Social Media Policies For Franchises

As experts in franchise PR consulting, we know that social media policies are not usually the first thing to straighten out when it comes to a social media marketing strategy.  However, we really believe implementing social media policies is one of the most important things a company can do.  Without social media policies set, social media marketing plans are unsustainable for any franchise public relations agency.  It should be a goal to engage with as much of the audience as possible, but if there is no reach, there ultimately is no engagement and vice versa. 

We understand that drafting social media policies may not seem as important as the content you are creating and sharing, but after a lot of experience in franchise PR consulting, we have learned otherwise.  Our PR agency knows that your market of employees, resellers, members, etc. will be much less likely to participate and engage with social media if a clear and easy social media guideline has not been defined.

In order to be heard, it is important that you allow our social media consultants to show you how to get others to like, comment, retweet or share your content.   We will show you how to get people talking about your business online and engage the markets that are interested in your success.  Adopting social media policy is the first step to promoting the widespread of the information.  

It is also critical when implementing a PR campaign that you consider what you are asking of the audience.  In order for the audience to engage with the content, they need to feel they can trust you and it is a safe topic or place to discuss the information. Whoever is responsible for maintaining the social media platforms needs to know how to handle the difficult or controversial questions that may be asked.  Because our PR firm knows that most employees are not trained in public relations, it is important that professionals come in and teach what the best processes for a situation could be.

All Points PR, a public relations franchise company, does not want individuals or businesses to be scared of social media.  We think it is a wonderful medium that should be embraced by all.  However, this does not mean that everyone know how to use social media correctly which is why we recommend that our public relations company guides you through creating an effective social media policy.

If you have any questions about social media policy or are interested in speaking to one of our social media experts about franchise social media, please comment below or contact our PR firm today.

Tips To Ensure You Have a Stellar Infographic

As a franchise public relations agency, we know that there are several components to making your social media posts and online presence noticed or shared.  Over the last few years, many  There is not necessarily a right or wrong way to relay information, however, there is definitely a more creative way to present the data.  With that said, our Chicago public relations franchise agency would like to share some tips to help make sure your infographics are stellar.

businesses have started using infographics to engage their audience with figures and facts as opposed to using a bland static report, which spits out a bunch of numbers. For some companies or some audience members, illustrations are a much better way for them to receive and retain factual data.

Tell a Story with the Data:

We know that it can be quite tempting to compile the data and blankly retort it onto a spreadsheet or PowerPoint.  We also know that you might want to spice up the data by adding a few images to the numbers and call it an infographic.  However, infographics cannot just compose of images and numbers, it should be able to tell a story so that the audience can distinguish a clear beginning and end.  If you can tell a story, there is a greater chance that you will compel the reader to continue to read so they can see what the last result explains.  All Points PR, a Chicago franchise PR agency can help you tell your story.

Use Specific Data that Means a lot:

If you allow yourself to pick one topic but show a lot of detail related to the topic, you will better capture the audience’s attention.  If you can stay focused but make sure the number go deep and paint the image for the reader’s imagination, you allow the reader to experience more.

Don’t Get Long-Winded or Wordy:

The more words the reader sees on the infographic, the less likely they will be to read the whole thing.  Paragraphs can be intimidating, especially when the point of an infographic is more or less to illustrate numbers, not to turn the numbers into novels.  Even as an experienced franchise public relations agency we find ourselves needing to remind ourselves to keep it short and sweet sometimes.

Use Pictures:

Illustrations are much better to include in an infographic than pretty colored chart.  Use the images to help tell the story and to garner as much attention as possible.  They aren’t called infographics for nothing!

Everyone has a different medium that will catch their attention.  For some people, infographics are great and fun and for others, it is better to just present the numbers in black and white forms.  Just remember that even though you are using an infographic doesn't mean that you are using a great one that will garner attention.  If you need any help creating infographics or have any questions for our franchise PR firm, feel free to comment or contact us!

How Franchisors Should Respond To Online Criticism

As a Chicago franchise PR firm, we know that no company enjoys having to defend their image and maintain a positive reputation.  We also know that is can become quite difficult to regain a positive image.  All Points PR, a Chicago crisis communication agency has crafted a multitude of techniques for marketing and public relations efforts to help franchises build a better reputation.  

Being experts in public relations franchise efforts, we make it  point to correct the dirty laundry that is exposed to the public.  We guide our clients in the right direction in their choice of words, actions or whatever means necessary to gain positive support from customers, shareholders, employees, franchisees, and other prospective franchisees. 

Thanks to social media and the online community in general, our PR firm has come up with strategic franchise PR consulting that utilizes our social media consultants to garner progressive attention.  We understand that social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter can attract a lot of attention fast, and not it a good way.  The use of hashtags has given the public the ability to form unions for or against a purpose, organization, company or event.  It is the job of our franchise public relations agency to mediate that activity and help give a franchise a voice when their actions have been muted or masked by the public. 

