Franchise Blogging | No Limit

I heard it once more. It gets my blood pumping. Rather than debate the issue with 500 words of text from my mouth, let’s let these companies (from an email and blog) put a stamp on the issue:

Blendtec is famous for its bevy of inexpensive “Will It Blend” videos posted on YouTube and shared by millions.

Adobe maintains a list of interesting company related websites and conversations on the social bookmarking site Delicious.

Best Western sponsors a blog, “On the Go with Amy,” where the author travels the country writing about her experiences.

Cadence recently relaunched its website that now prominently promotes the company’s community.

Cisco hosts 12 blogs addressing a variety of audiences for their global business.

Coca Cola Conversations is a blog written by company historian Phil Mooney that focuses on Coke collectibles.

Dell leverages a variety of social media platforms for customer engagement, including an island in the virtual world of Second Life.

Ford publishes news releases with lots of multimedia content and employs a social media news release format to display them in their newsroom.

Fujifilm recently launched a social network to build a community of photo enthusiasts around its newest camera.

GM uses blogs to communicate directly with its customers around topics ranging from design to green tech.

H&R Block created a Facebook fan site to aggregate its social media activities, engage customers and offer tax advice/resources.

HP used Twitter to power a scavenger hunt at a recent conference.

HSBC built the HSBC Business Network Most-Networked-Executives to connect entrepreneurs using blogs, videos and forums.

IBM was the first large enterprise to embrace employee blogging and now boasts thousands of blogs related to every facet of its business.

Intel has also developed many social media touch points with its software communities, which includes blogs, Twitter and virtual worlds.

Intuit sponsors the Tax Almanac wiki, where anyone can find and contribute to this resource for tax information.

Jeep connects with customers via a community page with links to photos on Flickr, the company’s MySpace and Facebook pages and a list enthusiast groups.

JetBlue employs social media as part of its training for JetBlue Airline-Mergers University, as this video explains.

Johnson & Johnson uses this blog to show another side of the company, with frequent video posts and interviews.

Lenovo launched “Voices of the Olympics Games” to aggregate posts from the athletes competing in Beijing.

Marriott CEO Bill Marriott An-Interview-With-Ian-Schrager posts regular updates and stories from his travels to Marriott properties around the world to fuel the content for this entertaining blog.

McDonalds maintains a blog to highlight the company’s corporate social responsibility Forget-Social-Responsibility Jan-08 efforts.

National Geographic uses Google’s new virtual world, Lively, to bring people together around its new show, LA Hard Hats.

New York Times is beta testing a Firefox add-on that allows users to share and comment on stories through a decentralized social network.

Nike started a social community on Loopd to connect athletes interested in surfing, BMX bike racing and similar activities with the brand.

SAP sponsored a global survey of social media professionals to learn more about social media worldwide.

Sears partnered with MTV to create a social network around Back to School shopping.

Southwest Airlines employees share their stories and communicate directly with customers through the “Nuts About Southwest” blog.

Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz’s blog is the example most often cited for what the CEO blog can be.

Starbucks started MyStarbucksIdea so that customers can submit ideas for the company which are then voted on by other users, the best of which will be implemented by the company.

Toyota started its own virtual world to promote its products in Japan (site is in Japanese).

Visa launched The Visa Business Network application on Facebook to connect small business users and to help them promote their businesses to a larger community.

Wells Fargo blogs target two audiences; one examines the company’s history and the other is for students interested in getting their finances in order.

WWE has a Facebook application The-New-Faces-at-Facebook , among other social networking tools and widgets, to bring fans closer to the action.

Xerox blogs address several of the company’s core B2B constituencies.

Zappos uses Twitter for employees to communicate with Zappos customers about their shared love of footwear.

And yet, there is one giant problem with this list – where are the franchisors?

If you have followed the last two “Content Management Thursdays”, then you are ready for step three in the process. If you haven’t read them, go back and read (free eBook, everyone).

Step three in the process is specifically targeted for you managing your public relations/communications firm – content development. Content development is a very important process in your content management – in fact, it is what will make or break your brand’s success in the mainstream media.

For this process, hire a PR firm. “But, Nick, I cannot afford a PR firm. Their retainers are too expensive,” you say. “Well, you have options. And, frankly, you can’t afford not to have one,” I say. Not every PR firm charges $8k – $10k. Some charge much less. Sure, there is some luxury to retaining a big PR firm, but the benefits of a smaller one are actually quite large – more personalized attention; more bang for the buck; more placements; more controlled content; you’re a big fish in a small sea. You get the picture.

With a PR firm in place, you are now ready to have them start developing your content. In today’s world, that should include a blog site, and perhaps some social media/networking opportunities – progressive/proactive sales opportunity (more on that later). Additionally, traditional content development methods are vital, such as press releases (templates for new franchisees and DMA development, along with a national press release in various forms, trade and mainstream), photos, press kits, etc. While it is important to have an opinion and a dream of what content is important, listen to your PR firm, as they are the experts. You tell them your story, and then let them, well, wag the dog a little (sarcastic, of course), or determine what part of your story in newsworthy. Remember, they are your communication guru, let them run with your show.

Also, connect your PR firm with your marketing firm or in-house ambassador. This is also vital to the success of your development campaign. No franchise wants to have inconsistencies, as consistency is the beauty of franchising. Don’t let your marketing department develop material that isn’t cohesive with your PR firm.

Spend about a month on this process. Craft it. Tweak it. Ensure your messaging is as perfect as the moment can present. You don’t want to backtrack this process. Move the brand forward.

More next Thursday.