ELEMENTS and franchisEssentials, an industry leader in integrated franchise marketing and development consulting, have formed a strategic alliance.
franchisEssentials President and CEO, Paul Segreto, and ELEMENTS President Jeremy LaDuque share a strong belief in leveraging the experience and expertise of both organizations to better their current and future franchise clients.
Segreto and LaDuque will continue to present webinars together on local search, online marketing and social media, specific to franchising. This includes CFE webinars as well. In addition, look for Jeremy to periodically visit the Franchise Today show, hosted by Paul Segreto, to share insight on technology and its effect on franchising.
The following is the first of many guest posts to be shared on each organization’s respective sites as both Segreto and LaDuque share similar sentiment about franchise success at all levels and strive to share information for the benefit of all within the franchise community.
Social Media – Before Diving In, Know How to Swim! By Paul Segreto
Very few of us like to admit failure. Especially when it comes to something that appears to be so easily done by others. But just because it appears easy, is that reason enough to dive right in? Certainly not!
I remember being six years old and spending a typical day at Coney Island. On this particular day my family left the beach and ventured into the Steeplechase Pool. I recall staring at the line of kids of all ages as they anxiously awaited their turn on the diving board. I watched as they bounced up and down on the board and finally made their exit from the board and subsequent entry into the water below. Quickly rising to the surface I marveled at how effortlessly they made their way to the ladder on the side of the pool, scampered out of the water and darted right back in line to do it all over again… and again.
It seemed so easy, and definitely so much fun. I gave it some quick thought and decided to join the action and dive right in. And, dive right in I did! Things didn’t go so well from that point as I vividly recall paddling like crazy, just trying to stay afloat. I remember what seemed like thousands of bubbles rising up all around me as I could barely see sunlight beyond the water line. For what seemed like an eternity, I tried to get to the surface and take a breath. Certainly, someone will notice me drowning, right? Or, will they only notice when I hit the bottom of the pool? Well, the next thing I remember was opening my eyes and seeing a bunch of people hovering over me discussing whether I was dead or alive. Others wanted to know if it was okay to begin diving again! Some just laughed.
Have you experienced something similar with your social media efforts? Thinking about how easy it appeared, did you just dive right in? After all, you’ve seen your teenage kids pounding away on their laptops or smartphones posting on MySpace and Facebook, claiming all the while that they have hundreds or thousands of friends. As you pondered this new world of social media, you heard words that sound like cartoon characters… How else can you explain your first impression of Twitter, Gowalla, Foursquare, Digg, Technorati, Tumblr or StumbleUpon? And, cartoons are simple, right? So, you rationalized that social media was simple, everyone was doing it, and if kids can do it, so can I. Watch out below as you dive in head first. Worse yet, watch out below as you lead your organization to the end of the diving board!
Alright already. Enough of the sensationalistic attempt at journalism. But, I know you get the picture.
So, what do you do if your social media efforts are missing the mark? Instead of giving up and quitting… regroup and prepare. That’s right. Regroup and prepare!
Preparing for Social Media Success
Define why you’re involved in social media in the first place. What are your objectives for doing so? What do you hope (expect) to achieve by your efforts? This is the exploratory stage.
Next, identify who you’re trying to target with your messages or who you would like to share information with. Of course, it would help a great deal if you knew where those targets communicated and congregated online. After all, you’re not interested in talking to yourself, right? This is the identifying stage.
Developing a plan on how to spread your message or share information is the next fundamental step. The plan should include how much time (resources) you’re able to dedicate to your social media efforts. Messages and information? What should I say? Where do I find information others will be interested in? Obviously, your plan should include these as well. This is all part of the development stage.
Taking action is next on the agenda as you execute your plan of action. Post, tweet, link, connect to your heart’s content… provided it’s in line with your plan that you painstakingly developed. This is where you’ll save precious time and not put you in a position to consider social media a major time suck. Stay focused on the task at hand. Tweak and revise along the way, always keeping your objectives in mind. This is the execution stage.
