expertSEM

We touched down in San Antonio and booked it to the convention center so that we didn’t miss the session, “How to Increase Online Visibility and Drive Traffic at No Cost.” Erik was involved in the development of this session’s content. He spoke with Moderator Philip St. Jacques and provided some background and tips on how franchises can manage local map listings. You’ll be happy to know that we made it to the session in plenty of time! The panelists were senior-level franchisors, offering real-life experiences and tips on developing online franchise marketing programs.

Philip St. Jacques, moderator
Our new friend Phil provided some background on the topic and explained what elements of online franchise marketing are free; however, he noted that while no money is exchanged for these strategies, they do require time and effort. You must determine if the effort is truly cost effective for our franchise. Phil also explained how to update maps for single-unit and multi-unit businesses through Google Local Biz Center.

Deb Evans, Pres/CEO, Computer Explores
Deb Evans spoke about social media and explained the toolkit that Computer Explores developed: “Guide to Establishing Your Social Media Footprint in 10 Days.” This portions of the session was essentially a 101 on social media with some great best practices and principles. She asked the audience how many were afraid that social media is going to suck up all their time. Many people raised their hands. Everyone’s afraid of the unknown; it’s really not that scary!

Deb said to concentrate on a few social outlets, typically Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. She said corporate and franchisees must work together to make it effective. She recommended putting links to your social media profiles on your email signatures and even business cards (just get rid of that street address, no one snail mails any more!). Phil asked what types of increased traffic or results she’s seen. Deb said they aren’t necessarily concerned with numbers. Rather, being aware of conversations about your brand is the most important result.

Bill Zinke, CMO, Tasti D Lite
Bill also spoke about social media; he explained the actual social media program that Tasti D Lite is running and the significant results he’s seen. He explained their social media mantra: Monitor, Mingle, Measure. That’s very similar to Location3’s MOM approach to social media: Monitoring, Outreach, Measurement. Looks like we’re all on the right page!

Bill said that Tasti D Lite uses Twitter more than other networks; it makes sense and works for them. He urged that the audience decide what makes sense and works best for them. He recommended connecting with influencers, including celebrities, mommy bloggers, food bloggers (or other niche bloggers that fit your product/service), media outlets and local bloggers. He recounted some great results that Tasti D Lite has seen, including concrete numbers and even some great celebrity endorsements (that they didn’t have to pay for, the celebs just really like their product!).

Grant Kreutzer, Jack in the Box
Grant discussed three aspects of online franchise marketing: SEO, website optimization and analytics. First, though, he said you must establish a concrete franchise program with clear branding and franchise marketing messaging. For SEO, he discussed site structure basics–titles, metas, alt tags, keywords–and link development fundamentals. He revealed some tools for checking the quality of site structure elements and measuring link quality. The benefits are threefold: increasing ranking, branding and establishing expertise. For website optimization, he discussed long versus short contact forms. The best form length depends on what types of pre-qualification your franchise needs. He briefly explained tracking capabilities for forms: you can see where users exit form path using analytics.

Jack in the Box uses Google Analytics. Grant provided a brief overview of GA, briefly explaining how to implement, the capabilities and features you should look at, and he walked through some of Jack in the Box’s metrics.