Franchise PPC: 7 Expert Tips + Real-World Examples that Work

PPC advertising helps franchises drive traffic and sales for their businesses. Learn from expert tips and real-world examples to make your next campaign a success.

Advertising in the franchise world isn’t easy.

You’ve got to balance national and local branding. Make sense of franchisee and franchisor goals and expectations. And stay on top of ever-changing PPC trends and best practices.

But with the right strategy and execution, PPC advertising can be an invaluable tool for franchise marketing and revenue growth.

In this article, you’ll learn why PPC is one of the most lucrative types of digital marketing available for the franchise industry. We’ll share benefits and tips – and look at how to deal with common challenges franchise owners face at both the local and corporate levels.

After reading this guide, you’ll be able to reach new levels of franchise brand visibility, converting potential customers into buyers with a single click.

What is franchise PPC?

If you’re in the franchise business, PPC advertising is an ad model where you only pay when your ad is clicked.

PPC advertising includes search ads, like Bing and Google, as well as social media marketing over platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook.

PPC ads can be great tools for raising your metrics, drawing high-intent traffic to your site to boost conversions.

Let’s look at how PPC advertising works in the franchise industry.

Cost of franchise PPC

The cost of pay-per-click ads for franchisors and franchisees vary on the size and complexity of the campaign.

For instance, you can expect to spend more if you have a lot of locations and products to advertise.

However, the cost can range between $1,500 and $10,000 or 10-20% of your ad spend.

7 tips for building a successful franchise PPC campaign

Here’s how to ensure your franchise PPC campaign maximizes your ROAS:

1. Perform thorough keyword research
2. Use A/B testing
3. Create high-quality advertisements
4. Take advantage of ad groups
5. Pour resources into your landing page
6. Optimize your campaign for mobile
7. Monitor your campaign’s performance regularly

1. Perform thorough keyword research

Search engine optimization helps you make the most of your PPC investment. Thorough keyword research can boost your overall Quality Score, as well as your brand awareness, CTR, and conversion rate.

Here are a few tips for smart keyword research:

1. Use a tool like Semrush, Ahrefs, or Google Keyword Planner.
2. Incorporate a mix of generic keywords, long-tail keywords, and brand keywords into your ad campaign.
3. Choose keywords that align with your campaign objectives. Some keywords will drive traffic, while others target conversion.
4. To keep your campaign focused, incorporate negative keywords, which eliminate irrelevant traffic and further hone your reach.
5. Don’t just bid on keywords. Place them within the copy of your ad.

2. Use A/B testing

If you’re not A/B testing your ads, you’re missing out on a proven way to identify the ad variants that’ll crush it in your campaigns.

You can A/B test variations in ad copy, landing pages, visuals and calls to action to zero in on the ad creative that’s most effective with your target audience.

Split tests bring scientific precision to your ad campaigns and take the guesswork out of your PPC strategy. They’re a smart way to ensure the success of your campaigns.

3. Create high-quality advertisements

It’s easy to get caught up in the back end of PPC management: keyword bidding, target demographic selection, and platform optimization.

But a high-quality advertisement is still the most powerful way to get results in digital marketing. Ensure your ad campaign invests in quality graphic design, effective keyword optimization, and strong ad copy so that your campaign doesn’t fall flat.

4. Take advantage of ad groups

Ad groups enable you to make the most of your Google Ads PPC campaign by targeting different demographics within the same campaign.

The best way to take advantage of ad groups is by identifying your target audiences and your campaign goals, then breaking down your audiences into connected groups.

(Image: HawkSEM)

Keep different audiences in mind — consider what messaging will drive that audience to your desired action. And remember, different audience segments have different levels of profitability.

If one audience segment has a higher customer lifetime value, pursue that audience segment.

5. Pour resources into your landing page

Way too many brands neglect the user’s experience of a landing page – but it’s a critical component of Google’s Quality Score.

If you’re running a PPC campaign, designing an effective landing page should be a top priority.

Your landing page should be cohesive with the content of your campaign, making it easy for the searcher to move down the path to purchase.

Focus on building pages that are relevant, clear, and easy to engage with. Ensure that links are working, your page is built around relevant SEO keywords, and navigation is simple.

These are the best practices we’ve followed to build strong, effective landing pages for our PPC marketing services.

(Image: HawkSEM)

6. Optimize your campaign for mobile

Mobile device searching accounts for over half of the total searches on Google Search — so a significant amount of your ad impressions will occur on a mobile device.

Mobile optimization isn’t hard. But to do it right, be intentional in your design and backend development. Your ads, your website, and your landing page need to be mobile accessible.

