Franchise Marketing: Proven Ways to Grow Your Brand

What is franchise marketing?

Franchise marketing is a growth strategy to help promote both your overall home services business brand and each individual location. 

It targets two groups at the same time: customers who want to buy your services, and prospective franchisees who may want to join your company.

Because franchises operate across multiple locations, it’s important to coordinate your marketing so the brand stays consistent and appeals to local customers.

There are a few different types of franchise marketing to be aware of:

• Franchise development marketing attracts new franchisees and educates them about your business, helping you grow franchises in new locations.
• Franchise digital marketing advertises your business through online channels, such as your website and social media accounts. It’s common for franchisors to handle this type of marketing at the corporate level. That said, some franchises have location-specific website pages or social media accounts so you can share offers with local customers. 
• Franchise location marketing promotes an individual franchise location. Franchisees usually take care of location marketing because they know the customers in their area and understand their specific needs.

These types of marketing combine to help franchisors and franchisees grow. The brand gets stronger at the regional or national level, and locations get the support they need to attract local customers.

The benefits of franchise marketing

Franchise marketing supports growth at the franchisor and franchisee levels by helping your company:

• Maintain a consistent brand so every location looks and operates the same way
• Build trust with customers and future franchisees
• Attract potential franchisees and give them the information they need to commit
• Show up online and boost brand awareness with customers and potential franchisees
• Stay competitive with other franchises in your industry
• Reduce marketing costs by using the same marketing tools across multiple locations

How to create a franchise marketing plan

To create a franchise marketing plan, you need to outline how your brand and each individual location will attract customers and support long-term franchise growth. 

Follow these steps to build a practical plan:

1. Define franchisor and franchisee roles. Corporate should handle brand strategy, regional or national campaigns, creative assets, and website management. Franchisees should manage local execution, like setting up Google Business Profiles, local ads, and community partnerships.
2. Choose your marketing channels. Common channels include paid search, social media, search engine optimization (SEO), email, direct mail, and online reviews. You can start with a few options and refine your strategy based on what’s working.
3. Set a realistic budget. Determine a marketing budget, ideally a combination of corporate and location-specific budgets. Corporate should pay for regional brand advertising, while locations should advertise offers to local customers. Keep this budget (your franchise marketing fund) tied to revenue so franchisees understand why the investment matters.
4. Define goals and key performance indicators (KPIs). Set simple, measurable goals that tie back to your marketing channels. Common KPIs to track include the number of leads, cost per lead, conversion rate, website visitors, job revenue, and reviews. Franchisors can also track franchise lead inquiries.
5. Build a campaign calendar. Plan campaigns in advance so corporate and franchisees stay aligned. Include seasonal promotions, specific service promotions, hiring campaigns, and themes for local events. This helps locations stay active year-round.
6. Standardize marketing tools. Choose tools for ad management, content scheduling, review collection, social media posting, and analytics so each location works the same way. This cuts costs and lets you easily compare performance across locations.
7. Review results and adjust. Do regular check-ins to review performance data and see where you should focus your efforts. Use these insights to refresh your ads or adjust your marketing campaign budgets so the company keeps growing.

7 franchise development marketing strategies to attract franchisees

Looking to grow your franchise with new locations? Try these practical tactics to reach potential franchisees:

1. Online ads: Use paid search and social media ads to target people looking for a franchise opportunity or investment option. Each ad should link to a location-specific web page outlining local demand, so prospects see a real opportunity, not a generic sales pitch.
2. Landing pages: Create location-specific pages that include franchise fees, training tools, brand support, franchisee reviews, and anything else that’ll convince someone to become a franchisee. Keep it simple and include a contact form for next steps.
3. Strong SEO: Update your website to include keywords related to franchise opportunities in your industry, like “buying a cleaning franchise” or “plumbing franchise [CITY NAME].” Showing up for these terms in Google will help you get in front of potential franchisees early in their research.
4. Social proof: Share written and video stories from real franchise owners talking about their training, support, earnings, and day-to-day experiences. This helps prospects understand what ownership looks like and builds brand credibility.
5. Brand story: Explain why your company is better than any other franchise in your industry, whether that’s stronger training, better margins, simpler operations, more customer demand, or proven growth in similar territories.
6. Email campaigns: Some leads take months to decide on a franchise. Automated emails can educate prospects, answer common questions, explain the onboarding process, and keep your brand top of mind.
7. Info sessions: Offer structured webinars and info sessions where prospects can learn about your business model and ask questions. This builds confidence and helps them picture themselves as a franchise owner in your company.

