Are franchises compatible with online communities?

Managing franchises has always been a challenge. On one hand, entrepreneurs have scope and freedom to run a business already attached to a successful, well-known brand name. While brands, on the other hand, can impose a wealth of restrictions. This includes personalisation and differentiation, making it harder for individual franchisees to get to know their customers.

Elite Franchise Magazine looks at the benefits to both franchisers and franchisees in launching and maintaining social media communities. For example, users who ‘like’ a brand’s page on Facebook.

Igniyte’s Thoughts

Speaking to a range of digital marketing professionals, Igniyte’s Head of Client Services, Roz Sheldon, shares her thoughts on how to manage this relatively new phenomenon.

As a leading online reputation agency, Igniyte recommends that the key to improving or developing your online reputation is to better understand your customers and use this knowledge to speak to them in a useful, informative and human way. This is just one way to help you have a more effective reputation management strategy.

The article, in addition to Roz’s full comments, can be found here.