Do You Know Where Lead Referrals to Your Franchise Development Website Are Coming From?
By: Michael Alston for Franchise Insights
May 29, 2024 — Cost per lead is often a key decision factor when evaluating franchise directory websites (portals), assuming quality standards are met. But leads submitted at franchise directory websites also result in substantial referral visits to franchisor websites, in addition to being a significant source of leads submitted at development websites, as we most recently reviewed in September 2023.
72% of visits to franchise portals offer additional ROI through referred visits to your franchise development website, in addition to the leads they provide.
After aspiring business owners submit inquiries at a franchise portal, very few end their searches there. The vast majority of prospects who are exposed to your brand and request information about it go on to continue their research while awaiting response from a franchise representative.
Consistent with our earlier looks at the referral value of portals, data from March though May 2024 show that 72% of them went on to visit franchise development websites. More than a third (37%) of those who visited (or 27% of total submitters) also fill out the lead form on your franchise website right after having requested information via the franchise portal.
Data show 37% of the referred visitors from the portals also submit an inquiry at the franchisor’s website shortly afterwards.
“Referral value” or “pass-along value” are terms used to describe this value, which is in addition to the immediate “conversion” value of a franchise lead. These very interested prospects get attributed to the franchisor’s website, even though they originated on the portal. Despite the error in attribution, the follow-up visits are very valuable, and make for more informed prospects.
These referrals, however, may lead to grossly underestimating the return on advertising spend (ROI) at lead generation portals if not taken into consideration. Regularly reviewing sources of referred traffic on your website analytics platform (e.g. Google Analytics) is the best way to know what sources are the most productive. You can set up a recurring email to yourself showing sources (referring sites) for your referral visits
Set up a recurring email to yourself showing sources (referring sites) for your referral visits.
The “Mystery Shop” survey is conducted monthly by FranchiseInsights.com from a large sample of franchise inquirers across the FranchiseVentures lead generation platform. The data presented here is from prospect surveys from March through May 2024.
Franchise Ventures is the leading franchise lead-generation platform for potential franchisees to thousands of growing franchise systems in the United States and Canada. Its franchise lead generation brands include Franchise.com, Franchise Solutions, Franchise Gator, Franchise Opportunities, Franchise For Sale, SmallBusinessStartup.com and BusinessBroker.net, and together they provide the largest aggregation of prospective franchise buyers in the U.S.
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Published on Tuesday, May 28th, 2024.