Tag Archives: franchise online marketing

Franchise Online Marketing Outlook for 2012: Creating an Adaptive Marketing Platform

Posted on by Jeremy LaDuque

Reflecting back is more than just remembering where you wanted to be. It’s an eye opener about how dramatically the sands shifted under your feet in 2011 and a clear sign 2012 will be no different.

For Franchise Marketers Google introduced significant changes to the way it displays and delivers search results. Many franchise marketers had to quickly react to the importance of social media, blogging and directories. Our own vision of being a complete solution for franchise online marketing was expanded to include new best of breed partners in directory submission and social media. Our dashboard reflects the integrated nature of how pay-per-click, organic search and directories (such as Google Places) inter-relate and converge.

This being said, what does 2012 hold in store for Franchise online marketing? Seeing future trends is exactly what we need to do in order to anticipate change and be at the top of our game.

It’s not just about how to show up, attract and sell to consumers today, but next month, next year and years to come.  Lets transcend ideas like “social network” and “search engine” and focus  on consumers and technologies. Will we be using a search engine like Google in 5 years? Will we be using desktop computers in 5 years? What will future social networks look like? Answers to those questions are answers to the future of marketing and customer engagement.

Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon and plenty of other large companies are innovating at amazing speed to gain control of our attention. Some are doing it through devices, some through content, others through infrastructure.

So, what is message we got from 2011? Change… we must take a critical look at what it will take to adapt to change.  Rather than jumping from one place to the next in your franchise online marketing plan, consider developing an adaptive model that allows for rapid assimilation of new technologies and trends.

Creating an adaptive model assumes that you will have to adopt new technologies or new methodologies. Is your company an early adopter? Have you taken on the risk of adopting a technology platform before everyone else? Or have you given up first mover advantage because you felt it was going to be too expensive or time consuming. Continue reading →

How You Can Better Prepare for IFA 2012

Posted on by Michael Boyer

ElementsLocal is excitedly preparing for IFA 2012.  We are launching our BrandLocal campaign at IFA.  Please stop by our booth 724 to find out that that means for the future of Franchise Online Marketing.

Make an appointment to meet with our Franchise Online Marketing experts at www.ifaconference.com.  Setting up an appointment will ensure you reserve your spot to roll the dice at a chance to win $25,000. Rolls are limited, so sign up now.

Tips on making this conference the most productive:

  • Planning – reaching out for networking now to make the most of the IFA potential
  • Bring power and power cords (We have power in booth 724!)
  • Face time appointments – reaching out now to people to make time for personal interaction.
  • Prepared to go with the Flow – knowing full well all plans can change at a moments notice, be prepared to move forward with any glitches that come your way and still make the most of the IFA experience

Make an appointment with your ElementsLocal team at www.ifaconference.com

 

Franchise Online Marketing: The Pros and Cons of Using Call Tracking Numbers

Posted on by Jeremy LaDuque

The use of call tracking numbers in your Franchise Online Marketing ads is very useful because it is a great way to track incoming ad generated leads for your franchisees.  Search Engines like Google aim to provide the most useful and accurate information for users, so a local phone number is always preferred.  That being said, if you are using a call tracking phone numbers in your advertising you may be run up against a few challenges.

There are three fundamental reasons why call tracking numbers can cause issues with Google Places, and other directories, and and even organic search rankings.

  1. Google may not recognize the call tracking number as your local number and think you’re spamming.
  2. You may confuse Google because many local business directories use the phone number as a key identifier for individual businesses. A phone number is often an easy ID to use for indexing businesses because they are generally prone to less variation in how they’re presented in databases or on webpages. A second phone number associated with a location may ‘devalue’ that location or produce a duplicate location.
  3. If the business ever changes call tracking solution providers or stops using the tracking numbers, the phone numbers they’ve been using will stop working, yet will be published throughout the Internet

We suggest using a locally recognized phone number and when you are able to, purchase the use of that phone number for your exclusivity for use in the call tracking. That way that phone number will remain consistant when changing providers or stop using the tracking numbers. There are also new ways to place call tracking technology on your existing phone numbers.

We also suggest that as part of your inside sales procedures for franchisees, asking callers directly where they found you  You may or may not be able to collect that data from your franchisees, but at the very least encourage the collection of the data.  Have the employees who answer the phone write down responses for you to see later. This remains an excellent and free way of polling to see how effective different channels are performing.  Optimize leads by asking for referrals as well.

The data and feedback for our advertising campaigns is imperative, but you also need to follow good SEO practice to drive business locally.

ElementsLocal has worked with many Franchises on call tracking and has integrated the service directly into our platform..  Take an online tour today: elementslocal.com.

