People can’t do business with you unless they know you exist. While Merry Maids has extensive name recognition as one of the largest home cleaning businesses in the U.S., we continue to invest in marketing to increase awareness of our brand and drive business to our franchisees.
One of the advantages of a franchise is the obligation under the Franchise Rule to provide information about marketing support through the franchise disclosure document (FDD). Specifically, Item 11 — Franchisor's Assistance, Advertising, Computer Systems and Training — covers some key elements of the brand’s franchise marketing plan.
Here’s a brief overview of the franchise advertising information in Item 11 and how Merry Maids addresses them in our FDD.
Franchisor Obligations: Franchise Advertisement
The FDD lists obligations for franchise advertising. This can include the media used, whether the advertising is local, regional, or national in nature, the source of advertising, and whether the franchisor must spend a certain amount on advertising and where it is to be spent. Merry Maids does not dedicate a specific amount to advertise the franchise system.
Using Non-Franchise Ad Material
Some franchisors permit franchisees to create advertising material under certain circumstances. Merry Maids, as the franchisor, provides national marketing and brand recognition but it is necessary for all franchisees to maintain their own marketing techniques on a local level. Since franchisees know their market better than anyone else, individualizing marketing efforts to the local area can often lead to greater success.
The Advertising Council
A franchisor may establish an advertising council comprised of franchisees who advise the franchisor on advertising policies. If provided, the franchisor will disclose how council members are selected, whether they are advisory-only in nature or have operational decision-making power, and how changes to the council are made.
Merry Maids has a committee that administers its advertising fund (more below) and that is elected by and comprised of your fellow franchisees. The committee is empowered to develop all franchise advertising programs and serves as an advisor to the franchisor.
Advertising Cooperatives
If a franchisee is required to participate in an advertising cooperative, this section includes how the area of the cooperative is established, how much must be contributed to the cooperative, who has the responsibility of administering the funds, and any documents required.
Merry Maids does not require franchisees to participate in an advertising cooperative.
Advertising Funds
Many franchisors have ad funds that require franchisee contributions. In this case, the franchisor indicates the level of that contribution, how the fund is administered, and what happens to unspent contributions.
The Merry Maids ad fund requires franchisees to contribute 1.3% of gross weekly sales, and the company-owned Merry Maids branch contributes the same. The fund may be used towards:
- preparing and conducting advertising campaigns
- preparing other sales, marketing, promotional, and public relations activities and materials
- monitoring and managing social media
- employing advertising agencies
- the costs of the toll-free number
In 2022, the ad fund expenditures included online digital marketing for franchises, non-digital advertising, creative development of advertising, social media promotion, public relations, and maintaining the 24/7 call center service.
Accounting: How Fees Are Spent
If all advertising funds aren’t spent for the year, the franchisor details how they use the remaining amount. At Merry Maids, ad funds are kept in a separate account from all other funds, and a review of the spending is conducted annually by a certified public accountant. The franchisee committee decides how excess funds will be allocated.
Soliciting New Franchise Sales
Some franchisors may use ad funds to solicit new franchise sales and must detail that in the FDD. Merry Maids does not use advertising fund contributions to solicit new franchisees.
Extra Franchise Advertising Merry Maids Provides
When a new franchise is opened, there’s additional franchise marketing support to create a strong foundation for success. This includes a personalized e-commerce platform that allows you to connect with customers at any time, giving you the power to sell around the clock, a proprietary website with marketing materials, and key promotional items you can choose to use in your area.
Local Advertising
As a new franchisee, you contribute to an online marketing fund in your first year to support a lead generation service specific to your territory. The fee is part of your initial investment, and we also allocate a portion of your franchise fee to this service.
To maintain the marketing support locally, Merry Maids franchisees contribute 0.7% of weekly gross sales on local digital marketing.
Find Out More About Merry Maids
One of the benefits of a Merry Maids franchise is we are transparent about costs, training, support, and how we do this better than anyone else in the industry. If that kind of straightforward relationship appeals to you, then you should consider becoming a Merry Maids franchise owner.
Start by requesting more info .