Last on the list is to establish benchmarks based upon your objectives, expectations and desired results. This is your scorecard and one that should be on the forefront of your mind every day. It is there for you to analyze your efforts and results. Basically, it’s your social media P&L. Did you achieve what you set out do? Why, or why not? This is the analysis and quantification stage.
There you have it. A relatively simple social media plan for success that I fondly refer to as Social Media e-IDEA which is an acronym for Explore, Identify, Develop, Execute, and Analysis. Try it. I believe you’ll like it and will find that it will keep your head above water in your social media efforts.
By the way, the most painful part of my near-drowning experience wasn’t from the water in my lungs, or from the hard pounding on my chest and back, or even from the embarrassment and humiliation I felt in front of my friends and family. No, it was the pain of my aunt pulling on my ear, while scolding me for doing something that I was not prepared to do!
San Luis Obispo, CA, February 28, 2011 — ELEMENTS, Inc., an industry leader in franchise online marketing, is proud to announce its recent partnership with Home Helpers, one of the nation’s leading senior care franchises specializing in in-home, non-medical and personal care and companionship for seniors, new moms, working parents and those requiring continuing and recuperative care.
ELEMENTS will collaborate with Home Helpers to redesign and optimize its corporate website and construct locally optimized websites for franchise owners. Local owners will be able to manage their local websites as well as perform other online local marketing such as social media, with the new platform.
“ELEMENTS is excited to partner with Home Helpers,” said Jeremy LaDuque, president & CEO of ELEMENTS. “We feel Home Helpers plays an important role in the lives of individuals wishing to maintain their independence and dignity in the comfort of their own home. Home Helpers gives families the peace of mind knowing their loved ones are safe and well cared for, so being able to help them achieve continued success is very important to us.”
About ELEMENTS, Inc.
ELEMENTS, Inc. is the developers of ElementsLocal™, an online marketing solution to franchise companies looking to leverage local franchise websites, email campaigns and social media marketing. The ElementsLocal™ platform can be seen at www.elementslocal.com which includes a virtual tour of the franchise solution software. Based in San Luis Obispo, CA, and founded in 1999, ELEMENTS’ clients include Maaco, Glass Doctor, Sport Clips, Paul Davis Restoration, Jiffy Lube, Weed Man and Curves.
ABOUT HOME HELPERS
Founded in 1997, Cincinnati-based Home Helpers is the nation’s leading senior care franchise specializing in non-medical and personal care and companionship for seniors, new mothers, those recovering from illness or injury and individuals facing lifelong challenges. Home Helpers currently has a presence in more than 500 communities across North America and is seeking qualified franchise candidates in strategic communities throughout the country. Home Helpers was recently ranked the #1 Senior Care Franchise and “Best of the Best” by Entrepreneur magazine for the fifth straight year (2006-2010) and continues to lead the way in the senior care industry. Home Helpers is affiliated with Direct Link® Help At The Touch Of A Button, a national provider of medical alert units, including a 24-hour personal emergency response system and an automated medication dispenser that enable seniors to feel safer and live independently at home for longer than might otherwise be possible. Home Helpers does not discriminate against anyone on the basis of religion, race, sex, color, national origin, ethnicity, disability, age or sexual preference in connection with employment or acceptance, treatment, or participation in its programs, services and activities. For more information on Home Helpers and franchising opportunities, visit the company’s Web site at www.HomeHelpers.CC.
The 51st IFA Annual Convention was a success… from the Technology Summit, the new mobile app, Roundtable discussions, to Ford Saeks.
The buzz this year was about how franchises can leverage social media, local search and mobile apps. However, it was very promising to see that no one lost sight of the primary goal behind these tools: bring in local leads for franchisees. Saeks said it best when he said “your website is your social proof.”
