles: 46

• Average Number of Profile Connections: 40

No presence on Facebook Franchisor Performance**:

• Influence: 4.9

• Popularity: 16.1

• Engagement: 3

• Trust: 4.5

Facebook

LinkedIn

Twitter

Sample Tweets:

Linc Network continues to provide energy solutions to commercial business owners!

* LinkedIn Tips

-Post Status Updates Regularly: The status update is a great way to remain active

on LinkedIn, attract visitors to your profile, and promote news about your franchise.

You can now also sync up your Twitter profile, so that status updates publish to both

LinkedIn and Twitter.

-Give Recommendations, Seek Recommendations: The more positive

recommendations you have the better. Recommendations showcase your credibility,

and give people an outside perspective on how you are to work with. By giving

recommendations to others, you'll find that many will return the favor by posting a

recommendation for you.

10th

Empowering your organization on the web

Our research has shown that most of the franchises profiled

are making a definite effort to become active in social media

& networking. Several of them have built a strong presence

across the largest social platforms – Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter,

and YouTube – and have leveraged their efforts to generate

discussions about the franchise, franchisees, products and

services.

The problem across the board, however, is two-fold. For one, most

franchises lack a clearly defined strategy to drive their social media

efforts. This is a very common issue that companies of all sizes and

from every industry are facing, and the solution can be complex

and multi-faceted. Most franchises have realized that social media

& networking is a powerful phenomenon that holds great potential,

and that it’s here to stay. But with new trends and platforms

constantly emerging, and the established ones changing regularly,

it can be extremely daunting to invest in devising and executing a

concerted strategy.

The second issue is franchisee adoption. It is difficult to know

whether or not, for the franchises we’ve profiled, the franchisor

has communicated to franchisees the value and expectations of

being active in social media & networking, or if they’ve taken it

on through their own initiative. Regardless, it’s clear that only a

small percentage of franchisees have started to use social media

platforms for the franchises we’ve reviewed. More importantly,

there is a significant lack of brand and messaging continuity among

franchisees that have started to embrace the social web and make

their voices heard. The negative implications of this type of broad

discord among the collective presence of franchisees are brand

dilution, muddled search findings, and inconsistencies in how

customer communications are handled, to name a few.

These problems are common among almost all franchises, so here

are some tips for franchisors on how to get your social media &

networking program on the right track:

1. Devise Your Plan of Action

Before you start tweeting and adding Facebook friends, it’s

imperative to have a sound social media strategy in place with

defined success metrics, so you can evaluate results as you go.

Metrics should not solely focus on quantitative measures (i.e.

website traffic stats and conversions, new leads, etc.), but should

also give weight to qualitative results such as sentiment value in

the conversations that emerge. Your social media strategy should

coincide with your broader marketing and operational initiatives,

not exist in a silo, and be laser-focused on hitting your business

objectives, which may include:

• Strengthening branding

• Expanding sales promotions

• Building a competitive advantage

• Fuellng franchisee recruitment

• Gaining new market insights

• Bolstering customer support and loyalty

• Or all of the above

After your strategy is established, it’s important to maintain

flexibility and tweak your efforts and guidelines based on new

and emerging trends in social media, consumer and stakeholder

feedback, and the ideas and responses you receive from your staff

and franchisees.

2. Determine Where, When & How to be Active

Once you’ve established a clear strategy, the next step is

determining your tactics. Here you want to first take a step back

and really look at what the people in your franchise are interested

in, good at, and enjoy sharing and discussing. For example, your

staff and franchisees may be particularly good writers, or love

to take and share photos or videos, or are already very active in

Tips & Take-Aways

Empowering your organization on the web

Tips & Take-Aways

certain online communities. Once you look at your franchise’s

collective strengths and interests, you should try to match them

with your business objectives outlined in your strategy, and look

into which social platforms are the best fit. For example, if your

staff and franchisees love sharing photos and videos, and this

content can support your business goals, it would probably make

a lot of sense to see how you can leverage Flickr, YouTube, and

Facebook. You should also look beyond the top social networks and

dig deeper into some of the more niche communities, forums, and

blogs where your target audiences may be more concentrated.

Once you determine the primary platforms where your social media

strategy will be rooted, set some general guidelines and objectives

for the types of content your staff and franchisees should be

publishing (i.e. customer testimonials, industry-related news,

helpful tips, media coverage, special promotions and contests,

etc.); the ways in which you plan to engage in conversations

(i.e. responding to complaints and praise, initiating and joining

discussions, how to represent the franchise, etc.); and the frequency

of your activity (average number of updates, comments, and/or

posts per day, week, or month). It’s very important to be realistic

about these guidelines, and to start with manageable goals that you

can hit and grow from.

