Core franchisees* spent an average of $2,009 on advertising and promotion in 2017, while Plus Spender franchisees* spent an average of $86,275, according to Wave 21 of our Local Commerce Monitor™ survey of small businesses (Q3/2016). Over 3/4 of franchisees (77%) plan to increase their advertising budgets over the next 12 months. Another fifth (19.6%) will maintain their current spend levels, while only 3.5% plan to decrease.
Past waves of the Local Commerce Monitor survey have shown that franchisees are early adopters of new technology and advertising channels, and Wave 21 is no exception. For example, franchisees are allocating a growing amount of their ad budget to mobile advertising channels. According to a new complimentary research report from BIA/Kelsey and Vya — Franchisees Advertising and Marketing Research Report, “consumers rely on smartphones for their purchase journey and businesses would do well to integrate this knowledge into their marketing mix.” The report is available for download courtesy of Vya (link below).
Franchisees’ spend on mobile location aware advertising solutions** has shown considerable growth, wave over wave. Mobile location aware ad spend went from 1% of total ad budget last year to 3.5% of ad spend this year for Plus Spender franchisees and 1% last year to 4.5% for Core franchisees. Overall for both Core and Plus Spender franchisees mobile had the most increase in budget over the previous wave. “As consumers rely on multiple media over the day, so too must marketers follow these consumers across marketing channels,” according to the BIA/Kelsey and Vya report.
*Core SMBs have an average annual spend under $25,000. Plus Spenders have an average annual spend over $25,000.
**Mobile location aware advertising solutions are “location aware mobile advertising, in which a particular ad is sent to a customer mobile devices only if the customer is within a certain range of, or at, your premises.”
