Charles Watson, CFE Chief Development Officer for Tropical Smoothie - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Charles Watson, CFE

– Chief Development Officer for Tropical Smoothie Cafe – Contact: cwatson@tropicalsmoothiecafe.com

Tropical Smoothie Cafe

• We are a quick-casual concept that provides

better-for-you, great-tasting food and smoothies.

– Started as a single location in Destin, Florida in 1997 – Opened the first franchise in 1998 – Primarily grew on East Coast until 2014 – 500th location opened in 2016 – Locations coast to coast

Objective

• Generate qualified leads for Tropical Smoothie

Cafe in order to award 150 new locations in 2015.

Strategy: Integrated Marketing & Media Plan

• Designed to create awareness for the
• pportunity and generate qualified leads
• Rationale:

– Allows the brand to stay in front of prospects both nationally and in key markets as they are researching online – Continue the conversation with potential prospects even after they visit the website or submit a lead

Strategy: Integrated Media Plan

• Tactics:

– SiriusXM Radio

• Talk radio station mix that met

target audience requirements

– Entrepreneur Magazine

• Print ad in the Entrepreneur 500 issue with pre-

selected location on the category page for added exposure under the ranking

– Entrepreneur.com Display Ads & Listing

• Complement to the print ad that was placed in the

January issue of Entrepreneur

Strategy: Integrated Media Plan

• Tactics:

– Display Ads

• Contextual ads were served to those who fit
• ur target audience parameters. This ensured

we would pay for interactions with qualified individuals who are exploring sites/topics that mimic our current franchisees’ interests.

• Retargeting ads allowed us to stay in front of

consumers who visited the consumer site and may have an interest in owning a location, as well as stay in front of those who previously visited the franchise development site.

Strategy: Integrated Media Plan

• Tactics:

– LinkedIn

• Blog posts, press releases, and other timely content

was shared out through LinkedIn. The posts were used as a preview to the content, which prospects had to click through to the website to access…they were one step closer to converting.

Strategy: Integrated Media Plan

• Digital Tactics:

– Email Marketing

• “The Well” became Tropical Smoothie

Cafe’s quarterly newsletter to current and dormant leads.

• Content includes:

– Brand updates – List of new cafe openings – Franchisee profiles – Links to TSC in the news – General franchise tips

Strategy: Target Key Markets

• Strategy: Target key markets that have room

for growth and market penetration.

• Rationale:

– The advertising will increase awareness for the brand in key markets, which would increase sales and encourage franchisee validation.

Strategy: Online Advertising

• Tactics:

– Facebook & Display Ads

• Facebook and display ads were served in the

area that advertise the “Meet the CEO” event explicitly.

Strategy: Online Advertising

• Tactics:

– LinkedIn Sponsored Post Ads – Email Marketing

• Emails with “Meet the CEO” event

details were deployed to current and old leads in the target market and surrounding areas.

Strategy: Improve Website Conversions

• Strategy: Update website to create a better user

experience in order to convert more visitors.

• Rationale:

– More than one click was required to get key information. – A content strategy was needed to improve SEO and further connect prospects to the brand. – The website was not mobile responsive, and 60% of traffic was from mobile. – Conversion Rate = 1.9%

Strategy: Improve Website Conversions

• Tactic:

– Benefits of the new website design:

• Messaging was consistent with external advertising.
• Mobile conversions increased after the site was

responsive.

• Unique landing pages were created with exclusive

content for niche audiences.

Strategy: Website Update

Strategy: Creative Positioning

• Strategy: Effectively position the brand to our

target audiences.

• Rationale:

– In 2014, Tropical Smoothie Cafe rolled out a new Cafe

• design. All consumer-facing creative was updated, and

we saw the need for a franchise development creative update as well. – We wanted prospects to clearly know what brand they were exploring when they looked at our collateral, and we wanted prospects to have a good preview of what they’d see at a Cafe.

Strategy: Creative Positioning

• Tactic:

– Updated Messaging

• Prior to the 2015 creative update, Tropical Smoothie

Cafe was using Treat People Well | Feed People Well | Do Well as our campaign messaging, which was speaking to our better-for-you franchise concept and

• pportunity to do well for your community.

Strategy: Creative Positioning

• Because a creative change

was being executed, we also updated the messaging from Do Well to Invest Well.

– More action-oriented – Spoke to multi-unit owners who were looking for a good financial investment

Strategy: Creative Positioning

• Tactic:

– Brand Video

• A brand video was created for the franchise
• pportunity and edited to be used across numerous

digital platforms, including the website, display banner ads, and social media.

• The video included the updated brand messaging,

views of the new Cafe design and people enjoying their TSC experience, interviews with consumers and employees, and a call-to-action.

Strategy: Creative Positioning

Results

• Cost per Lead = $103.69
• Overall Cost per Sale = $2,227.94

– Well below the industry average of $6,000

• Website Conversion Rate = 3%

– Up from 1.9%

• Lead-to-Sale Ratio = 5%

– Up from 3% in 2014 – Exceeded industry average of 2%

Lessons Learned

• There was a greater appeal to multi-unit

franchisees after the 400th location opened and the AUV exceeded a 2:1 investment ratio.

– The average number of units purchased went from 1.3 to 2.2

• Indicating we were attracted a more sophisticated

buyer

Lessons Learned

• LinkedIn is an effective “drip campaign”

vehicle when timely, organic content is shared.

Lessons Learned

• Referral traffic from the consumer website is

an important traffic metric to follow closely.

• When the consumer website changed how

they communicated the franchise opportunity,

• ur leads decreased.

QUESTIONS?