When it comes to local marketing responsibilities, franchisors and franchisees are feeling a little tension. Franchisors and their national marketing teams are dedicated to protecting the quality and consistency of brand collateral and messaging. But they also really need local marketers — franchisees — to be self-sufficient in creating and producing their own materials. After all, according to the CMO Council, 53 percent of national marketers lack the resources and bandwidth they need to handle local marketing on top of their global responsibilities.

And yet, franchisees aren’t always marketing gurus, themselves, and many of them expect guidance from their brands’ national marketing teams. In fact, LocalVox reports that 64 percent of franchisees are disappointed with the marketing support they receive.

So, neither side is particularly happy. Franchisees need more support, and franchisors need a way to provide that support — and protect the brand — without overextending their already maxed-out to-do lists.

One of the most impactful ways franchisors have been able to achieve this balance is by outsourcing print marketing efforts to a single-source solution vendor that can partner with local and national marketers to streamline campaign creation and ensure consistent branding. When a company finds the right partner for the job, the impact can be enormous.

Three Ways Outsourcing Your Marketing Supply Chain Can Bridge the Gap

In short, outsourcing marketing supply chain management gives franchisees the support they need launch campaigns more efficiently and reach more audiences — without franchisors feeling the need to micromanage or sacrifice other key initiatives to make time for local marketers.

1. Centralized Collateral

The first step in executing any marketing campaign is creating collateral. And, when you’ve got marketing reps all over the country creating their own collateral (even if you’ve given them clear branding guidelines), this is also where you run the biggest risk of diluting your brand with off-key messaging and visuals. And yet, the last thing a franchisor wants is to be fielding requests from franchisees every time someone needs the latest copy of a flyer, updating materials with a single franchise’s contact informationor providing an up-to-date banner for a local event.

But what if there was a centralized, digital location where franchisees could access the latest collateral — all approved by the franchisors — and customize it to their particular audiences’ needs (within brand guidelines) before placing a print order? Outsourcing print marketing efforts to a single-source partner can provide just that, meaning headquarters can rest assured the brand was in good hands and franchisees can have the support they need to feel confident in their own marketing capabilities.

2. Trusted Printing & Distribution Facilities

Franchisors don’t have time to be the guardians of the collateral, nor do they have the time to manage every franchisee’s print orders. But again, leaving franchisees to find and contract with their own printers is liable to lead to questionable collateral quality — a printer may struggle with grand format printing or high volumes or tight deadlines — and lapses in brand consistency.

Your marketing supply chain manager can solve that problem, too, giving franchisees access to a trusted printer and distributor that can bring those HQ-approved designs to life and ensure they get where they need to go, when they need to get there, every single time. As a franchisor, partnering with a trusted vendor to give your franchisees the authority to outsource production and distribution to an approved team of pros is like giving them superpowers. From printing (in any format, from business cards and banners to flyers and floor stickers) to kitting and shipping to franchise locations or mailing directly to customers, your print marketing partnership takes plenty of the logistical burden off local and national marketers’ shoulders.

3. Powerful Business Insights

Another powerful thing the right partner can take off a franchisor’s to-do list is tracking. Traditionally, HQ teams have to track down franchisees’ reports to know which marketing campaigns are effective (or not), how much budget has been used, how much of any piece of collateral is in stock, etc. Reliance on so many moving pieces often leads to inaccuracies and gaps in the data, making it difficult to track marketing progress at any given time.

However, by centralizing order processing and handing off the legwork to a trusted partner, franchisors can take advantage of near-real-time tracking of key metrics the help both national and local marketers reduce waste, control budgets and make savvy investments in proven marketing strategies.

For franchisors and national marketers managing a growing list of franchisees, outsourcing marketing supply chain management can have significant local and national benefits. From the brand security to the time and resources both franchisors and franchisees get back to focus on critical business strategy, contracting with a trusted vendor to handle marketing execution has the potential to do great things for a franchisor’s national brand, local sales and bottom line.

To learn more about whether OneTouchPoint is the right single-source marketing solution for your organization, we invite you to contact us today or request a quote on your next project. Our experts will provide insight and ideas to deliver phenomenal results at a great price.