[Case Study]: The UPS Store – Generating Leads to Fuel Franchise Development

Background:

The UPS Store, the No. 1 Postal and Business Services franchise and No. 4 Top Franchise from Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500 came to Mindstream Media Group for help improving their lead generation strategy for their franchise development efforts. Mindstream Media Group developed and implemented a number of strategies, demonstrating the ability to adapt to the organization’s ever-changing needs and goals.

In 2017, The UPS Store sought to significantly increase the volume of leads they were generating from franchise prospects to meet the aggressive goal of opening 120 new stores. Mindstream managed media campaigns have been by far the largest contributor of leads for The UPS Store, delivering an average 88 percent of all leads to the system.

Opportunities:

The main opportunity for Mindstream Media Group was to ensure that the client’s evolving media mix improved overall lead-to-application ratio while not sacrificing the overall quantity of leads being generated. The way that Mindstream was able to do this was gaining leads from new sources while also working closely with current vendors to maximize their offerings for the highest quality leads possible.

Solution:

Mindstream Media Group expanded their programmatic offerings to align with the highest premium partners through private marketplaces and included both retargeting and prospecting audiences. Additionally, Mindstream expanded to retargeting and prospecting on Facebook utilizing unique lead generation ads that allow prospects to convert directly from the platform. Finally, Mindstream looked to their franchise development partners to eliminate most email distribution and focus more specifically on CPL campaigns. Mindstream also increased link-building efforts in order for The UPS Store to gain market share on search engine result pages (SERPs).

Big Wins:

  • The Mindstream Media Group 2017 digital media campaign delivered 17,711 leads – 20 percent more than had been projected for the year.
  • Mindstream branding efforts also contributed to 8,473 organic leads – 24 percent more than had been projected for the year.
  • The UPS Store had a goal to open 120 new stores, they ended up opening 126 new stores – a 105 percent effective result.
  • Another 220 prospects have been approved and are waiting to have locations identified for opening stores.
  • Link-building remains an active strategy used by Mindstream to increase Organic Search and Referral Traffic, with tangential impact on increased keyword rankings.