Do you have a franchise location that needs a new owner? Success in franchise lead generation for reselling your franchise relies on a combination of many factors, like well-defined customer targeting, compelling messaging, your marketing mix, and the digital platforms you choose.

We have assisted our clients to create successful franchise marketing strategies for more than 20 years. Here’s what we recommend.

Before you start, set a portion of your sales budget to marketing your franchise resale. The portion depends on how aggressive you want to be. Naturally a higher ad spend generates more leads – but only if your franchise marketing strategy is customized.

Target Your Ideal Customer When Reselling A Franchise

When you’re reselling a franchise, there are typically 2 ways of getting potential buyers. The first requires no marketing effort on your part; the second relies on generating leads.

In the first scenario, a buyer approaches you. For instance, your franchisor may have someone who would like to join the franchise, but has been waiting for the right opportunity. Perhaps they want to purchase a specific location, or one that has proven to be successful rather than starting a whole new franchise.

The second scenario entails franchise lead generation. In other words, you have to attract a buyer by marketing. And your marketing has to be more compelling than your competitors’.

The common factor? Reaching a qualified buyer who wants to acquire an established franchise in a particular location.

But who is your ideal customer?

The potential buyer who has identified the franchise as suitable for them and the buyer you are targeting in your marketing campaign will have several defining characteristics in common.

It is imperative that you define your ideal buyer because this will determine where, when and how you market your franchise resale. In other words, proper audience targeting makes the difference between generating quality leads and wasting your time sifting through hundreds of leads to find those who qualify – if there are any.

Don’t spend $1 on your marketing campaign before you know who you are trying to attract. The goal is to build a franchise marketing strategy around your ideal buyer.

Highly Effective Franchise Marketing Strategy

Here are 2 franchise marketing strategies we designed to generate leads for two very different franchise resales.

1. Reselling a franchise in Victoria: Foxy Box

Foxy Box Wax Bar is a fun, sassy brand where the attractiveness of owning a franchise appeals to someone who loves both the brand energy and its vision.

“Serving bold, empowering branding with a side of fierce, fresh flavour (and just a dash of cheekiness), we’re bringing heart and humour to the beauty industry, one box at a time. Visit one of our wonderful laser & wax bars to experience the foxy effect first hand.”

Our research revealed that the ideal Foxy Box buyer – modern and youthful – could be found on Facebook and Instagram. Our vibrant multi-channel digital advertising campaign featured bold photos, video ads and a conversion-focused website to generate leads.

Because ads that specifically promote the location for sale are more successful for franchise sales, our marketing focus was restricted to a 10 mile radius of the location.

We were able to generate 10 to 20 quality applicants for the resale location per month while only utilizing a small portion of the client’s overall ad budget.

2. Reselling a franchise in Cape Coral, Florida: Foster’s Grille

The Foster’s Grille brand also promises a great experience . . . only very different. This restaurant franchise is “your go-to place to join the family for dinner, catch the big game, relax for a few happy hours or just grab take-out on the way home.”

Our franchise resale campaign was aimed at a completely different buyer persona, namely senior people in the hospitality industry.

Our strategy was to use our LinkedIn/Email Outreach program which allows us to target very specific professionals using a database of over 500 Million prospects.

The marketing strategy had 2 pillars:

• We created a customised list of prospects with the right demographics such as professional background, interests, age range and, of course, geographical area.
• Then we crafted a customized series of messages designed to appeal to this particular audience. The emails and LinkedIn messages included links to videos and other resources to encourage prospects to set up a call or request more info.

The client received over 125 inquiries about the franchise resale opportunity in Cape Coral and was able to choose between a few qualified buyers.

Messaging Ideas to Attract your Ideal Franchisees

Reselling a franchise is all about buyer confidence. Here are 3 things to include in your messaging:

• Talk about your active customer base and experienced team. Franchise resales tend to draw more attention and get more targeted leads because people like buying an established business.
• Share the unique benefits, success stories and customer reviews of the location for sale. These stories are social proof that your location is worth buying.
• Mention why you are selling. If it is due to retirement or moving, share that information so people aren’t suspicious as to why you are selling.

When we create customized franchise resales programs for our clients, we combine the power of strong targeting, well-crafted messaging, and multi-channel advertising to find the ideal candidates.

We’d love to discuss how we can help with reselling your franchise.