Franchises clearly see that a comprehensive approach, from website to social, is needed to take advantage of online marketing.
Below are ELEMENTS, Inc’s top 8 takeaways from the 51st annual IFA convention.
While at the previous year’s IFA Convention franchises were most interested in how to drive traffic, in 2011 those same franchises are now more interested in how to convert that traffic into leads or sales thereby creating a positive impact with their already existing traffic. This is a direct reflection of how franchises are tightening their belts in these tough economic times by making the most of what they have already have. Rather than spending time and money generating new traffic that will effectively be thrown at a wall to see what sticks, spending time on conversion optimization through variant testing and data driven improvements can lead to a significant increase in overall leads both in the present & future.
Franchises are generally interested in a three step process for online success which begins with find-ability (how easy it is to find their brand online), usability (how easy it is for consumers to engage your brand) and profitability (how easy it is to convert leads into customers). If any of the links in this chain are broken the franchise risks never being found by potential customers, never converting those potential customers into paying customers and not being able to retain existing customers nor create brand loyal fans.
Another thing ELEMENTS noticed is that by and large franchises are becoming savvier in the realm of online marketing. Instead of franchise decision makers questioning whether they should have online marketing campaigns consisting of social media, pay per click advertising and search engine optimization, they are now asking how they can best utilize those campaigns for maximum profitability.
When it comes to social media, franchise companies are beginning to consider ROE (return on engagement) more appropriate measure than a typical ROI. This is a new way to look at social media where the end result isn’t merely net sales or leads but can be measured instead by other factors including reach after reposts, number of subscribers and positive or negative sentiment. Social media campaigns judged merely on their conversion numbers look bleak, but by engaging customers in an open environment franchise companies can improve customer service which leads to improved customer sentiment and the creation of brand loyal fans.
Another point of interest with franchises that was noticed at the 2011 IFA Annual Convention was how effective your store locator is. Franchises have realized that not only can their locators help a potential customer find a local franchisee place of business but they can be much more than that today. Locators can be integrated into a franchise website, have maps and directions and also work seamlessly across both websites and mobile devices. We also saw conversations around exterior locators like a Facebook app or Google Places.
While at the previous year’s IFA Convention franchises were mostly overwhelmed with local search and search engine optimization, there seemed to be a better understanding that local search is not a store locator nor is it searches done solely on Google Maps. There was a general understanding of local search and the importance of it in Google’s new merged ‘Everything’ results that often place local results above national search results.
Mobile apps and mobile optimized websites were another big topic of discussion at the recent convention. Most franchise companies want a way to direct mobile users to their local franchisees which is exactly what the ElementsLocal™ mobile locator app does. Other franchises want their websites to be optimized to fit on a mobile device should one be detected. As mobile traffic continues to increase franchise companies want to make sure they are positioned to take advantage of this fluid demographic.
Perhaps the most important thing ELEMENTS took away from the 51st IFA Annual Conference was the testimony of corporations and noted speakers alike who claimed that success in all areas, including social media stems from a good & valuable web property… “your website is your social proof,” as Ford Saeks said. Without having a useful, easy to navigate, attractive website at both the local and corporate level none of your mobile apps, pay per click marketing or social media campaigns are going to be as effective as they could be.
ELEMENTS met a lot of great people at this year’s IFA Annual Convention and we got a feel for how much their companies are currently embracing online marketing and what needs they have in order to make their franchise’s online presence more of a success. We are going to take that knowledge and continue to improve our ElementsLocal™ platform so that it continues to be the best solution for franchises looking to market online at both the local and corporate level.
San Luis Obispo, CA, October 15, 2010 — ELEMENTS, Inc., an industry leader in franchise online marketing and developers of the ElementsLocal™ online marketing solution announced today the release of its latest technology enhancement that allows Franchise marketers to develop and control branded Facebook Fan pages for every one of their franchisee location.
