How CFA Member Brands Pillar to Post Home Inspectors and Driverseat are bringing well-informed prospects into their franchise recruitment pipelines

It is not surprising that the COVID-19 pandemic has Canadians spending more time online. According to Statistics Canada, just over 4 in 10 respondents to a survey indicated that they are spending more time on social media and messaging services (41 per cent) since the onset of the pandemic, while only 3 per cent spent less time online.

As millions of Canadians work from home for the first time and practice social distancing, they are spending an unprecedented amount of time on their computers and mobile devices. Prospective franchisees are no exception. With a wealth of information and resources available online, the increased screen time of Canadians coast to coast is resulting in far more informed franchise investors, says Kirk Allen, co-founder, and COO of Reshift Media, a Toronto-based internet marketing company specializing in SEO, social media, mobile optimization, digital development, and online training.

“Being visible is key because people are spending more time researching than ever before,” explains Allen. “You want to be top of mind and you want to be on their consideration list when they are ready to put money down on a franchise.”

Here, CFA Members Driverseat and Pillar to Post Home Inspectors share some insight into how they are finding new franchisees for their growing networking with an enhanced digital marketing strategy that taps into our increasingly online world.

Brain Bazely – CEO of Driverseat Inc.
For Driverseat, a Kitchener, Ontario-based transportation franchise that offers shuttle and chauffeur services, capturing this growing demographic of online-savvy prospective franchisees has been all about a 360-degree approach. Covering all their bases, Driverseat’s online presence ensures that people learn about what the brand is all about before an information request is even submitted.

Through their website content and engaging with their audience on social media, particularly on LinkedIn, Driverseat is ensuring their “brand essence” is captured across all touchpoints, resulting in strong franchise development leads that are well informed.

“We always take the approach that we have a focus on attracting leads to our brand, but we have to create a strong brand essence for franchisees and a strong employment brand for people that might want to come work for us,” says Bazely. “When they come across us on LinkedIn, our website, or other social media platforms, they are seeing the real us and are understanding what we’re all about. People are spending more time on these platforms and are coming to us better educated. The organic piece is all about making sure people come in touch with our brand and fall in love with our brand,  governance, and core values.” Another major element of Driverseat’s digital marketing strategy is attracting franchisees in small markets. To own the digital marketing space within those markets, they’re utilizing Googe AdWords, Kijiji, landing pages, blog content geared to specific markets, and YouTube videos to zero in on these areas.

“We’ve generated leads in markets where we had no leads from before in a very cost-effective way.” 

Eric Steward – Director ofFranchise Recruiting, Pillar to Post Home Inspectors
As is the case with Driverseat, Pillar to Post Home Inspectors has been an essential business throughout the pandemic. The home inspection services franchise has been using its corporate website to push this message to prospective franchisees.

Content-wise, Pillar to Post’s franchising landing page includes profiles of four types of people who have been successful franchisees with the brand: veterans, skilled tradesmen, business leaders, and young entrepreneurs. These profiles use keyword targeting to attract prospective franchisees who have similar backgrounds.

“We know that people with those backgrounds can be successful with our franchise. So, on the SEO (search engine optimization) side, we are trying to speak more directly with the audience that we know can have success with our franchise system,” explains Steward.

Also on the content side, Pillar to Post features content focused on the franchise business model specifically, such as a post that highlighted the ins and outs of Franchise Disclosure Documents (FDD). Again, this all comes around to developing a strong, well-informed prospective franchisee before they even enter the sales pipeline.

According to the digital marketing experts at Reshift Media, a combination of organic web traffic through SEO-friendly content geared to search terms such as “own my own business,” or “buying a franchise in Canada,” and Google AdWords paid campaigns is a great way to bring in what Allen calls “warm” leads.

“When you get a lead from Google, although the volume isn’t going to be huge, they are legit inquires,” he explains. “People go to Google to search about buying a business or investing in a business. They aren’t doing it casually, they are actually interested and researching.”

Learn More: Franchise Development in the New Normal On-Demand
Are you struggling to attract the right leads to grow your system with the same methods you used pre-COVID-19? How do you implement new technologies and techniques effectively to keep your leads engaged and your pipelines flowing?Check out Franchise Development in the New Normal Videos On-Demand to hear from a host of industry experts as they share their experiences, challenges, and techniques that focus on franchise growth in the “new normal” of 2021 and beyond. These top performing franchisors will share how their franchise concepts have adapted the lead generation process to award and open new franchises during the pandemic.