7 franchise digital marketing strategies to promote your brand online

If you’re looking to promote your service business brand across a wide geographic area, digital marketing for a franchise can help grow brand awareness and create customer demand:

1. Social media: Social media marketing for franchises helps build a recognizable brand and tell a consistent story across all locations. Use platforms like Facebook, Instagram, X, and TikTok to share service tips, customer stories, brand updates, and hiring messages. Influencer marketing can help build interest in your brand, too. Franchisees can use this content to guide their own social media profiles, while adding local flavor.
2. Search engine optimization (SEO): 87% of searches for home services start on Google, according to Phil Risher of digital marketing company Phlash Consulting. Home services SEO helps your brand appear in results when people search for your services. At the franchisor level, you’ll need to build location-specific pages and publish helpful content.
3. Content marketing: Publishing helpful, service-related content on your website builds credibility and supports franchise SEO. Articles, guides, FAQs, and how-to videos position your brand as a trusted resource while helping customers understand what you do. This also gives franchisees material that they can share with local customers.
4. Paid advertising: Paid search engine and social media ads help franchisors reach more customers at various stages of the decision-making process. Search ads reach customers who are searching for your services, while social ads build awareness among people who fit your ideal customer profile.
5. Email marketing: Corporate-led email campaigns help you connect with customers by offering seasonal promotions, educational content, service reminders, and brand updates. This also reduces the workload for franchisees who don’t have time to manage their own email marketing.
6. National promotions: When you run seasonal or service-specific campaigns for all locations, you create demand for all of your franchisees at the same time. These campaigns let franchisees benefit from large-scale advertising that would be too expensive to run on their own.
7. Online reviews:83% of people read Google reviews before choosing a service provider, also per Phil Risher. This makes your reviews essential for winning new customers. Tools like Jobber Reviews help you monitor ratings and engagement across locations to protect your franchise brand and deliver a consistent customer experience.

8 franchise location marketing strategies to reach local customers

While corporate sets the brand identity standards and provides tools, franchisees take care of on-the-ground execution to reach new customers within their own service area. 

Try these franchise location marketing strategies:

1. Local SEO: Local SEO helps each location show up when people search for nearby services. In addition to accurate location pages on your main website, franchisees will also need an active Google Business Profile with up-to-date hours, photos, service areas, and descriptions.
2. Reviews: High-quality, recent reviews help customers choose your location over a competitor. Franchisees should regularly request reviews after completing jobs and respond to them in a professional and consistent way. Send automated requests, get twice as many reviews, and track your online reputation with Jobber Reviews.
3. Referral programs: Existing customers are your best source of new business because they encourage friends and family members to trust your brand. Work with franchisees to create and run a customer referral program in Jobber that provides incentives to participate, like service discounts or giveaway entries.
4. Lawn signs: For service areas where it’s allowed, lawn signs placed after a completed job help build local awareness. They show nearby homeowners that someone in their neighborhood chose your company and is happy with your services.
5. Vehicle wraps: Service vehicles act as moving billboards. Well-branded vehicle wrap advertising reinforces your national brand and makes the location more visible in its community. This is ideal for home service franchises that are on the road every day.
6. Local media: Local franchise advertising can be very effective in smaller markets. Franchisees can run brand-approved ads on local radio stations, TV stations, or in community newspapers to reach prospective customers nearby.
7. Community partnerships: Supporting local sports teams, charities, events, and programs helps franchisees build trust and show your brand is invested in the area. This can help build a positive reputation and brand loyalty for your franchise business, leading to customer referrals.
8. Email marketing: Sending email campaigns through Jobber can help franchises source more work with less effort. Local email lists help franchisees stay connected with past customers, even after they move to a new area. Corporate can supply templates to keep branding and messaging consistent. You can also create a prospective franchisee list to keep possible partners interested.