The Franchising industry is on the verge of becoming the fastest growing business model globally. A thunderous response is seen with people showing a keen interest in this expansion model. But people shouldn’t forget that every business model has their own challenges waiting to act as roadblocks.
Marketing your business is essential in expanding your business demographically. If done right, it can ensure success for your business. Therefore, certain elements should be considered before planning to market your business beyond boundaries.
Market Research
While establishing a marketing strategy, it’s essential to stay strong with your market research. It is about gathering information that could incorporate an insight into your client’s thinking and shopping patterns and locations.
In addition, market research can also assist you to undertake an initial sales forecast, monitor market trends and keep an eye on what your competitions are doing.
Profiling the target market
Selling your product or service to people is a costly and ineffective procedure which needs to be handled with care. Go for the grouping procedure where you can segment your desired potential audience based on certain characteristics.
Segmentation could be designed on factors like:
- geography – location
- demographics – age, gender, education level, income, occupation
- behavior - loyalty, attitude, readiness to buy, usage rates
- lifestyle – social class, personality, personal values.
Focus on your Unique Selling Point (USP)
A USP is a unique reason your customers buy from you and not your competitors – it’s what makes your business stand out from the crowd. It is important to define what you do differently and be able to convey that to potential customers. Commonly, this reflects your special knowledge or skills.
Your USP may be having a new or unique offering or providing exceptional service. Start developing your USP by answering the following questions:
- What do you love most about your products and services?
- What special skills or knowledge do you have?
- What makes your customers come to you instead of your competitors?
- How do your customers benefit from purchasing your products or services?
- Which aspects do you generally highlight when you describe your business to strangers?
