Restaurant franchising: the digital marketing guide (8 tips)

Opening a franchised restaurant is a major opportunity in the foodservice industry. This format allows you to rely on the expertise, brand and operational support of an established brand, while remaining autonomous. The franchisee invests in a brand that aims for regional or even local influence.

So how do you strike the right balance between your brand's national communications and your establishment's local communications? How can you adapt to the specific needs of your local clientele?

The secret: faithfully follow the franchisor's rules, while adapting your local communication.

Here are 8 tips to make your franchised establishment shine.

Restaurant franchising: why is digital marketing crucial?

As a franchised restaurant, you're part of a group, with a well-established brand identity. You have to respect the rules set by the franchisor while developing your own business.

You're faced with 2 challenges: staying true to the corporate brand while standing out locally.

Staying in line with thefranchise's brand image guarantees a consistent experience for customers throughout the network.

But not all customers are the same! As our article"8 things you absolutely need to know before opening an establishment" reminds us: "location, location, location!"

Between someone living in the heart of Paris in an office district and someone in the residential suburbs of Orleans, expectations and needs are not the same.

To attract the maximum number of customers to your franchised establishment, here are our top 8 tips.

Spoiler alert: digital communication is one of our main weapons!

Tip 1: Get the franchisor's communication materials

Compliance with the Group's quality and presentation standards, as well as marketing and communication guidelines, is essential.

By using the same message templates and visuals as other franchised restaurants, you reinforce the brand identity and awareness of the network as a whole. This works in your favor and that of the franchisor.

Make sure you have everything you need: national strategy, graphic and editorial guidelines, visuals, website, best practices, marketing budgets, etc.

The franchisor must provide you with these essential elements for consistent communication within the network.

💡A concrete example: franchisor Basilic and Co is launching a new menu for the winter season, available in all the group's franchised restaurants. To make this new offer known to customers and make them want to discover it, we need to communicate about it in each establishment, in a consistent way.

Consistent communication also reinforces customers' trust in the brand and ensures a consistently high quality experience, no matter which of the Group's restaurants they visit. 

You need to convey to these customers the messages and visuals they expect. You don't have to create a new graphic charter with different colors, or change the messages to be conveyed. On the contrary, you need to embody the group's history, promise and values to attract customers who are looking for these key elements.

Tip 2: Foster your franchisor-franchisee relationship

Enhance your exchanges with the franchisor to ensure the success and growth of your franchise. You'll solve problems faster, optimize performance and maintain a consistent level of quality.

Communicate regularly to exchange information on news, innovations and industry developments. ‍

You must be able to express your needs and suggestions, and the franchisor must take this feedback into account to improve the quality of the franchise.

💡For example, if one of your recipes isn't a hit with your customers, don't hesitate to pass on the information to the franchisor! Once informed, he or she will be able to adapt it or better develop future recipes.

Depending on the brand, franchisees will have more or less rights and powers to work on their local marketing. Respecting the franchise's recommendations remains a priority, but make sure they take your local issues into account if you really want to perform well.

Tip 3: List your franchised restaurant on the right platforms

Tailoring your franchise's communications is all about targeted digital marketing.

The first thing to do: work on your SEO!

Search engine optimization (SEO) is what enables you to rise to the top of search results when a potential customer enters certain keywords. If you're in the top 3 restaurants that appear on your keywords, you become a customer magnet!

To promote your establishment as a restaurant in its own right in your geolocation area, start by creating your own digital media.

• Create a Google My Business listing ;
• Be sure to include as much information as possible and keep it up to date;
• Insert photos of your dishes, including a photo of the menu (the most clicked-on photo);
• List your restaurant on the most important platforms and directories .

Once your restaurant is present on the most relevant platforms, you need to feed your pages(address, opening hours, menus, photos).

To find out more, visit our complete guide to restaurant listing👇

Tip 4: Define your keywords for successful local referencing

To climb to the top of search results for customers near you, you need to adapt your local SEO strategy to your restaurant.

In addition to the global group terms, add to your keyword list terms specific to your location and target audience.

💡For example:"O Tacos Paris 12".

Then work on your search engine optimization by :

• ‍Insertingthese keywords in all strategic spaces (description of your Google listing, names of your photos) ;
• Regularly using these keywords in your content (Google posts, responses to customer reviews, names of your photos, posts on social media).

Tip 5: Attract more customers with social media

The social media are essential for promoting your restaurant and interacting with your potential customers.

‍Creatinga page dedicated to your establishment on Instagram and Facebook allows you to address your audience and employ a closer, more engaging discourse with your followers.

This is what we call community management.

Feed your pages regularly with messages adapted to local demand and content that reflects your establishment's offering and atmosphere.

Some elements will be specific to your restaurant, and not similar from one franchise to another. However, don't forget to keep to the common thread requested by the franchisor in your communication.

THE network that can boost your visibility: Instagram!

As long as you use the right formats and apply good practices (explained in this article!).

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Tip 6: Respond to all reviews of your franchised establishment

Who better than you to respond to your customers' interactions? By interactions, we mean: your customer reviews, private messages received on Google, Facebook and Instagram, as well as all comments and other contact on social media.

Responding to them helps you maintain a special bond with your community and build loyalty.

But that's not all!

Responding to all your reviews is excellent for SEO and improves your average rating on Google. Find out more about best practices in our guide to managing your reviews.

Tip 7: Track performance

Tracking the performance of your actions allows you to adjust your strategy accordingly.

What works? What doesn't? How could you have done better?

You can use analytics tools to track the number of engagements, comments, shares, and impressions.

On the Malou app, semantic analysis brings up the most common problems mentioned in your reviews, for example. The earnings feature also lets you understand the quantified impact of digital marketing on your revenues.

Take the time to understand your audience, adapt your content, respond to all interactions and track performance to maximize the impact of your communication.

Tip 8: Use the MalouApp

Successfully optimizing your communications as a franchisee means first and foremost striking a pro-personal balance.

Franchised restaurant managers are often multi-tasking, managing everything on board. Their most precious resource: time!

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You also need to systematically keep in mind the universe of the group to which you belong.

To help you, franchisee and franchisor alike, we recommend an all-in-one solution that enables the franchisor to centralize all franchises, and the franchisee to steer his or her own strategy.

Designed for and by restaurateurs, the MalouApp allows professionals to keep control of their communications, without having to hire an expert.

A unique, easy and intuitive interface that guides them through each essential step in order to :

• Rise to the top of Google search results and other platforms
• Improve the restaurant's online reputation on Instagram and Facebook
• Save time
• Convert customers
• Building customer loyalty

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And what's in it for your franchisor-franchisee relationship?

The MalouApp allows several people to manage the online visibility of their restaurant. The advantage: all establishments can be synchronized on the same account!

All you have to do is grant access to some or all of the functionalities. Each connected person can then work together, leave comments and exchange views on the solution.

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