What top franchise brands get right in marketing (and how to copy them)

Obviously, franchises have a huge advantage when it comes to marketing. They have bigger budgets, access to the best talent, and a leadership team that encourages experimentation (most likely, anyway). However, there is still a lot that any brand can learn from franchises, even if the budgets don’t match up! Let’s take a look through some of the things that franchises get right, some of the things they get wrong, and how you can utilize franchise marketing best practices to drive higher marketing ROI.

What franchise brands get right about marketing

I’m sure you have a franchise in mind of whose marketing really resonates with you. There are a variety of franchises that do marketing very well, and very differently. However, there tend to be a few common themes among those that do particularly well.

Global brand consistency: Each franchise location, while based in a different community, region, or state has the exact same brand as the other. And, that consistency generally extends to the customer experience and core services or products, ensuring people receive a uniform experience and their expectations are met, no matter the franchise they visit. This creates strong brand loyalty and customer retention. There’s no guess work involved when you want a McDonald’s breakfast sandwich; you know where and how to get one.
Strong identity: This ties into brand consistency, but has more to do with brand voice. Having a strong brand identity means you can stand out in a crowded marketplace, and each location knows what the baseline for sales and marketing is, they don’t have to guess each time they run a campaign. Your customers will recognize your unique signature, even if the branding is localized.
Regional customization: Franchises are not afraid to engage in regional customization even if it slightly alters products or services. They know that addressing the specific interests and needs of each location’s cliente is the best way to ensure more new clients and return clients.
Local activation: The best franchises are engaged in their community, sponsor local events, and just generally believe in local activation to drive results.

How to copy the best of franchise marketing

Centralize your strategy, localize your tactics: Marketing works best when there is a strategy driving it. While there is certainly space for local objectives in a large marketing strategy, it’s best when you start with overarching goals and objectives and then give locations freedom on how they will execute to achieve those goals. Within this structure, each location can adjust for the attention to the local nuances they need to address. This allows them to build a plan that resonates with their clientele, rather than hope for broad engagement.

Avoid bottlenecks: What we really mean here is to make sure you do not have excessive approvals or lengthy processes for getting out marketing materials. If the process is lengthy at the national level, imagine how long it will take to get to each location. Where you can, automate tedious processes and use tools that improve efficiencies.

Train and empower local teams: Micromanaging is the death of marketing, or any initiative for that matter. There is merit in ensuring content meets brand standards, and you’ll be able to make that happen when you have a team of capable people that you trust to make decisions. Teams at each location should be well versed in marketing and able to execute their own campaigns, and make adjustments based on results, not wait for leadership. For any brand, one of the best things you can do for the success of your company and your employees is to constantly be upskilling and educating your team.

Choose tools to combat limited time and resources: Not everyone one has a franchise budget or a franchise marketing team. However, these days, brands have a variety of tools they can use to achieve somewhat similar results. It will not be the same, but it’s your best option for doing more with less. Generative AI tools are especially useful for marketing teams as are schedulers and data aggregators.

Use templates and style guides, but allow for personalization: Giving locations or a marketing team templates and style guides means they do not have to recreate the wheel every time they start a project. It also gives you the opportunity to bring in external consultants and not have to spend ages onboarding and explaining your brand.

Invest in email marketing: An engaged email list is one of the hottest resources a brand can have these days! Creating an email list can be as simple as creating an intake form on your website or networking at trade shows. Email gives you greater options for personalized content and driving targeted traffic.

The franchises that do it best (or at least leave lasting impressions)

Popeyes chicken sandwich phenomenon – We’d be remiss if we didn;t talk about the viral Popeyes chicken sandwich that everyone was talking about a few years ago. Popeyes managed to drum up lots of excitement to launch their new chicken sandwich on social media following a conversation with competitor Chick-Fil-A.
Wendy’s – In more recent years, Wendy has been the delight of social media users across the country namely for its hilarious responses to customers and competitors. They’re known for their “roasts” and no one is safe.
Orangetheory Fitness – The fitness company has done a brilliant job of using branded hashtags, SEO, social media, and content to drive local engagement and trials. They have done a number of influencer collaborations and experimental events at different locations, which speaks directly to their audience. They have mastered the art of hyperlocal and national advertising.

What’s a franchise that you think excels at marketing? We’d love to hear from you.