One of the ingredients of success in franchise ownership is getting found. That requires marketing.
When you buy your franchise, you might be tempted to go about marketing on your own in an effort to save on your already limited amount of capital. After all, there are a wealth of resources available at your fingertips, right? While true, there are certain risks you take with this approach. Here are some important considerations to make as you decide whether you should DIY marketing or hire help.
Time Savings vs. Time Cost
If you’re operating your franchise, no matter how capable you are at marketing, it might be more expensive for you to try to go about marketing on your own. You just might not have time to do it all.
Franchise owners are guilty of putting clients and customers ahead of their own business. If that’s something you’re guilty of when it comes to time management, you might be better off hiring marketing help to get your franchise off the ground.
Your Level of Expertise
Just because you post to your personal news feed every day doesn’t mean you know how to get eyeballs on your business on Facebook. Likewise, just because you check your inbox every morning doesn’t mean you know how to stand out through email marketing.
Marketing takes a certain level of expertise and the right set of franchise marketing toolsin your toolbelt. If you have a knack for getting people talking about your franchise, DIY marketing might be a better fit for you. However, if you’re not sure where to start when it comes to spreading the word about your new store, or you’re struggling to make traction, having the expertise of a marketing agency or consultant backing your franchise makes a lot of sense.
Lack of Interest or Knowledge of Data
We’re living in a world that’s drowning in data. Everywhere you look there’s a new metric to monitor and statistic to tell you about the overall health of your franchise. If you’re not sure what you should be monitoring, or how to access this wealth of data, you could be missing distinct opportunities. You might not find ways to optimize your web presence, or uncover hidden markets ripe with potential. In this case, you might not be best equipped for a DIY marketing approach. A marketing agency with the right tools might do a better job at getting you the information and data you need to thrive in your local market.
Jack of All Trades, Master of None
Unless you’ve worked with robust marketing campaigns in the past, you might not have the right skill level to market your own franchise alone. Trying to learn just enough to get by will do more damage to your business than good. In these cases, trying to operate as a jack of all trades, by taking on the full responsibility of all of your marketing initiatives, will only dilute your efforts and end up costing you more money. Instead, hiring help can keep you on course, while backing your franchise with the expertise you need to thrive.
The Answer
The answer to whether you should try DIY marketing or hire help is truly up to you. If you come from a marketing background, or have always had a flare for helping businesses or ideas take off, DIY marketing can be an effective, cost-savings approach. However, if marketing is new to you, or you only have a surface level idea of what you should be doing, you’ll save more time and money in the long run by outsourcing your marketing efforts.
Susan Guillory is the President of Egg Marketing & Communications, a marketing firm specializing in content writing and social media management. She’s written three business books, including How to Get More Customers With Press Releases, and frequently blogs about small business and marketing on sites including Forbes, AllBusiness, The Marketing Eggspert Blog, and Tweak Your Biz. Follow her on Twitter @eggmarketing.