By Heather Ripley
Whether you’re just starting out or have been in the home service franchising industry for several years, there is no time like the present to consider adding a public relations partner to your marketing plans.
You may have considered waiting until your company is larger or until you are, unfortunately, facing a business or communications crisis.
Your company may already have a fantastic marketing team that helps drive your sales and promote your services. But, PR is different.
Public relations is more focused on building a positive reputation, promoting your company brand, and getting your name in front of the media and influencers so that you gain earned media. Earned media is free publicity by a third party.
But if you want to get ahead and stand out from your competition, adding PR to your marketing mix is your best bet.
Here are five ways your home service franchise can use PR:
Building Trust
In the residential services game, customer service is nearly as important as the handiwork itself. By presenting your company in the media and on industry podcasts as a thought leader in the market, you can build up your good reputation.
An effective public relations partner does its research and knows the best outlets to help you reach your target audience. Ensuring that you’re seen as the expert in your market helps build the trust you need to attract new clients and retain current customers.
Attracting New Franchisees
In addition to attracting new customers to your franchise locations, you also need to concentrate on franchise development. And, with more than 750,000 franchise organizations in the United States, standing out among the crowd to attract qualified franchise owners can be a daunting task.
That’s why you need to use everything in your marketing arsenal to rise above your competitors. If your home service franchise is new or isn’t a well-known name brand, you need a franchise PR team to help get the word out about your brand.
Brand Awareness
Public relations is the best way to tell your home service franchise company’s story to a large audience. Whether you’re trying to attract new customers to your local franchise owners’ businesses or you’re trying to attract new franchise owners, you need to let people know about your brand.
You want to become a household name, particularly in the areas where you have franchise units. An effective PR partner knows how to tell your story to the right outlets so that you receive more brand recognition.
Reputation Management
While business owners hope that they will never face a crisis, the fact is that nearly all companies face a crisis at one point or another. This is especially true of home service companies because of their close work with the public.
PR helps you build a positive reputation to fall back on should a crisis occur. Not only is it easier to bounce back from a blow to your reputation if it is good to begin with, a PR partner will also help you develop a plan to handle a crisis before the crisis happens.
Generates Leads
While you may consider the generation of sales and franchisee leads as the purview of your marketing department, the fact is that PR can help your marketing team build a more qualified sales funnel.
PR builds relationships. These relationships can be with the media, investors, customers, potential franchise owners and your community. And, because more people trust information about your company when it comes from a third party, these relationships are built on trust and credibility.
That means that the leads you generate are usually more committed than those that come in from marketing approaches that are less targeted.
The goodwill you generate using PR will earn your home service franchise the recognition it needs no matter what is happening in the industry, and it will build the public confidence you need to stand out against your competitors.
Heather Ripley is founder and CEO of Ripley PR, an elite, global public relations agency specializing in the skilled trades, franchising and B2B tech industries. Ripley PR is recognized as the top PR agency for the home service industry. It also has been listed by Entrepreneur Magazine as a Top Franchise PR Agency six consecutive years and was named to Forbes’ America’s Best PR Agencies for 2021. Ripley is the author of “NEXT LEVEL NOW: PR Secrets to Drive Explosive Growth for your Home Service Business,” which is now available on all audiobook platforms. For additional information, visit www.ripleypr.com.