What’s the best way to connect with prospective franchise buyers?  

In today’s hyper-connected world where buyers are accustomed to educating themselves, sourcing information and researching business opportunities online, it’s crucial for franchisors to stand out from the crowd and find the most effective ways of direct connections with potential franchisees.

We are all familiar with the power of video and how digital strategies using social media channels can generate engagement. You only have to spend one minute on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram to appreciate just how prevalent video communication has become.

Social media activity is essential for any franchise brand and short, pertinent videos are a valuable part of any franchise recruitment strategy when they educate the viewer.

There are other ways too, to generate engagement with prospective buyers.

Making the connection with your audience is essential, so why not provide valuable insights and solutions to common issues?  Use a digital channel to deliver an analysis of your specific industry, for instance, or to offer your commentary on the latest research.

A webinar can be a great channel to demonstrate thought leadership.

Webinars have been around for some years, but have stood the test of time and remain a viable and affordable way to reach motivated individuals. And they can prove an ideal channel to drive conversions.

Why webinars?

A webinar is simply a web-based seminar conducted through a video conferencing platform.  It’s realtime engagement with your audience.

It’s important to appreciate the value of a webinar is first up to tell a great story.

The Marketing Maven has this tip:

“The mystery novelist Elmore Leonard once gave this tip to writers: Leave out the boring parts. Same goes for webinars. Skip the dull stuff and tell your audience something super useful that they don’t already know. Focus on their needs and what they want to learn.”

Whatever channel is being used, the hard sell is no longer appropriate as a communication style and it’s even more important in a webinar to offer value to the participants.

And you can do this in a controlled environment in a webinar. Unlike social media, where the online conversation can be hijacked or become tangential, in a webinar the host is in control.

Anyone who participates in a webinar is committed to find out more about your brand – they are keen to learn and they will more than likely have specific questions they want to ask.

Questions can be supplied by participants beforehand, and you can direct a Q and A session during the event.

There are a number of ways to maximise the value of your content too – whether that’s through a viewing pane on the screen during the webinar, or by transforming your content into a guide, infographic, article, blog.

Increasingly franchisors are adopting content marketing initiatives and these align perfectly with a webinar strategy.

As with any concept that’s new to your business, it’s worth reviewing the options and making your own evaluations about the potential for a webinar to improve your franchise recruitment processes.