IFA Education’s newest Certificate program is designed to provide individuals with a specific series of courses, packaged as a subject pathway and designed to broaden perspective, enrich knowledge, and deepen understanding within the designated topic.  Through successful completion of the pathway courses and exam, the participant earns a specialty Certificate in the area. Each certificate pathway is built on twenty (20) hours of content and hosted through the IFA Academy as self-paced learning. Available 24/7, participants will have access to complete the pathway for six (6) months. Participation in the CFE program is not a requirement, however, each certificate pathway will provide 20 CFE Education credits to those in the CFE program.

The IFA Education team plans to launch three (3) Certificate Pathways in 2024 and increase the number to 25+ over the next three years.

IFA’s FIRST Certificate Pathway is the “Certificate in Franchise Marketing”

The IFA Certificate in Franchise Marketing is designed to build foundational knowledge of how marketing in a franchise system functions, identify the various roles and responsibilities of those working in marketing, explain how marketing is funded, and delineate the difference between national, regional, and local marketing programs. The course dives into specifics regarding Franchise Digital Marketing and more traditional advertising venues. Specific marketing efforts, including customer loyalty programs, cause marketing, grassroots marketing, employee marketing, and in-store campaigns are reviewed. In addition, one module details the marketing approaches franchisors may use to recruit franchisees, and future trends in marketing are highlighted. 

Learning Objectives: 

1. Define franchise marketing and distinguish between franchisor and franchisee roles 
2. Compare and contrast the three different types of franchise marketing programs (national, regional, and local) 
3. Explain the franchise advertising / marketing fund 
4. Summarize best practices for a Franchise System’s website 
5. Explain and differentiate a franchise SEO strategy at the national versus local levels 
6. Identify methods to measure the effectiveness of digital marketing at the national and local level 
7. Identify how to purchase traditional media  
8. Delineate ways to measure the effectiveness of traditional advertising 
9. Identify which other types of marketing efforts are driven by the franchisor or franchisee  
10. Describe key elements of the marketing mix used by franchisors to generate leads for recruiting new franchisees 

Provided in partnership with the University of Louisville.

Registration is OPEN NOW – Start your journey to earn the “Certificate in Franchise Marketing”