When sales are down to one franchise network, the franchisor tends to be the party held primarily responsible. It's a varied and challenging job – involving marketing on two levels: recruiting the right franchisees and then marketing at the unit level for which they will pay a fee (usually a percentage of their sales), often expecting the moon in return.

Attracting and keeping prospects or customers is everyone's job in a business, but marketing with a consistent and compelling message really starts at the top. One of the benefits of joining a franchise system, after all, is being aware of the existence and success of brand and outreach, including trade dress, professional signage, website design, and advertising templates.

But before we look at what you as a franchisor should offer franchisees for local marketing efforts, let's start with what characterizes a winning recruitment program.

Connected: 8 rules for living in franchise marketing, according to top franchise CMOs

Marketing to potential franchise owners

First of all, sales materials must be persuasive and meet compliance regulations. Different states have different requirements, so hire a franchise marketing expert as well as legal counsel to make sure you're taking the proper notes and acting in compliance with state and federal law.

And even if you've been franchising for years, it's never a bad idea to revisit your sales materials to update messaging, check for a unified look and feel, re-ensure compliance, and take advantage of each new channel. How many franchisees would have dreamed of making TikTok videos even five years ago?

Start with a website that will capture the imagination of your target audience—one that reflects and celebrates the brand, tells a good story, and outlines the specific and unique benefits your franchise offering offers.

It is also important to utilize a variety of media, including electronic collateral materials, search engine and social media advertising campaigns, direct marketing tactics, and trade shows and publications. And know your audience so you can spend time and effort in the right places.

Since prospects are used to receiving immediate responses, technology will play a large role in ongoing communications with potential buyers, especially after they become leads. Whether it's through AI chatbots, texts, email or phone calls, find out how candidates like to receive information and interact.

Additionally, have a plan and a budget. If you don't have the in-house staff to develop and execute a franchise marketing plan, hire a firm with expertise (and success) in creating and implementing plans for other franchises. This is not the time to just throw ideas at the wall and see what sticks.

Connected: The real cost of franchising your business

Marketing at the unit level

Once you have franchisees that have joined your system, it is your responsibility to support them in promotion and marketing. Word of mouth has traditionally been considered the best form here, but with social media taking over, words are getting out of many mouths now – and not just from your fans. To make sure you and your franchisees are sending the same message, give them sample content and at least monitor (better yet, directly manage) their online presence (including social media) as well as their overall marketing messages .

Keeping an eye on all franchise marketing activities may sound daunting, but it's vital not to leave things to chance. At a minimum, approve all content posted on their individual social media accounts or websites/websites. A better approach, I've found, is to provide templates and messaging so that the look and feel of all posts, announcements, promotions, and videos are always on brand. These can be generated using your own staff and/or an external agency.

However, another idea is to take a hybrid approach, in which the franchisor manages the overall campaigns, but allows franchisees to post for territory-specific events, as long as they receive pre-approved content.

Of course, this direct management approach requires commitment and planning and may seem to leave little room for spontaneity. So make an effort to be responsive when a franchise wants to advertise or post about something that is happening in their market.

Another important consideration: When creating a brand development (or system marketing) fund, do the math to ensure that the fees collected from the franchise will be adequate to cover the costs of creating marketing materials, including staff time. Make it clear to them that such fees benefit each local franchise, of course, but are also used to help fund regional or national campaigns that benefit the entire system. Finally, consider that each store owned by the parent company contributes the same percentage to the marketing of the system as a franchise, so that there is a sense of equal participation throughout the network.

Connected: Your franchise marketing needs this secret weapon to captivate and convert

There will always be pressure (especially on new and emerging franchisees) to come up with new marketing materials to justify marketing fund contributions. Historically, one of the most common complaints from franchisees is that they expected to get more support in this area. And some franchisors further require a specific outlay from franchisees for their in-territory marketing, which can be a source of additional concern. An additional solution may be to mix both of these fees into a combined percentage, especially if an outside agency is used to manage the campaigns.

But no matter how you architect your marketing funds and programs, transparency is key. Provide regular accounting/reporting of how funds are being used, including efforts towards social media growth and ad reach, and have proof of how campaigns are working.