3. Select Your Tools

As the social web has matured, a plethora of applications have

emerged to help individuals and companies manage and track

their social media & networking activities. Some tools are platform-

specific while others allow for multi-platform management, and

there are several great social media monitoring applications to help

you track all of the conversations about your franchise and enforce

your policies. The tools you select should directly meet the needs

established by the platforms you’ve decided to focus on and the

success metrics you’ve set. Here are some of our recommended

tools to consider:

Multi-Platform Management:

• Hootsuite

(Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn supported)

• TweetDeck

(Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn supported)

Reputation Management and Social Media Monitoring:

• Radian6

• Trackur

• Google Alerts

4. Create Your Policy, Guidelines and Training Program

Since it’s inevitable that your staff and franchisees have some

presence in social media already, and they likely include their

place of work in their profiles and conversations, it’s critical to

establish a social media policy to set the proper expectations

and help manage your brand. Without clear guidelines in place,

it is hard to maintain your brand’s image and consistency in

communications through logo conformity, sales promotion

style, conversational tone, and even naming conventions (i.e.

BrandNYC vs. NYC-Brand). It’s also important to not dictate too

many arbitrary rules that will lead to the need for excessive

management oversight and discontent among your team. You first

want to clearly explain the purpose and value of social media to

the franchise so everyone understands the reasoning behind the

efforts in the first place.

Empowering your organization on the web

Here are some general tips for what to include in your policy:

• Maintain professionalism and be mindful of what you publish

• Express your individuality without getting too personal

• Always keep in mind your audience, and the franchise’s key

objectives

• Respond to questions, complaints, and praise quickly and

courteously

• Offer true value in everything you publish

• Avoid hindering your productivity – set some time limits and a

schedule

• Mind your franchise agreement and copyright laws

Having a policy is a great start, but training is really what will help

spread adoption of your policy and overall social media strategy.

To minimize expending too much precious resources on this, we

recommend producing informative webinars that you can conduct

with your franchise executives, staff, and groups of franchisees at a

time to educate everyone about your plans and expectations.

5. Get Everyone On-Board

Most of all you need to secure buy-in from everyone in the

franchise system – including franchisees. It’s a good idea to

involve your regional franchisee representatives in your initial

plans, to gain their feedback and instil a sense of ownership over

the initiative right off the bat. Answer your staff and franchisees'

questions and concerns, be transparent, and always reinforce the

value and goals of your collective efforts. One of the best ways to

guide your staff and franchisees in the right direction is to have a

delegated community manager internally, who is there to set the

example for everyone else, offer day-to-day support and feedback,

and jump in when someone is veering away from the strategy.

*Based on worldwide sales in 2009 (source: 2009 Franchise

Times Top 200 Franchise Systems)

**Data available through tweetlevel.edelman.com

Data Accuracy Disclaimer: The data findings in this report are

based on secondary research conducted by Freshout Media LLC

and are believed to be reliable and accurate as of the date upon

which such research was concluded. However, no warranty,

expressed or implied, is made regarding the accuracy, adequacy,

completeness, legality, reliability, or usefulness of any information,

either isolated or in the aggregate, contained in this report.

Information that was either unavailable and/or could not be

accessed prior to the completion of this report was omitted.

Tips & Take-Aways

Empowering your organization on the web

Chris Anderson is the

General Manager and

Principal at Freshout, the

firm behind Empowerkit

and a San Francisco-based

full service web agency

providing services in

online marketing, strategy,

design and development.

With broad experience in social media & networking,

ranging from leveraging social media for product launches,

to developing and implementing new social media

applications, to consulting with clients on social media

strategy and return on investment analysis, Anderson

offers a fresh and pragmatic viewpoint on how franchises

can properly leverage the evolving social web. Through

research conducted while authoring this ebook, Anderson

evaluated dozens of top-performing franchises to assess

their social media presence, and interviewed several

franchisors and franchise consultants to gain additional

insights about the franchising industry’s understanding

and utilization of social media.

As the General Manager at Freshout, Anderson plays

several roles in overseeing day to day operations.

From finalizing proposals and contracts, to forging new

partnerships, to carrying out team building programs and

implementing organizational standards, Anderson works

closely with other team leaders to ensure innovation,

productivity, and morale are optimized across the

organization. Anderson also recently lead the planning and

successful launch of SavvyFranchises.com.

About the Author

Empowerkit is the

ultimate toolkit

for you and your

franchisees to succeed

on the web. Allowing your franchisees to easily

customize and manage their own web presence

using a powerful web-based platform, Empowerkit

provides you control over your brand, and your

franchisees get control over content, functionality,

and daily maintenance tasks for their website.

Empowerkit offers a library of all the latest and

greatest applications all under one roof, enabling

your franchisees to successfully run their businesses

online. And the best part, there’s no installation, not

setup, and no waiting. Visit http://Empowerkit.com

today to learn more.

About Empowerkit

Empowerkit is a product of

Call 877.803.4213 | info@empowerkit.com