Any digital marketer worth his or her salt will tell you — good web development for franchises includes an optimized, robust, and visually interesting website to answer questions and help move your visitors through the sales funnel. As they learn more about you, and hopefully become more interested in what it is you have to offer, they’ll likely want to know how many locations are currently part of your brand family and where these franchises are located. They’ll also want to confirm that their neck of the woods is available for potential growth. So, where do they find all this important information? On your website’s available territories map.
An available territories map is a quick and visually appealing way to share a lot of about your brand and reinforce meaningful ideas on what it means to be part of a franchise. Here, we’ll look at some of the more important reasons why this useful and hardworking graphic should always be a feature of web development for franchises.
It Confirms Growth
All franchise brands, especially emerging ones, want to communicate viability and growth, and an available territories map does just that. Your potential franchisee will have read all about how your brand is growing and how much you look forward to adding to your brand family. But a territories map tells that story visually, and shows your website visitor the impact your brand is having not just in one locality, but on your entire industry.
It Adds Credibility
Potential investors don’t want to feel like they’re the only ones interested in your brand. They want to know that others have come before them and have established themselves throughout an area, state, or the country. When potential franchisees can appreciate that others are busy making their livings as part of your brand, it lends credibility to your offering and makes it much easier for investors to justify the consideration they’re giving you.
It Highlights Opportunities
An available territories map not only defines areas that have already been developed, letting potential investors know where they might not be able to set up shop — more importantly, it also demonstrates where they can do business! Available territories are areas that are open for leverage and growth, which means a potential franchisee will be free to capitalize on an untapped market and enjoy the rewards of that. You can design your map to show which areas are more open to development than others, and can let visitors know if there are opportunities outside of the U.S.
These maps can also direct website visitors to an area developer or a brand representative if you have one. It’s always a good idea to encourage visitors to reach out to you if they don’t see their location as available right away. You’ll want to remind them that you’re always researching new territories for growth.
It Reiterates Strength
One of the subtler, though no less powerful, benefits of an available territories map is that it reiterates the strength of the franchise model. It reinforces the commitment that you make to your investors and the idea that a brand is more than just a name — it’s a collection of hardworking, business-minded individuals working for themselves and for the betterment of the brand. The franchisor/franchisee relationship is a symbiotic one and an available territories map lays that out simply.
IDS is an award-winning, full-service digital marketing agency that helps brands of all sizes and in all industries reach their best customers. We do that through a suite of services that includes robust content, targeted advertising, and beautiful website designs.
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