Elements capitalizes on its opportunity – Tribute from the Tribune

Posted on by Jeremy LaDuque

ElementsLocal thanks our clients for our continued success.

We are real people here at ElementsLocal.  We think about your business and how to improve your business.  Our passion is promoting your business through online marketing. Your business is appreciated.

Read theFull Story – San Luis Obispo Tribune

IFA is 8 Friday’s away….

Posted on by Jeremy LaDuque

We are madly preparing for IFA. Excitement is mounting here at ElementsLocal.  2011 has brought about big changes.

While Franchise Online Marketing has changed, our mission to deliver the best tools and solutions for online marketing hasn’t.

We’re looking forward to launching our ‘BrandLocal’ Campaign at IFA 2012 in Orlando FL.  

Our passion for the franchise industry and our passion for delivering the best, most comprehensive, online marketing platform for franchises has blossomed over the past 5 years. We now support over 3500 franchisees worldwide on our software.

We make franchisees LOCALLY WORLD FAMOUS. Through the use of our software, we drive national brands into local communities. This is our passion – to have every franchisee known as the Mom and Pop store of Everytown, USA.  Let us make your franchise locations the HUB of the town.

Here are some preparations we are taking in anticipation of the IFA convention and can also be applied to any conventions you will be attending in 2012:

  • Find the Twitter hashtag – IFA’s is #IFA
  • Download the IFA mobile app on your smartphone
  • Prepare to collect contact info – business cards yes,  but better yet  get the information electronically

In anticipation of the IFA Covention, we are collecting data for our upcoming Webinar on January 18th, 2012 at 12pm CST ( register Franchise Online Marketing Boot Camp 2012).  To thank you for your time, we are giving away an IPad at the IFA convention to be drawn from those that took the time to help us by completing the survey.

Click Here to: Schedule a meeting with Elements at the 2012 IFA Conference.

Please take a few minute to take our marketing survey :  Franchisor Survey

Franchise Online Marketing: Effective Email Campaigning

Posted on by Jeremy LaDuque

People unfamiliar with email marketing often wonder what all the fuss is about. Didn’t spam kill email as a marketing vehicle? And if spam didn’t kill it, what about web feeds, instant messaging and all the other clever ways we can communicate online? Isn’t email outmoded?

Modern email marketing services, such as the integrated email marketing manager in the ElementsLocal platform, support database integration, segmentation and various other tricks and techniques for improving the targeting of outgoing messages. Advanced, franchise specific functionality, now allows Franchisor’s the ability to send out emails with the local owners names and addresses to reply to, thereby driving local marketing. Systems like the ElementsLocal platform also brand and content control email campaigns to be sent by franchise owners at the local level.

There are many proven benefits to Email Campaigning:

Email promotions and offers generate immediate action: sales, downloads, inquiries, registrations, etc. Informative email newsletters and other emails send people to offline stores and events, prepare the way for catalogs, build awareness, contribute to branding, strengthen relationships, encourage trust and cement loyalty.

Every email campaign you send out generates a heap of actionable data you can use to refine your approach and message.

According to research conducted by the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing generated an ROI of $57.25 for every dollar spent on it. As such, it outperformed all the other direct marketing channels examined, such as print catalogs. 47% of marketers surveyed by Marketing Sherpa said that their top performing online marketing tactic was “email marketing to house lists”. The tactic was second only to search marketing in performance. Usability guru Jakob Nielsen listed an email newsletter as “probably the single-highest ROI action you can take to improve your Internet presence”.

Why does email marketing for franchises work?

  1. It allows specific audience targeting
  2. It is data driven
  3. It drives direct sales
  4. It builds relationships, loyalty and trust
  5. It supports sales through other channels

Here are some quick tips for effective email marketing:

  • Focus on building a good list of people who want to hear from you
  • Craft a message and ensure the emails get through and you have a good ‘click through’ rate
  • Couple your email campaigns with web analytics to narrow the focus of your message and target the list it should go to
  • Use coupons and other incentives strategically. For example send coupons to customers who haven’t purchased something from you in more than 3 months. existing and potential customers

Start the email marketing journey with a look at our Franchise Online Marketing System. Our platform has built in email campaign capabilities. Use the leads generated by the proven local lead generator to target your audience for effective email marketing.

Learn more about our Franchise Online Marketing platform by visiting: ElementsLocal Franchise Online Marketing System. Take advantage of our free Webinar focusing on Franchise Marketing January 18, 2012, at 12:00 pm CST by registering at : ElementsLocal Webinar: Franchise Marketers Boot Camp 2012.

Free Webinar – Franchise Online Marketing Tactics to Hit Your 2012 Goals

Posted on by Jeremy LaDuque

Are you a franchise marketer setting your goals for next year? Will social media play a major or minor role? Do you have the tools in place for franchisees to be successful locally? How will you measure success?

