IFA Member Feedback Requested

The following is correspondence I received today from Matthew A. Haller, Sr. Director of Communications | International Franchise Association. In order to assist in spreading the word and gathering information, I am excited to share the same with FranchisEssentials clients and subscribers, as well as to all my franchise social media friends, connections and followers.

This year, the IFA Convention’s Technology Summit will feature speakers from two of our newest members: Facebook and Google. Both organizations understand the franchising world has unique requirements and challenges and would like to better understand these unique issues. This feedback site has been created as a simple one-way communication channel for IFA members to submit their suggestions on what they would like to see each of these speakers address during the Tech Summit at this year’s convention. I would encourage you to send the link to the companies you represent or to fill out the questionnaires on their behalf.

Also, if you’re on Twitter, please RT this link to your followers so we can solicit as much feedback as possible from the franchising community: https://twitter.com/#!/Franchising411/status/162562851402293248

Please let me know if you have any questions and looking forward to seeing many of you in a few weeks in Orlando!

 

Thanks,
Matt

Apps Offer Sex Appeal in Mobile Marketing, But SMS Still King!

The following is a guest post from franchise friend, Todd Salerno, Vice President Sales, PowerPlay Mobile, a leader in mobile marketing, providing unique technology that businesses rely upon to connect with customers in real time. I first met Todd at last year’s Franchise Consumer Marketing Conference in San Francisco where he facilitated a panel discussion on social media marketing where I was a panelist. Just this past weekend I visited with Todd again – this time at Franchise Expo South in Miami.

In a recent webinar produced by FranSummit and presented by Jeremy LaDuque, CEO at ElementsLocal, we discussed the continued trend towards mobile marketing dominance. We learned that it is projected that by 2014, more people will access search with their mobile device than any other electronic device. That’s less than two years away! With that in mind, and in my continuing effort to provide integrated franchise marketing solutions, I asked Todd to provide some quick insight into mobile marketing. Here’s what he had to say…

“Just to put a fine point on the title of this post, it’s worth emphasizing – while app’s offer sex appeal in mobile marketing, SMS is still king! With 87% wireless penetration in the United States, and still far less than half of US consumers using smart phones, more companies and organizations are using the medium to reach out to existing and potential customers.

SMS is the most effective channel for marketers because of its simplicity, familiarity, and unbiased reach.  Virtually all phones are SMS capable, which means the channel can reach 5 billion subscribers worldwide.  A study by ABI Research finds that consumers worldwide will send more than 7 trillion SMS messages in 2011, indicating a huge opportunity for marketers.  And, according to Nielsen Mobile, the average consumers sends 600 messages per month compared to using less than 200 voice minutes.

So what does that mean for the franchise owner and groups? It means you need to contact customers and potential customers through their preferred communication.  SMS is growing at rapid rate and businesses are starting to take notice.  Many national chains are already utilizing SMS to bring customers back into their stores to create higher sales volumes and keep them engaged.  The best part about it, is that once the business has the consumers opt in for their program, they can keep reaching them.”

About PowerPlay Mobile

With over 30 years of marketing and mobile experience, PowerPlay Mobile helps businesses immediately capture the SMS market. They understand marketing and the power direct connection between franchisees and customers. In summary, SMS works.  The ROI on SMS can be anywhere from 5X-20X greater than traditional media, online display, and  email marketing.  Powerplay Mobile has the ability to:

• Reach Customers who do not have a smartphone
• Reach Consumers who you have not engaged with recently
• Monetize interactions through incentivized offer paths
• Add the preferred channel of communication for your customers
• Drive Sales through coupons and deals
• Create the program you want
  

Todd Salerno may be contacted by phone at 704-288-0435 or by email at todd@powerplaymobile.com. Be sure to ask him about a free consultation!

Social Media: A Bridge Between Digital and Real Worlds

Businesses are under pressure to crack the social media code. There’s all those tools and platforms to harness, and all those best practices to adopt. Staying on top of it is exhausting. Staying ahead of it is almost impossible.

This was the lead-in to an interesting interview I recently read with Facebook’s, Paul Adams, Global Brand Experience Manager. Adams explains how a simple commitment to value can unravel the complications of social media. He says the key is to understand and serve basic human behavior.

Will we get to a point where “social media” is not an online thing, but a bridge between the digital and real worlds?

