When did you last read your own recruitment content through the eyes of a prospect?
Not to check for typos or update a stat, but to genuinely ask whether the story you’re telling still reflects where your franchise actually is today?
Your franchise content shouldn’t be something you write once and forget about.
It should grow as your network grows, and evolve as your audience evolves. It needs to reflect where you, and your franchise, are now – not where you were when you first put pen to paper.
Effective content for recruiting franchisees isn’t a one-time job. The most successful franchisors treat it as a living, evolving narrative. One that grows with every new franchisee success, every milestone reached, and with every challenge overcome.
Think about how much has changed – both in the market, and in your own business.
The franchising landscape has shifted considerably in recent years. The kinds of people actively exploring joining a franchise have changed, as have their expectations. The way they do their research, the questions they ask, and the things that ultimately convince them to take the next step… all of it has moved on.
No doubt, so has your franchise – you’ve recruited new partners. You’ve had more conversations with prospects, and learnt a great deal about what gets their attention and what doesn’t. You’ve hit milestones and navigated challenges that have made you and your network stronger.
All of that is prime content material, and it needs to be a part of your evolving story.
A real world example
Something happened last year which really brought this home to us. We’d been working with a client when a lead who had been in their database for over three years suddenly reappeared. She’d been through a few discovery sessions, gone cold, and that had been that. It happens… you can’t win them all, and as many as 50% of people who go on to become franchisees sit in a database for at least 12 months before making a decision.
Then she came back, started asking questions, booked a fresh call, and signed an agreement a few weeks later.
When we looked at her engagement data, we could see she’d spent a significant amount of revisiting the franchise’s recruitment website. Not visiting the same old pages again, but reading new blogs and working through every case study of franchisees who had joined since she’d last been in touch.
The franchise hadn’t just stuck with the content it put out on day one. It had been listening to leads, learning how to finesse their offering and stand out from the crowd. It kept adding to its story, and when that prospect was ready to move again, it gave her everything she needed to say “yes”.
So if your story hasn’t been consistently refreshed and updated, there’s a good chance it’s leaving the right people unmoved, and possibly leaving past leads with nothing new to come back to. It doesn’t have to be sweeping changes and massive updates, unless you’re making a fundamental shift, of course. Sometimes it’s the little things – a case study or update here, a little tweak to clarify your USPs there – which can make a big difference.
If ever you need a fresh pair of eyes to see what’s working and what could be stronger, I’d be happy to help.
Click the button below to schedule a call.
Dan Sherrington
Head of Franchise Storytelling