“This is a breakthrough technology for Franchise marketers struggling to launch a successful Facebook marketing campaign. Today, Franchise marketers fear issues like protecting their brand and successfully providing franchisees Facebook Fan pages,” said Jeremy LaDuque, CEO of ELEMENTS.
If trends continue, early next year Facebook should reach over 600 million members and over 3 million businesses will be marketing through the Facebook platform. Nobody denies the benefits that a well-managed viral inducing Facebook campaign can have on any given product or brand, but what most miss is that Facebook can be leveraged to build awareness for your brand, drive traffic to your website and generate new sales for your business.
ELEMENTS, supports clients such as Maaco, Sport Clips, Glass Doctor, and franchisees of Jiffy Lube and Curves, and plans on releasing this technology to its current clients this month.
“Franchisors will be able to do things they’ve only dreamed of,” says LaDuque, as the new technology will support:
- Automatically creating a Facebook Fan page for every franchisee;
- Giving the Franchisor Administrative rights over all Fan pages;
- Allowing the Franchisor to take down or put up any Fan page at will;
- And allowing the Franchisor to post to all franchisee Fan pages at once.
Franchisors are searching for ways to use Social media to increase sales, Elements feels one of most valuable features of its new technology is the ability to redirect anyone searching for your franchise in Facebook to individual franchisee websites that contain their own Facebook Fan pages, where customers can engage with that franchisees website.
“As search engines, social media and mobile marketing converge to create more and more opportunities for businesses, franchises in particular are increasingly challenged to maintain their brand, monitor their reputation and leverage new opportunities to their advantage. This new technology is a great leap forward to allow franchises to control their brand and provide more marketing opportunity to their franchisees,” says LaDuque.
San Luis Obispo, CA, September 15, 2010 — ELEMENTS, Inc., an industry leader in franchise website development and developers of the ElementsLocal™ online marketing solution has acquired NetFuel Interactive (formerly Screen Matter).
NetFuel was founded by Stephen Bronte in 1999 and has been providing online marketing, local franchisee websites and custom web solutions to franchises for over 8 years. Its customers include Maaco, CertaPro Painters, Weed Man, Pillar To Post, Floor Coverings International, and Handyman Connection and many others.
NetFuel will continue to operate from its Philadelphia offices, as a business unit of ELEMENTS. NetFuel President, Stephen Bronte will play a key role in ELEMENTS’s integration of NetFuel by managing all existing clients currently supported by NetFuel and their exclusive Content Management Software for franchise businesses.
Jeremy LaDuque, CEO of ELEMENTS said, “The acquisition of NetFuel will strengthen ELEMENTS’ position in the franchise space by adding a client list of successful franchises and the long term franchise marketing experience that the staff of NetFuel brings to the table.”
LaDuque says he is looking forward to bringing both companies together. “Our new team members at NetFuel greatly enhance our experience with franchise specific business needs in local search, social media and mobile marketing. We are also going to expand our services to address lead generation across the franchise organization, from franchisee leads to new franchise sales.” LaDuque added.
Bronte added that he’s, “excited about joining forces with such a well established company that provides the same unique services we do.” And added, “I’ve been truly impressed with the thought leadership I’ve found in working with the ELEMENTS management team and their vision for comprehensive online local marketing solutions.”
“The combination of our respective solutions is a perfect fit. NetFuel has custom solutions in franchisee lead generation and franchise sales that ELEMENTS is adopting into their Software-as-a-Service ElementsLocal platform,” said LaDuque. By combining these assets ELEMENTS is expanding its abilities to deliver an exact fit for franchise businesses to successfully achieve a return on investment from their online marketing efforts.
“As local search becomes increasingly important for top positions in search engines, franchises are definitely going to have to put into place a solution to help their franchisees obtain the best local search results possible,” says LaDuque. “The combination of ELEMENTS and NetFuel’s deep understanding of the franchise space and online marketing represents the best of what’s available today in the franchise local online marketing space.”
