In December last year I introduced you to Gary Vaynerchuk (also known as Gary Vee) – and I am really pleased I did. As those who attended the International Franchise Association Conference in Vegas earlier this year will know, Gary Vee delivered the keynote presentation and shared some beyond valuable marketing advice that just about every franchise needs to hear.
Here are some of the things I learnt from his session – and why I think you should all take the time to watch it. The video is embedded below, so find yourself some time and hit play!
Franchisors need to move aside for franchisees to take control
Gary Vee shared that one of the biggest obstacles for franchisee marketing is franchisors. He said it’s time that franchisors get over yourselves and out of the way of your franchisees so they can harness their local area marketing through social media. There is a huge opportunity here to build relationships with the community – the people who are your customers. Congratulating a local sports team on a win isn’t something a head office marketing manager can do – it’s something only a local franchisee can do, and it builds recognition, engagement and a sense of community.
The future is in voice – and this means your brand needs to be stronger than ever
Gary Vee’s big message is that the future is in voice so get ready or ignore it at your peril. Think about how we order food on Uber Eats. We go to the app, search for a category of food e.g. Burgers, and then select what looks good from the menu. When we use voice, we aren’t going to say, “Hey Alexa, order me a burger.” We will say, “Hey Alexa, order me a ‘this brand’ burger”. How strong is your brand recognition? Are you ready to stop competing on ranking and listing number and start on brand favourability?
The marketing dollar is what matters – where are you getting the best return?
As someone who has mastered social media marketing, Gary Vee believes that social still provides the best return on investment, getting up to five to eight times return on spend. If you’re using social media and it’s not working for you – you’re the one doing it wrong, so you need to sort it out. But alongside social, you need to be looking for other opportunities. Where has the price of advertising dropped but the reach maintained? Drive time radio isn’t in demand anymore, so it’s a bargain now – take advantage of opportunities like this!
These are just a few snippets that caught my attention in a big way and I hope they make an impact in the way you approach marketing in your business over the coming year. But I still urge you to watch the presentation in full below, because there is so much more for all of us to learn.
What points resonated with you the most?