Are you using social media for your franchise lead generation? A franchise is a big ticket item that requires the right candidate, at the right time with the right investment capability. Can Facebook advertising deliver? After running hundreds of franchise recruitment campaigns on Facebook for our clients, we know that it can – but only when it’s done right.

A franchise marketing strategy doesn’t stop at making your target audience aware of your franchise. The purpose of franchise sales lead generation is to find and prepare the lead for the sales conversation. Sales people shouldn’t be wasting their time chasing leads that have no real interest or understanding of what they signed up for.

In other words, the quality of the lead matters.

In fact, many agencies play on this premise, promising clients X number of leads for an appealing price – what they fail to do is to define the quality of those leads. So of 2.89 billion users, they might hand you 10,000. But who’s to say that those 10,000 are relevant to growing your franchise?

With this in mind, let’s look at how Facebook advertising can generate first rate franchise leads. Facebook offers two types of ads: lead ads and conversion ads. A Facebook lead ad sounds like the right type of ad, but is it?

Here’s what you need to know about each.

Lead Ads Reap Quantity

Easy to set up, Facebook lead ads are user friendly. Thanks to their simplicity, lead ads generate a high number of leads. When it comes to growing your franchise, surely more is better, right? Could be. But keep in mind that numbers do not necessarily equate to first rate franchise leads.

These ads serve a pre-filled, pop-up form with one click. Whilst this simplicity encourages leads to sign-up, it doesn’t give them the opportunity to educate themselves on what the ad is really about.

The form is generated in Facebook, and that’s where the lead stays. Unlike a landing page, there is no opportunity to look around to find out more. Following up on leads that thought it was a good idea at the time, just makes more work for your sales team.

The Pro’s	The Con’s
Higher number of total leads	Fewer quality leads
Lower cost per lead	Leads positioned too high in your sales funnel
Great tool for testing out new products or services on your target audience (without having to invest in a new landing page on your website).	Requires more hands-on lead follow-ups (higher time investment for your sales team)

Sheer numbers have a place in franchise lead generation, so lead ads can be useful for remarketing to people who have already seen your ad and gone to your landing page but not filled out your form. This audience is already familiar with your offer and has shown interest so a fast and easy form might be a good idea at this stage in the sales funnel.

Conversions Ads Reap Quality

Conversion ads are almost indistinguishable from lead ads to users at first glance. The difference lies in the collection of data.

Conversion ads differ from lead ads when it comes to where the user goes when they click on the ad. Instead of filling out the form on Facebook, in conversion ads users are directed to a landing page on your website where they must manually fill in their information.

As you can see, this requires more commitment from potential clients and runs the risk of losing some along the way. On the other hand, leads willing to take these extra steps are more likely to be quality leads.

Setting clients up to educate themselves, moves them down the sales funnel while optimising your sales team’s efforts for the final conversion at the point of sale. So if finding franchisees is your overall goal, this might be the perfect tool for you.

A quick look at the in’s and out’s:

The Pro’s	The Con’s
Higher quality leads	Fewer total leads
More informed leads maximise sales team’s time & efforts	Higher cost per lead
Requires less follow-up, customers find you (saves you & your sales team both time and money)	Requires a well-designed landing page

Franchise Lead Generation With Facebook

As you map out your franchise marketing strategy, consider Facebook. With 2.89 billion users, opportunity runs rampant. That said, it’s imperative to create the right opportunities, to connect with the right people.

Sparktank has over 20 years of experience and our specialty is franchise sales lead generation. We not only emphasise quality over quantity when it comes to leads, but also when it comes to your ad content. We focus on longer-form ads that educate potential clients so they are that much closer to making a well-informed decision during your final sales call.

Fewer, better, more. Work less, reap more. That’s our goal!

Your own free consultation is just a click away.