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What has the pandemic done to local marketing for franchisees?

Knowing how to be a social media influencer isn’t a requirement of becoming a franchisee with COBS Bread. And thank GOODNESS- being an influencer is a full-time job in and of itself!

That said, being engaged on social media for a community-focused small businesses is a great way to share the bakery’s unique personality while interacting with customers.

Recent studies have shown that the pandemic effect on technology is that it has accelerated consumer’s digital adoption by three years. (Source: McKinsey, Media Metrics, MobileStat.) This means it is more important than ever for our franchisees to get on to the applicable social channels.

There is something to be said for sharing inspiring, organic content to your local community, from your local community bakery. Community is a part of COBS Bread’s DNA. Recently, our Area Manager Ronen in Ontario developed a plan to help his bakeries “get savvy” on social. Thanks to his plan and the help of COBS Bread’s marketing team (not to mention franchisee buy-in!), many bakeries in his region have seen the benefits of having an active social presence.

If you’re considering opening a small business franchise, it’s definitely a piece of local marketing that you can get going right away. It serves as an efficient advertising ecosystem. As you create posts and fun ideas, the more followers you get, giving you a bigger audience each time you communicate.

Hot tip! Many of our franchisees empower team members to manage their social channels, which is a great way to boost employee engagement.

Here are some ways COBS Bread supports your bakery with getting on board with social, and some bakery accounts for inspiration.

Social Media Support from COBS Bread

  • During your opening, you are provided with a template to help guide you with your first posts, recommendations for captions, images, and more.
  • Franchisee can use resources on COBS Bread’s internal extranet.  We provide How-Tos for each social channel, a guide on partnering with influencers, and a monthly content calendar so franchisees can see what’s coming up.
  • Branded social images are available for our franchisees to download with every marketing campaign, in addition to editable images for recruitment, bakery hours and fundraisers.
  • Monthly content suggestions from our marketing team,  which we share in our internal weekly newsletter.

Some Social Superstar Bakery Accounts

  • Lakeshore (Oakville) – Kevin and the team at Lakeshore are very active on Instragram. They share content around their End of Day Giving program, fundraising, team photos, and more. They have over 2,600 followers!
  • Bloor St West (Toronto) – This team started with zero social presence to becoming little Insta stars! There is a lot of personality in all of their posts, and it’s a great example of a team engaged with the vibe of their neighborhood.
  • Spall Road (Kelowna) – With over 3,000 followers, they’ve really engaged with their community! They share great product shots, as well as all the ways they give back.
  • St Vital (Winnipeg) – We love the way franchisee Randi communicates with the community in her posts. She’s coined a “BFF” as Bread Friends Forever, and she puts a lot of work into planning her content.

We hope what you’ve seen in these accounts will:

  1. Make you a little bit hungry.
  2. Give you a sense of what it means to your community to be the owner of a local bakery.
  3. Feel inspired!
  4. Encourage you to apply to become a COBS Bread franchisee.