Attend the ElementsLocal Franchise Marketers Boot Camp for 2012 and learn how to leverage online marketing, enhance campaign performance, and boost conversions.

  • Learn from what Franchise Marketers like you said in our Franchise Market Research Study. We asked franchise marketers what their greatest challenges are, how they control their brand, how their franchisees would rate their efforts.
  • Learn the best Franchise marketing tactics for 2012
  • Learn about online local marketing, SEO, social media, mobile marketing and more

Join us for this 45 minute live webinar:

Wednesday, January 18th , 2012 at 12:00 PM CST to learn how you can hit your 2012 goals.

Don’t wait - REGISTER TODAY!

ELEMENTS Drives Online Marketing Leads for MAACO

Posted on by Brandon

ElementsLocal, a leader in local online marketing for franchise organizations, is proud to announce that it has been chosen by MAACO Collision Repair And Auto Painting as the agency partner to redesign their national and local online presence as well as provide local online marketing for all MAACO locations.

maaco franchiseThe announcement from MAACO’s corporate offices in King of Prussia, PA comes after a nearly five year relationship with ElementsLocal to provide other marketing solutions including localized, content managed, websites for franchisees.

Warren Stoll, the Director of Marketing for MAACO commented that, “[he’s] excited about some of the new enhancements ElementsLocal will provide. Adding things like social media and making the website mobile ready are critical in today’s world.”

“With this new initiative MAACO has entrusted ELEMENTS to provide our online marketing services to drive more leads to their nearly 500 franchisees nationwide,” says Jeremy LaDuque, President & CEO of ElementsLocal. LaDuque continues, “recent efforts with MAACO have been very positive, with increases upwards of 300% to their websites and search rankings. This effort will build upon those successes to ultimately drive more business to the local Franchisees.”

Additionally, the industry acclaimed ElementsLocal™ Content Management Software (CMS) will be leveraged for local content contribution, lead management and social media marketing. The result will be a new modern design, updated functionality and an extension of the company’s online brand presence which will result in increased leads at both the local and national level.

Home Helpers Partners with ELEMENTS for Online Local Marketing

Posted on by Brandon

San Luis Obispo, CA, February 28, 2011 — ELEMENTS, Inc., an industry leader in franchise online marketing, is proud to announce its recent partnership with Home Helpers, one of the nation’s leading senior care franchises specializing in in-home, non-medical and personal care and companionship for seniors, new moms, working parents and those requiring continuing and recuperative care.

ELEMENTS will collaborate with Home Helpers to redesign and optimize its corporate website and construct locally optimHome Helpersized websites for franchise owners. Local owners will be able to manage their local websites as well as perform other online local marketing such as social media, with the new platform.

“ELEMENTS is excited to partner with Home Helpers,” said Jeremy LaDuque, president & CEO of ELEMENTS. “We feel Home Helpers plays an important role in the lives of individuals wishing to maintain their independence and dignity in the comfort of their own home. Home Helpers gives families the peace of mind knowing their loved ones are safe and well cared for, so being able to help them achieve continued success is very important to us.”

About ELEMENTS, Inc.
ELEMENTS, Inc. is the developers of ElementsLocal™, an online marketing solution to franchise companies looking to leverage local franchise websites, email campaigns and social media marketing.  The ElementsLocal™ platform can be seen at www.elementslocal.com which includes a virtual tour of the franchise solution software. Based in San Luis Obispo, CA, and founded in 1999, ELEMENTS’ clients include Maaco, Glass Doctor, Sport Clips, Paul Davis Restoration, Jiffy Lube, Weed Man and Curves.

ABOUT HOME HELPERS
Founded in 1997, Cincinnati-based Home Helpers is the nation’s leading senior care franchise specializing in non-medical and personal care and companionship for seniors, new mothers, those recovering from illness or injury and individuals facing lifelong challenges. Home Helpers currently has a presence in more than 500 communities across North America and is seeking qualified franchise candidates in strategic communities throughout the country. Home Helpers was recently ranked the #1 Senior Care Franchise and “Best of the Best” by Entrepreneur magazine for the fifth straight year (2006-2010) and continues to lead the way in the senior care industry. Home Helpers is affiliated with Direct Link® Help At The Touch Of A Button, a national provider of medical alert units, including a 24-hour personal emergency response system and an automated medication dispenser that enable seniors to feel safer and live independently at home for longer than might otherwise be possible. Home Helpers does not discriminate against anyone on the basis of religion, race, sex, color, national origin, ethnicity, disability, age or sexual preference in connection with employment or acceptance, treatment, or participation in its programs, services and activities. For more information on Home Helpers and franchising opportunities, visit the company’s Web site at www.HomeHelpers.CC.