Franchise seekers overlook social media tools in favour of traditional methods, FranchiseSales.co.uk survey finds
(PRWEB UK) 2 August 2013 -- Although Facebook, Twitter and Google+ are widely considered useful promotional tools, franchisors are failing to attract franchisees through social media platforms.
That’s the conclusion of the latest FranchiseSales.co.uk quarterly survey (email adam(at)dynamis(dot)co.uk for full results) that polled hundreds of prospective franchisees on their use of social media to research franchise opportunities.
Would-be franchisees found Google+ the most useful platform, albeit only 28% agreed it was useful, edging out LinkedIn, the social network aimed at entrepreneurs and business professionals (26%). Twenty-five percent found Facebook effective and 12% thought Pinterest was helpful.
Social networks were apparently even less useful for networking with existing franchises, for which LinkedIn was deemed the most effective vehicle with only 17% of votes, followed by Facebook on 15%.
Andrew Markou, co-founder and technical director of FranchiseSales.co.uk, says: “Even with the ever-growing popularity of social media, buyers still rely on tried-and-tested methods of checking a franchise’s credentials.
“Buyers, it seems, are not particularly interested in ‘likes’ or ‘retweets’. However, Twitter or LinkedIn could be a useful medium for contacting existing franchisees, which is essential when doing your due diligence on a franchise opportunity.”
One franchisee surveyed said: “Call me old school – and I realize the value of social media for client-consumer interaction and in some minor cases business-to-business interaction – but for the most part social media presents more negatives than positives.”
Meanwhile, 45% of franchisors agreed that the industry was effective at promoting itself through social media, with 29% having no opinion and 26% disagreeing.
Rufus Bazley, Dynamis, http://uk.businessesforsale.com, 020 7324 1947, [email protected]
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