Branding a Large Chain With Social Media
Every major corporation with a strong brand name needs to be using social media to help increase that brand name, and to stay in touch with the new digital age of consumers. Failure to communicate with your new consumers in a way that they prefer to be communicated with will be a mistake. The new generation of X’ers, and those that come after them have never known life without a cell phone, and the next generation will never have know a life without an iPhone or a smart phone that was fully interactive, and constantly connected to the Internet.
Any Corporation that believes they can skip social media and still promote their brand name is clearly missing the boat. Any company or corporation that sells to the consumer must realize that the baby boomers are getting older, and the same methods that were used to keep a company’s brand name in their minds will not work in the future. The era of social media is here, and it is time to adjust and adapt, or let the brand name die.
As a former franchisor, we were one of the first companies to embrace the Internet, and it paid off big time for our company. We got our rather not so well known brand name in front of 10s of millions of people. This helped our franchisees catapult themselves into new markets, and maintain strong customer bases, increasing them every day. Although I am retired now, I see the incredible opportunity of social media for franchisors, if they dare to take it. As one recent a top franchise consultant stated in a recent article;
“First of all you need to recognize that the goal for your franchise system is to make new friends ie. Customers, and to keep them for life. In the social media world this requires the same skills used in your personal life to make and keep friends.”
And personally, I couldn’t agree more with that statement, she is definitely correct. Therefore, franchising companies need to understand this, and we think they are social media strategies. Perhaps, contacting a franchise consultant that understands social media, and how to leverage all of your franchisees, their families, and their friends to help spread the word and strengthen the brand name. I hope you will please consider all this.
