Local Advertising Strategies for Ice Cream Franchises

The ice cream market continues to be a favorite in franchising, driven by its universal appeal and steady growth. The global ice cream market is forecast to hit over $89 billion by 2025, driven by a steady CAGR of 4% from 2020 to 2025. This growth is fueled by rising disposable incomes, evolving consumer tastes, and the introduction of innovative flavors that captivate the market. As we look ahead, several trends stand out, offering franchise marketers a roadmap to success.

  • Consumer Trends and Preferences: Consumers are increasingly health-conscious, driving demand for healthier, low-sugar ice cream alternatives. Organic, vegan, and lactose-free options are gaining popularity, alongside a strong interest in artisanal and premium products featuring unique flavors and high-quality ingredients.

  • Innovation and Customization: In a competitive market, franchises are attracting customers by offering a wide variety of flavors, toppings, and mix-ins for personalized experiences, along with interactive elements like made-to-order ice cream rolls or liquid nitrogen freezing techniques.

  • Seasonal Demand and Geographic Considerations: Ice cream sales peak during the summer, so franchise owners need to consider regional climate patterns, with warm, tourist-friendly areas benefiting from higher foot traffic, while franchises in colder regions may need to diversify their offerings or rely on event-driven traffic during slower seasons.

Empowering Ice Cream Franchisees with Local Advertising

To tap into these trends and boost growth, franchise brand marketers need to equip their franchisees with strong local advertising strategies on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Amazon Sponsored Display. Seasonal demand and geographic considerations make localized advertising crucial for ice cream franchises. Temperature and seasonal changes mean messaging needs to adapt, so it is essential to give franchisees the tools to select the best ads for their location.

Platform-Specific Strategies

Facebook

Facebook’s massive audience spans a wide range of age groups, making it ideal for reaching every demographic. Its sophisticated targeting capabilities allow ice cream franchisees to connect with high-intent local audiences, driving traffic and orders. Radius, zip code, and city targeting hone in on specific service areas. Minimum budgets of $1 a day make Facebook advertising attainable for most local businesses. Dayparting by location can increase performance and improve relevancy. Localized ads featuring mouth-watering images of your ice cream can entice nearby customers to visit your store. Highlight special promotions or limited-time flavors to create urgency.

Instagram and TikTok

Vertical video content dominates on both Instagram and TikTok, and these platforms are ideal for showcasing your ice cream-making process, clever customizations, or customer reactions to new flavors. Reels on Instagram and Facebook offer broad demographic reach with quick, impactful ads, though music usage is limited to original or licensed tracks. TikTok, appealing to a younger crowd, provides flexible video lengths for varied storytelling and boasts a vast music library. Both platforms offer valuable analytics, guiding franchisees to optimize their ad strategies. By empowering your franchisees with local advertising technology, you help them overcome the challenges of creating short-form video and enable them to take advantage of the power of vertical video advertising.  

While Reels targeting parameters are the same as Facebook (see above), it should be noted that TikTok parameters differ in several meaningful ways. First, TikTok does not support radius targeting, but rather focuses a level up to zip code, DMA, or city. Second, TikTok’s minimum budget requirements are higher at $50 per day. These spending requirements are lower than in years past and will continue to decrease as more and more advertisers leverage the tool and publish ads.

Amazon Ads Sponsored Display

Amazon Sponsored Display is a powerful new tool for targeting ice cream lovers based on purchase and viewing behaviors in the Amazon ecosystem. Tiger Pistol’s collaboration with Amazon Ads introduces Sponsored Display Ads to a broad range of businesses, including those not selling directly on Amazon, like ice cream franchises, to promote in-store specials and events. Amazon assembles high-intent audiences from its vast data, allowing fitness franchisees to reach potential customers efficiently. Creative execution is a cinch, and Amazon Sponsored Display requires no minimum daily budget.  

Ice cream franchises can drive substantial growth by leveraging local advertising on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Amazon Sponsored Display. These platforms offer powerful tools to target local customers effectively, boosting foot traffic, web traffic, and event bookings. In a competitive market, staying ahead means embracing these digital strategies to connect with customers and keep them coming back for more.

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