The most successful franchises have their business down to a science—but does that attention to detail extend to their social media presence? The question occurred to me after reading a Dedric Polite post on HubSpot Blog about a franchise local marketing mistake: when a franchisee does not have its own website. It’s not hard to imagine that a franchisee might also not have its own social media accounts.

The thought of having dozens or hundreds of Twitter accounts or Facebook pages can be daunting for the franchise corporate office, but the fact is that location-specific accounts give owners an opportunity to engage their market and connect with stakeholders in a personalized way. How can the corporate office make it work?

• Establish company-wide social media account guidelines.
• Provide education about engaging through social channels, including how to respond to negative reviews.
• Monitor all brand-related online chatter with social media monitoring.

You’ve got burger making or air duct cleaning down to a science; it’s time to apply those same principles to the company’s social media strategy.