Helping Franchises Turn Local Awareness Into Action

Adapting to a Growing Franchise Network

Working closely with Home Instead’s national office, TMC began developing campaigns that give franchisees the resources to raise awareness of their business locally, whilst positioning them as thought-leaders.

What Does a Franchise Campaign Look Like?

One campaign that proved a success was ‘Spot the Signs’. It highlighted the typical indicators that suggest your older loved may be struggling with day-to-day living, including unopened mail and failing to take medication, reflecting real-life scenarios that Home Instead clients’ loved ones very often cite. The campaign aimed to help people identify when extra support is needed.

With a strong message amplified across national channels, including social media and the website, the challenge now was to support franchisees in reaping the full benefits of the campaign locally.

Introducing the campaign to the franchise network, TMC hosted a webinar. It outlined the campaign message and the resources that aided them in spreading the word in their communities.

This content was presented through a toolkit developed by TMC, which covered three key areas:

Providing a templated press releases, TMC enabled franchisees to engage with their local media to gain press coverage. It gave them the ability to personalise the content whilst harnessing the strong message of the campaign.

Social media and content for franchisees’ websites allowed the campaign to gain strong visibility across more channels. Using their experiences of speaking to families, they could describe typical scenarios when people realise that the wellbeing of their older loved one has declined. It was their chance to reassure people facing these challenges and point them in the right direction for support.

Building relationships within the local community, franchisees can connect with key contacts who will refer potential clients to Home Instead. Franchisees were advised on which contacts to connect with and given guidance on how to engage with them. For many years, Home Instead has highlighted the need for early dementia diagnosis, intervention, and how to broach the subject of care to loved ones. This information was part of the ‘Conversation Starter’ developed by TMC, which outlined the message of the campaign and enabled franchise teams to nurture professional relationships with influential people in the community.

Thanks to strong network engagement with the campaigns, with 130 franchise offices using the resources, Home Instead has been able to create national noise on issues relevant to care and ageing. These messages projected at a national level are cascaded into communities across the country and translated into meaningful local action by franchisees on the ground. It’s no surprise why the campaign model is the go-to format for Home Instead’s PR campaigns.

Local Home Instead offices have helped families take the first steps into care; a journey that many of us aren’t prepared for when we’re faced with it. While subjects such as dementia are treated as taboo by many, franchise offices have got people talking and provided reassurance that a range of support is available from organisations that understand what people are going through.

TMC has given Home Instead franchise offices the tools to become ingrained into their communities and gain status as an official referral partner for many local organisations. Keeping people at home for as long as possible, looked after by those who care, is a mission shared by many. Home Instead teams across the UK have become local voices advocating for this and turning awareness into action.