According to the 2021 Annual Franchise Marketing Report (AFMR), the results from email marketing have risen among businesses for 2021, with an increase of 15% in effectiveness versus 2020.
The study also highlighted that search engine optimization (SEO) has also been increasing in popularity and effectiveness, showing an increase of 7 percentage points.
Combining these two strategies; Email Marketing and SEO, provides a powerful plan of action to attract new customers and ensure your business’s longevity in the years to come.
Here are some highlights of the report and tips to get you started.
Email marketing effectiveness rates higher in 2021
According to the AFMR report, franchise marketing leaders found email marketing to be one of their most effective methods and the biggest surprises.
Growing 15 percentage points, email is one of two top-performing marketing methods for reaching out to customers (PPC being number 1).
The report calls email far cheaper than other channels such as Social Media, PPC, and SEO. Also highlighted, was the fact that so many people were virtually trapped at home, marketers appear to show renewed attention to email marketing campaigns.
What do you think about these results? Is your business using email marketing effectively both to drive traffic and for brand awareness?
If not, what do you think could be improved?
Digital Marketing Spending Trends
The famous David Bowie tune “Changes” was released in 1972, now fifty years ago! His uplifting melodies and tricky chord progression paved way for a chorus where Bowie soulfully sang “Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!”. This 50-year-old catchy chorus surprisingly illustrates the current state of the digital marketing industry.
Why, how, and where businesses are allocating their digital marketing budgets is in flux, it’s constantly “Ch-ch-ch-ch-changing” in recent years.
The AFMR report released by Franchise Update Media reported a 15% rise in email marketing effectiveness year over year with spending continuing to increase.
When it comes to using search engine optimization (SEO) for search engine ranking, Franchise Update Media reported a 7% rise in SEO effectiveness year over year.
Both seo and email will continue to rise as more companies expand their presence online and look for new ways to reach current and potential customers online.
Other Interesting Digital Marketing Spending Trends
New consumer behaviors resulting from the pandemic meant that media options that had worked in the past were no longer as effective as in previous years. According to the AFMR report, the two most effective marketing channels were digital marketing and website.
How you can use email marketing for business success
In the Franchise world, email marketing can essentially be used for three different purposes:
- Franchise Development – Automating new franchise sales.
- The Franchisor (Zor) sending to the end customer “on behalf of” the Franchisee (Zee)
- The Zor provides the Zee with a “sub-account” with approved content to send email to the end customer.
Each purpose or program has various degrees of complexity and highly differentiated key performance indicators.
Just like there are three different programs in franchise email marketing, there are also three areas for franchise development using email.
Each area requires different journeys, using differentiated messaging and tone and unique cadence/frequency controls.
Refer to our article Email Marketing For Franchise Development to dive deeper into Franchise Email Marketing.
BOOST And Nurture Your Old Zee Leads Via Automated Email
One of the most effective marketing strategies for 2022 is creating a program or email campaign around nurturing your old Zee leads via automated email that scores their behavior and identifies who might be interested in re-engaging?
Those leads once raised their hand to learn about becoming a Zee.
At the time those prospective Zee’s might not have been the right fit, but today the circumstances might have changed.
Some of those old hand-raisers might be a solid candidate.
Using a pre-built lead nurture automation, you can keep those leads “alive”.
Let us help you land that “gem” and meet your 2022 Franchise Development goals.
This successful pre-built email program is called BOOST for Franchise.
See how BOOST will help you today schedule your free intro call.
2021 Annual Franchise Marketing Report (AFMR) Key Takeaways
“This annual report was created at the request of our Franchise Marketing Leadership Conference Advisory Board to develop relevant content for CMOs, and to learn more about their needs and challenges,” said Diane Phibbs, executive vice president, and chief content officer at Franchise Update Media.
- Email marketing effectiveness rates higher in 2021
- SEO effectiveness rates higher in 2021
- Spending on digital marketing increased as did effectiveness
- Spending on website increased as did effectiveness
- Spending on social media remained consistent however, effectiveness took a dive in 2021
- It’s imperative to utilize email marketing in Franchise Development