7. Monitor your campaign’s performance regularly

The best way to ensure a successful campaign is close monitoring. Keep an eye on KPIs like:

• Conversion rate. Tracking conversion rate shows how effectively your ads drive people to take desired actions — and helps you optimize campaigns to improve results.
• Cost per acquisition (CPA). CPA tells you how much you’re spending on average to acquire a new customer. By keeping this metric low, you ensure your campaigns are profitable.
• Click-through rate (CTR). CTR is a measure of the percentage of customers that are clicking through. A higher CTR shows that interested customers are clicking through, while a low CTR shows you have an opportunity to improve ad relevance and quality.
• Impressions. The number of times your ads are displayed provides insight into how visible your campaigns are. More impressions correlate to an increased potential for clicks and conversions.
• Position. Where your ads show on search engine results pages has a huge impact on visibility and click-throughs. Monitoring position helps you stay on top of your ability to reach consumers.

Performance monitoring keeps you from draining your ad budget on easily corrected errors, too. Broken links, for example, will tank your conversions, but they don’t require much investment to fix. It’s a smart way to stay on top of issues with your campaigns and get the best return on your PPC investment.

Real-world franchise PPC examples

Let’s break down a few different ads to help understand what works in the franchise space — and what doesn’t.

Hotel industry

(Image: Google SERP screenshot)

This Google searcher uses generic search terms to inquire about hotels in Denver, Colorado. Dozens of hotels use of the keywords in the search, but only two PPC ads appear.

The Hilton Downtown Denver takes the first-place spot in terms of ad rank, and there are several things their search ad does very well:

• Incorporate keywords into the copy. The ad copy is rich with keywords that a person may search when searching for a hotel near Denver.
• Use ad extensions. This PPC ad makes great use of ad extensions, which make the ad more informational. They also boost the real estate of the advertisement, taking up a larger portion of the page than if the ad extensions were left off.
• Make it easy to take action. There’s not only a “Call Us” button, but the ad copy has a clear call-to-action, promoting interaction.

Retail industry

(Image: Google SERP screenshot)

In this example, the search terms being used are longer-tail and higher in intent. Pet Supplies Plus, a leading franchise in the pet retail space, takes the #1 spot.

Here’s what the ad does well:

• Uses ad extensions with varying calls to action. Once again, this franchise is making brilliant use of ad extensions. Pet Supplies Plus uses links to draw users to the most relevant landing pages, with each link optimized as a call to action.
• Links a keyword-specific landing page. The landing page that the ad links to is specifically related to puppies. This suggests a seamless user experience for a searcher looking up puppy-specific dog food.
• Incorporates substantially varied keywords into ad copy. The ad copy of Pet Supplies Plus is focused on providing pet items, but the ad targets many pet-related keywords. Whether you’re searching for food, toys, or treats, this ad will feel relevant.

HawkSEM case study

PPC marketing is at the heart of everything we do at HawkSEM. We’re passionate about providing individualized and performance-driven strategies for businesses of all industries and sizes.

Our PPC specialists take a unique approach to each client. We take our time to get to know the complexities of each business we collaborate with, using industry-leading technology to help each client maximize their results.

Our custom approach to PPC advertising enabled a leading senior franchise, Legend Senior Living, to double their conversion rate.

The secret to results like these? Our proprietary analytics software, ConversionIQ, which deliveres robust reporting and predictive analytics that helps franchise companies avoid wasted ad spend, attract more qualified lead, and grow their revenue.

(Image: HawkSEM)

Franchisor PPC vs. franchisee PPC

Franchisors and franchisees can both benefit from using PPC in their digital marketing schemes. Here’s an overview of each:

• Franchisor PPC refers to pay-per-click advertisements run by a corporate team. Franchisors license to franchisees, so franchisor PPC refers to paid ads by the original company entity.
• Franchisee PPC refers to ads published by individual businesses under the corporate umbrella. Since franchises are decentralized models, franchisees can run their own digital marketing for their particular location or business.

Franchisors and franchisees approach PPC marketing campaigns very differently:

• Intent: Franchisor PPC campaigns aim to drive traffic to any location or hub of their companies, while franchisee PPC campaigns intend to drive traffic to their particular entity.
• Specificity: Franchisor PPC ads are typically general advertisements that highlight the overall brand, while franchisee campaigns are more specific, highlighting a particular location or branch.
• Budget: Franchisors are generally large corporations with more substantial marketing budgets. Franchisees, on the other hand, are more likely to be small and mid-size businesses with limited ad spend.

Despite these differences in approach, PPC remains a very strong digital marketing channel for franchise industry players.

The benefits of franchise PPC

Let’s look at why corporate franchisors and SMB franchisees should consider a pay-per-click advertising strategy:

1. Targeted advertising drives more conversions
2. PPC ads level the playing field
3. PPC ads offer measurable results
4. Effective PPC campaigns raise your ROAS
5. PPC campaigns offer unmatched flexibility

1. Targeted advertising drives more conversions

With PPC advertising, you can implement fine-tuned targeting. Most PPC platforms enable you to precisely target ads based on criteria like search queries, interests, demographics, and even location – so your ads only appear in front of targeted consumers.

