On Monday morning I received an email from a client that I had worked briefly with several years ago. His two sentence email contained one simple question that I’ll quote verbatim:
Can i get a descent ad program going for about 3k per month?
This franchisor, like many franchisors, believes that representing an opportunity online consists of putting a franchise page on your consumer website with a contact form. That tactic may have worked sufficiently in 1998 but things have changed dramatically in the twenty years since. At the core of these changes is our expectations of what constitutes a reasonable online presence for a credible brand. Or at least a brand you might consider credible before investing hundreds of thousands dollars with. Let’s start with some important questions.
Key Questions for Franchisors
1. Is it reasonable to expect a credible franchise has a dedicated website (not a page) to professionally present that opportunity?
2. Is it reasonable to expect a credible franchise will present a brief video to dynamically introduce their opportunity to candidates who might be genuinely interested?
3. Is it reasonable to expect that a credible franchisor consistently engages on social media, and via email, with candidates that have a serious interest and ability to invest in their opportunity?
In my email reply back to this potential client I explained that, right now – the going rate for ONE click from a franchise opportunity keyword is $5.00. That doesn’t sound like much at first glace – who can’t afford five bucks? Here’s why the math simply doesn’t work without having a suitable online presence for your opportunity.
Franchise Lead Generation Math
Based upon research we’ve done with dozens of franchisors, putting your franchise page on a consumer website opens the door for massive distraction for your $5.00 visitor. Because they are on your consumer website, your overall message and design is off. Your not talking about business ownership, or the benefits of franchising or even a lifestyle that results from being a franchisee. Instead you present pages and pages dedicated to hot dogs, or juices or sandwiches, or whatever your consumer offering is.
From what we’ve witnessed historically, when you push a $5.00 visitor to a franchise page on a consumer website, they will convert to a lead no more than 1% (one percent) of the time. Quick math tells us that we would need to spend approximately $500 for 100 visitors to generate one lead from that 20 year old strategy. Would any franchise company be excited about getting six leads for $3,000 a month?
Some franchisors are saying – “But we HAVE a website dedicated to our opportunity!” Great – you are in the majority with other franchisors who created a way for prospects to validate your franchise. Our research shows the lead quality from your franchise validation websites (FVW) are extremely good. Some will say the best! And, unlike leads from brokers and portals, those leads are yours exclusively! However, even with an engaging franchise website, you can expect that traffic to convert to leads in a range of 2%-4%. Lets go down the middle and say you’ve got a 3% conversion ratio on your franchise website: That means at $5 per-click, $3,000 would net about 600 visitors in a month and, if 3% of those become leads, you’ll have 18 leads at the end of the month – a CPL of $167.
What IS a fair price for an exclusive franchise development lead?
What I didn’t share with my old friend yet is that, according to the 2018 Annual Franchise Development Report, the average franchisor is paying about $112 per lead. So even $167 is not very affordable compared to the AFDR average. You see, it’s not about the cost of the click – its about the cost of lead CONVERSION.
So how do your franchise competitors find success with exclusive lead generation using pay-per-click? The quick answer is Local Landing Pages, but the more accurate answer is by establishing a true web presence strategy for your brand – to establish it as a credible franchise opportunity on all fronts.
If you intend to award 10 or more franchises over the next 12 months, Contact FranFocus today to discuss creating a strategy for on-going lead generation success for your franchise.
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