Regardless of the situation, we can tell all franchises that the way to react to online feedback is to never react with threats or anger.  Rather than continue with the negative light, our Chicago PR firm would guide you into taking the steps to correct any shortcomings, addressing errors, and acknowledging the situation on a whole.  We strongly advise that any franchise that is not sure how to handle a situation seek advice from our PR firm to ensure that the existing negativity does not continue to grow. 

We want all franchise companies to understand that not everyone can be perfect regardless of their business.  However, they should not fear online criticism either.  As long as the franchise is working to improve their ways or system, the public will see that and share that with the rest of the world.  And if you recognize that your franchise is not getting the attention it deserves, you should seek out All Points PR for a public relations campaign to help your company get back on two feet.

It’s important that your franchise exceeds general expectations or that it can disprove any negative judgments of the line of franchises on a whole.  Our franchise public relations agency can assure you that we can guide your franchise to be a step above the competition while also maintaining a realistic image both online and offline.  If you have any questions on how to help your franchise prosper, contact our PR agency today. 

Facebook Hashtags

Recently, our public relations franchise agency has learned the news about Facebook now integrating the use of hashtags (#) the way users of Instagram or Twitter are familiar with.  Because Facebook has introduced hashtags, it is allowing users to follow and find trending topics online.  Although we are not surprised that Facebook finally jumped on the bandwagon, we are very happy that this change has finally happened. 

Our Chicago public relations franchise firm thinks it’s a bit of a shame that Facebook did not support hashtags sooner because it truly would have generated more of a buzz online with trending topics like elections, tragedies, gossip, etc.  For a long time now, Twitter has been the platform where many users went to find out about top stories and breaking news on the web locally and even around the world.  Our PR firm thinks it is smart that Facebook is finally competing with Twitter but we also recognize it may take some time to build the hashtag communities the way many on Twitter or Instagram have already been established. 

One great thing aspect of Facebook supporting hashtags is that any users who shared their images or posts from Twitter or Instagram directly to Facebook with hashtags included, those hashtags are now “activated” and link to the topic or phrase.  Another added benefit of the hashtags on Facebook is that even if the post contain a hashtag from the past or even future ones posted, users can still limit who sees their posts.  Our public relations firm thinks that the universal use of hashtags will create an online community where individuals will be encouraged to post publically friendly content.  This will also generate much more activity and interaction on social media platforms through mutual friends or even beyond friendships and share interests with groups of hashtagged pages. 

Our main reason why we are excited about Facebook using hashtags is because Facebook is so largely used across the world, and we are very active participants on Facebook and we encourage our clients to be active online as well.  There is no doubt that Facebook hashtags are going to lead to an increase of brand interaction and advocacy.  Hashtags will allow more users to see posts from outside their immediate circle and to engage with the content.  This is a great feature for our clients utilizing franchise public relations to boost their brands image online.

All in all, we are excited to see this change in the way Facebook will function.  If you have any comments or opinions to Facebook supporting hashtags, please feel free to comment or contact our Franchise PR Firm. 

Franchise Marketing

As a franchise PR firm, we know how appealing it is for individuals to start their own franchise.  Although owning your own franchise seems to be a promising way to ensure financial success because many are successful elsewhere, it truly is not guaranteed.  A great franchise does not rely on its reputation on other locations to bring money in.  A great franchise considers various efforts to market themselves to grow.   With that said, our franchise public relations agency has some great tips to market your franchise. 

Know the consumers:

As experts in franchise industry PR, we know that you probably decided to open a franchise based on its success from other locations and its potential for success.  However, no matter how good of an idea you think your franchise is for the area, you need to know the needs of the area and the wants of consumers.  If you do research as to what local consumers like, dislike, want, need, enjoy, and prefer, you are heading in the right direction for franchise success.  Not only that, but you need to make sure your franchise is not slacking in keeping up with current trends.  As a franchise, our public relations firm knows that keeping up with trends means more money, but your dedication to maintain your franchise will pay off.  Don’t ever forget to target your customers. 

Effective Website:

Having a website, web presence, and social media are crucial to gain your franchise any credibility.   Consumers trust businesses with websites.  Consumers also trust businesses with reviews visible on Yelp or testimonials on the website.  Ultimately, consumers want to see what your franchise has to offer and our PR agency can help your franchise effectively communicate your marketing efforts after some franchise PR consulting. 

Use Promotions:

After your have targeted your consumer it is important that you create and provide promotional incentives to get consumers into your franchise.  There is a great list of places you can advertise your promotional offer(s) such as: television stations, television commercials, radio commercials, internet advertising, direct mail and email.  Pushing your products or services through these outlets in conjunction with our franchise public relations efforts will help provide you success in any promotional campaigns. 

 There are several steps to ensure franchise success.  Our Chicago franchise public relations firm can guide you in selecting your tactics and vehicles to create an effecting marketing plan.  If you have any questions for our franchise public relations agency, please contact us today!