That means you won’t just target rough demographics like age or location. You can zero in on your most high-intent buyers – and get your ads directly in front of them.

Effective PPC ad targeting drives up metrics across the board. For instance, great targeting raises your clickthrough rate, and higher clickthrough rates lead to higher conversion rates.

2. PPC ads level the playing field

The franchise industry is a competitive market.

Competing in a competitive space is complicated, whether you’re a small home service franchise looking to beat high-ranking competitors or a major fast food chain looking to draw attention in a new market.

But you don’t have to be the biggest player in your industry to create campaigns that drive action. By taking advantage of PPC best practices, you can stand out on search engine results pages (SERPs) and capture more of your ideal buyers.

3. PPC ads offer measurable results

One of the major advantages of pay-per-click digital advertising is measurability. Looking at performance metrics gives crystal-clear visibility into what’s working in your ads and what isn’t.

That makes PPC ads a great place to implement A/B testing. A/B testing, or split-testing, enables you to test a variety of messages and collect metrics to see which ones are most successful.

4. Effective PPC campaigns raise your ROAS

There are a lot of budget-friendly approaches to PPC that maximize your return on ad spend.

And since you can monitor metrics in real-time, you can react quickly when your ads aren’t bringing the returns you’re hoping for.

Some PPC platforms also make ad campaigns more cost-effective by lowering the cost-per-click of effective ads.

Google Adwords uses a Quality Score algorithm for PPC ads on the platform. Ads with a higher quality score can have a 50% discount in CPC, while ads with low Quality Scores can pay 400% more per click.

So running a strong PPC campaign can put your marketing spend to work.

5. PPC campaigns offer unmatched flexibility

One of the key advantages of PPC campaigns is flexibility — a critical benefit for franchise industry members.

Many franchise companies need to respond to quick changes in their industry. Whether their corporate company puts out a new product, or the changing holiday season affects their marketing strategy, franchise companies need to be able to make quick adjustments.

With PPC campaigns, you get incredible flexibility. You can adjust, end, or launch a campaign anytime – so you never drain ad spending on irrelevant campaigns.

And PPC campaigns are easily scalable. You can devote more resources to keyword bidding and campaign launching, allowing your marketing to scale up as your company does — or scale down to be more cost-effective.

Common pitfalls in franchise PPC advertising

If you stay on top of the above tips and tricks, you’re on your way to success. But there are a few stumbling blocks unique to franchise advertising to watch out for:

PPC cannibalism

In the franchise industry, PPC cannibalism happens when two franchises of the same company compete against each other.

You don’t want to pour precious marketing resources into beating your fellow franchises in SERPs when you could be working together.

National-level leadership from franchisors is a great strategy to avoid PPC cannibalism.

Organize keyword targeting efforts and implement location-specific strategies to minimize internal competition and benefit the corporation — without undercutting individual franchise efforts.

Ineffective balancing of national and local campaigns

National-level ad campaigns can play a major role in the success or failure of individual franchise campaigns.

Franchises generally have the freedom to run their own advertising, butl it’s a smart idea to coordinate with their corporation’s larger advertising strategy.

Running opposing or unrelated campaigns can be confusing for buyers. Keeping national ads in mind while designing franchise PPC campaigns streamlines the user experience. And it stretches the value of your marketing spend to play off national-level campaigns.

Skipping on local research

Franchise location is a major difference within the franchise industry. To differentiate your franchise within your corporation, location-specific research can go a long way.

If you’re a franchisor, have a target audience that franchisees can get even more specific with. Consider location-related variables that would impact your target audience’s decision to visit your franchise.

For example, your region’s age, culture, and income may be unique compared to your franchisor’s identified target demographic. After discovering that through research, you can aim your marketing efforts toward bridging the gap between your brand and your local buyers.

At all points, your specific franchise should contribute to the corporate-level marketing strategy. As is the case with extending the impacts of national campaigns to the local level, your research should be an extension of corporate research.

The takeaway

PPC marketing for franchises comes with unique challenges. But done right, paid ads can bring fantastic returns.

As you develop your franchise PPC marketing strategy, keep returning to research as your guiding force. Great keyword research, smart split-testing, and thorough data analysis will go a long way in securing a strong PPC ad performance.

If launching a PPC campaign for your business feels intimidating, consider partnering with a marketing agency like HawkSEM. Our proven method for franchise PPC optimization will ensure you get real results for your PPC investment.

Request a free consultation today to learn more about how our PPC experts can help you.