This morning I had the distinct pleasure of being interviewed on Tweet Chat by Jennifer MacDonald, Director of Community and Client Engagement at Engage121. The topic of discussion was Franchising and Social Media, a topic very close and dear to my heart.

Starting off the discussion, Jennifer asked me, “Why should I let my franchisees use Social Media?” to which I responded, “Today’s consumer is more sophisticated and technologically advanced than ever before, and expect brands to be online!” and followed up with, “Franchisees need to be on social media to provide the “local” experience for consumers.” The discussion may be viewed on Twitter by searching the hashtag #IFA2012.

But if you really want (need) a more comprehensive answer to the question, I suggest reading Jennifer’s post, Why should I let my franchisees use Social Media, posted today on Engage121 blog. Here’s an excerpt of the post…

Why wouldn’t you? I’m going to guess that your first thought is brand management. That is understandable. But, you let your franchisees market their business now and you have brand guidelines for them to follow. You provide training when they first join your franchise network, and maybe you show them how to use your email marketing system. Why not add a little training about using Facebook for business as well?

If you don’t have the manpower for training, then make sure to add some guidelines to your brand policy. Point your franchisees in the right direction for support, such as Facebook’s Help Center or Twitter’s support center. List a few good blogs for them to follow in order to learn Best Practices, such as Spin Sucks, SmartBrief on Social Media, and Mashable.

Read the complete post here.

About Engage121

For more than 10 years, Engage121, Inc has provided communications software and services to hundreds of national franchisors, dealerships and direct sellers. We sell software applications on a subscription basis to marketing and customer service leaders who need to manage their communities. Simply put, Engage121 is an established social CRM software company. Engage121 drives demand and incremental revenues for customers by providing access to millions of engaged consumers. We have a client-driven development approach to adapt our platform to your business and customer relationships today and tomorrow. Customer satisfaction is our top priority.