Paul Adams: “I think we’re already seeing it happening. We see Facebook, Twitter and Google Maps stickers on business windows all over town. I do think this is where it’s headed. As I mentioned earlier, social media should be like electricity. It’s there, powering everything, but we don’t really think about it.

Our phone, or whatever we carry around with us, will probably be our primary source and producer of social media data, so it’s important that when we use it, we’re not burdened by its place in the ecosystem — for example, by seeing constant privacy controls or too many invasive alerts.

Fundamentally, the phone collects a number of datasets that other devices don’t. It knows who we communicate with the most, who we care about the most — because it knows who we call and text most often — and it also knows where we are, where we’ve been, and probably where we’re going. And in the near future, it will know the things we buy.

Mobile is going to be a very disruptive space, and I’m not sure how it will evolve. Rather than try and predict which technologies will be dominant, I think the safer bet for businesses is to understand how these technologies will support human behavior and how they will help people do things they are struggling to do today.”

I don’t know why, but I immediately thought of the great Simon & Garfunkel song, Bridge Over Troubled Waters.

Read the full interview HERE.

*This post was originally published on this site March 2011.

This Week on Franchise Today – “Politics of Lending, Lipstick on a Pig, and What Really Matters to Lenders”

This week on Franchise Today, Host, Paul Segreto welcomes as his guest, Bob Coleman, the country’s foremost expert on franchise and small business lending. Bob is a frequent guest on Fox Business News and is often quoted by a variety of financial media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Forbes, CNN/Money and the New York Times. He is the editor of the Coleman Report, a weekly small business lending newsletter, and the publisher of small business loan underwriting guides along with his great new book “Money Money Everywhere, But Not a Drop for Main Street”.

About Franchise Today

Franchise Today is hosted by Paul Segreto, President & CEO at franchisEssentials, and co-produced by well-known franchise veteran, Joe Caruso. Their unique perspective and extensive industry experience provides the foundation for relevant discussions about franchising and franchise best practices. Weekly guests include some of the brightest minds in the franchise world, with specific expertise and experience within various areas of franchising.

Other features include Franchise News, as reported by the leading franchise publications, the IFA Corner, news and events from the International Franchise Association, New Brands in Franchising, a look at up and coming franchise concepts, and “Are You Kidding Me?”, eye-opening and thought-provoking insight into the comical, and sometimes illogical side of franchising.

The team at Franchise Today is dedicated to franchise success at all levels. So, whether you’re a franchise professional looking to grow a franchise concept, needing some assistance in facing today’s challenges or would just like to better understand franchise best practices, then Franchise Today is for you!

Franchise Today airs LIVE every Thursday at 11AM CST / 12PM EST with archived segments available on-demand.

Dina Dwyer-Owens, CEO of The Dwyer Group, to Appear on “Undercover Boss” Jan. 22

Dina Dwyer-Owens, Chairwoman and CEO of The Dwyer Group, will appear on CBS’s hit reality show “Undercover Boss,” on Sunday, Jan. 22 at 8 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. CT.

The two-time Emmy nominated “Undercover Boss” kicks off its third season on Jan. 15 and continues the quest to enable some of the world’s most successful company leaders to embark on grassroots journeys within their own organizations.

Dwyer-Owens accepted that opportunity, going undercover within The Dwyer Group, a company known the world over for its franchise brands: Aire Serv, Glass Doctor, Mr. Appliance, Mr. Electric, Mr. Rooter, Rainbow International and The Grounds Guys. Across the system’s 1,600 franchises is a world of plumbers, electricians, landscapers and more. The franchise family makes some 2 million residential and commercial service calls each year and celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2011.

For Dwyer-Owens, it was a hallmark occasion to fulfill a long-held dream to ride in service vans out in the field.  The CEO-turned-service-professional donned company uniforms to see life as a potential trainee whose service brands represent some of the most male-dominated industries.

Dwyer-Owens has championed The Dwyer Group Code of Values and its themes of Respect, Integrity, Customer Focus and Having Fun in the Process as a foundation for the company’s success. The service brands will account for more than $750 million in annual system-wide sales this year. Now “Undercover Boss” viewers are invited to see her journey to customers’ front doors and find out how those values and the corporate culture are being embraced by service professionals on the front line.

Note: Dina Dwyer-Owens will appear as a guest on Franchise Today on Thursday, February 9, 2012 and will discuss her appearance on Undercover Boss and provide her insight and perspective as franchising prepares for the IFA Convention in Orlando, Florida, February 11-14, 2012.