A New Focus + Two Big Social Media Hot Topics

In this episode, host Vera Shafiq returns to the podcast with a fresh focus on franchise marketing. She discusses the unique challenges and opportunities within the franchise sector, highlighting the importance of consistent branding, local marketing strategies, and data utilization. Vera emphasizes the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in transforming marketing practices, sharing actionable tips on implementing AI effectively and ethically. The episode also delves into recent social media developments, including TikTok's brief ban and Meta's removal of fact-checking, offering strategic advice for franchise marketers to adapt and pivot in response to these changes.

00:00 Welcome Back to the Podcast

00:27 Focusing on Franchise Marketing

01:32 The Role of AI in Franchise Marketing

02:55 Ethical Implications of AI

04:23 Social Media Developments in 2025

04:51 The TikTok Ban: What Now?

06:35 Meta's Free Speech Shift

09:02 Final Thoughts and Action Plan

09:30 Closing Remarks

Transcript

Vera: 0:10

Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the podcast. I'm your host Vera Shafik. And it's been a minute since I recorded this, but I am back and I'm really excited to be back. These are still going to be very much real and relevant discussions on doing marketing the right way. But I'm going to start focusing in specifically on franchise marketing now. I really wanted to niche down on an area of marketing that's been near and dear to my heart for a while now. I've been fully immersed in franchise marketing over the past few years. And let's be honest, there are a lot of challenges franchisors and franchisees in the marketing space, and it's a very unique set of challenges that require a unique approach. So, I want to talk about some of these, and I really do think that the franchise world is ripe for disruption right now. We have a lot of volume of data available to us, and the need for consistent branding across multiple locations. The complexities of local marketing strategy. There's so much to navigate and sift through. And I really do think this deserves a shift in the way we do things. So instead of doing things the way we've always done them, let's start to think of new ways that we can do things, innovating and trying new things. And yes, AI is going to be one of those things that I think we all need to try. So over the coming weeks, we will talk about all things franchise marketing, and there'll be a pretty heavy focus on AI and how we can use it to do faster, better, and smarter marketing. And I think the key there is better. We'll go beyond the hype. So I want to get away from talking about the theory and the why we should, or what we could be doing with AI. And start to talk about how we actually implement it today. So I will keep it practical and actionable and give you some relevant day to day, tips and tricks on how to solve for some of the challenges that you are facing. And provide you with some tools that you need to succeed. And then on top of that, we'll also be talking about developing a strategic roadmap for your AI initiatives within your franchise. So we'll talk about identifying key business objectives and how we can use AI to solve for these objectives and then measure the success. So I really want to also move away from blindly jumping on the AI bandwagon. Instead of doing random acts of AI, as I like to call them, let's start to do things meaningfully and cohesively with a plan in place. So we'll talk about all of that in weeks to come. And finally on the topic of AI, I really do think we cannot ignore the ethical implications of using AI. So we will dive into issues such as data privacy, algorithmic bias, and responsible AI practices. Is it safe to share our proprietary business data with chat GPT? Things of that nature. And we also want to make sure that we maintain trust with our consumers, right? We want to use AI in a way that they feel good about. They, you know, we want to disclose that we're using AI. But make them feel like it's a good thing, right? So that we're still delighting our consumers and customers. And then finally, how to get our internal teams on board with using AI. I know a lot of people are still worried that AI is going to take away their jobs. And I really don't think that's the case. AI is going to help us to do our jobs differently. So our jobs are going to change dramatically over the next few years. The way we do things and what we do as marketers will change, but we're not losing our jobs in any way. We're just going to be doing our jobs better and AI is going to be enhancing that for us and really being our thought partner and our assistant in doing, our jobs better. So all of that to come. I want to also stress that not every episode will be directly related to generative AI. I want to give attention to all of the topics that we are currently, immersed in. And so, So with that, let's segue into today's episode and let's dive deep into two massive social media developments that could reshape the way that franchise marketers engage with their audiences in 2025. The two headlines are the TikTok ban, and is it a ban or is it not a ban? And then Meta removing fact checking from their platform. So let's unpack. Segment one, the TikTok ban. What now? Well, TikTok was banned for a day and then it came back. So as I record this, it is January the 20th and TikTok was banned on Saturday night in the US and then it came back again pretty quickly, within 24 hours or so. So this was, a result of President Trump vowing that he will, Allow TikTok to remain a staple social media platform here in the U S and it's still pretty unclear as to what the future of TikTok is, but I don't think it's going anywhere. I think it's just going to change. Maybe management of it will change, but, it's still going to be a platform that we are going to be able to advertise on and, expose our brands on as franchise marketers. So I think the key takeaway from this is really just make sure That you don't have all your eggs in one basket. I know a lot of franchise marketers do lean in on TikTok, especially for influencer marketing tactics. And you can still continue to do that, continue to make that short form content, which is still super important, but just make sure that you are diversifying across other short form content platforms, such as Instagram reels. YouTube shorts, and even, Snapchat spotlight, right? That would be another example. And then, with the influencer side of things, just make sure that the influences that you are, Partnering with also do not have their eggs in one basket. So they should be diversified to where they're also present on other platforms other than TikTok. And I think, you know, as long as you keep that in mind and make sure that you have your media budgets earmarked correctly for 2025, I think you should be in a good spot. Moving on to the second topic, meta's free speech shift. And is it now going to be the new Wild West on the meta platform? Well, I think that Meta's decision to remove fact checking and rely on community notes poses some new challenges I think one of the things could be the managing of reputation. So, with the new rules, we could start to see more Negative speech about our brand showing up on the meta platform. People could start to say things about our brand that we really, don't want to see out there. So I think the key here is going to start to be paying attention more to reputation management. Using social listening tools more and really making sure that we are responding favorably to comments that are being made about our brand on social media, just kind of having our ear to the ground and being aware of what's being said. So I think this could be a potential risk. I think that we could see more engagement now on the meta platform, just because this has been opened up to, more, Free speech and so we could start to see more people on the platform Maybe different audiences on the platform and we may start to see ad costs go down on the platform that remains to be seen But I think it's just a matter of keeping our finger on the pulse of what's going on there and I think with the risks of misinformation now, and without that traditional fact checking, you should just adapt into, doubling down on your own content, right? So instead of relying on social media platforms, and again, this is going back to having all your eggs in one basket, just start to use your official website, your blog, your social media pages. Keep those as the authoritative sources for your brand. And then, finally, I think you can use what I call the case study approach is look at X and what's happened on X. Elon Musk did a similar move to where he removed fact checking and, if you've been using X as a social media advertising platform, you probably already know. What kind of changes that could involve. And so just use that as a case study and use it to learn and drive decisions, that you make for Instagram and Facebook. With that, I think final thoughts and action plan would be the key takeaway for franchise marketing executives here is don't panic. Just pivot. TikTok is likely here to stay and the demand for short form content isn't going anywhere. It's just shifting. So just adjust your strategies accordingly. And future proof your strategy by balancing your social media presence with direct audience engagement on your brand controlled platforms. That's it for today's episode. I want to hear from you though. I want to hear how your franchise marketing team is adjusting to these changes. Please send me an email at hello at Vera Shafik. com or hit me up on LinkedIn at Vera Shafik. Thanks for tuning in. If you found this episode valuable, be sure to subscribe and leave a review. Until next time, keep innovating and adapting.