How Franchises Can Grow Business Using Social Media

Geography is one of the largest challenges to overcome in most franchise systems, and building relationships with people over the phone or through e-mail can also be extremely challenging. Of course, face-to-face communication is best, but can be very expensive within a good-sized franchise system. People have come to rely on technology for most of their communication, and it's safe to say that new technology has certainly reshaped the way most franchisors communicate within their franchise organizations. Social media technologies and the new "relationship based" internet behavior is transforming the way businesses communicate. Businesses are finding that online communities are bringing their people closer together. Franchisees that were before scattered across the country and around the globe.

Social Media is more about participatory communication, it opens up many-to-many communication, where users help shape content and discussion, becoming the authors and sharing their opinions and expertise. The following are a few technologies that are interesting in terms of their potential impact on improving franchise relations through community building:

Blogs - As part of their regular public and community relations activities, many companies are now monitoring the blogosphere for mentions of their company, both positive and negative. It's certain that most people who have bad customer service (or franchising) experiences share their stories with others. If these people are participants in the online community, their potential reach is mind-boggling.

Wikis - An advantage of using wikis within a franchise system is the sharing of knowledge and best practices. A wiki could be an ideal platform for franchisees to maintain a best practices library.

Imagine this example: Franchisee "Joe" has a problem with a business process that he has encountered. It could very well be a new problem that he has just uncovered. He addresses it to the Franchisor. The Franchisor, who is the industry expert figures out a solution to Joe's problem. He then video records an explanation of the original problem and addresses the solution with a demonstration. He then uploads the video onto the wiki or blog for future reference. It will automatically get circulated to the rest of the community members so they learn the new information and don't run into the same problem later. It will also be archived in a database for future reference if called upon.

RSS Feeds - could be a valuable tool for franchise networks because it can provide franchise owners with up-to-date news from franchisors. It could come from the franchise network's intranet, extranet or public Web site. Another potential benefit of using RSS is that it can also provide customers with new information from an organization, including information on sales and promotions, new products or services or company updates.

I am a huge fan of video. I think it is a fantastic solution for business. Especially if you don't have a lot of time to document in writing and just want to address some issues quickly. Issues that could have a critical impact on your business and it's success. You can always come back to document by hand later (for the purpose of updating a procedure manual for example.)

I'll be adding additional content here on social media for franchises soon. Once again,please contact me if you need advice on using social media for your franchise. I can be reached through my website: San Diego Social Media Consulting