What are some ways you adapt local store marketing for different markets and customers?

When it comes to local store marketing (LSM) for multi-unit restaurant franchisees, “Adapt or die” is key to survival.

Or, as boxing legend Muhammad Ali said in 1966 to explain his knockouts of Sonny Liston and Floyd Patterson, “I got different strokes for different folks.”

Okay, not quite the same, but you get the point. As the multi-unit operators below point out, when it comes to local store marketing, one size does not fit all—of course. The ongoing challenge for operators with units in different markets and neighborhoods, remains defining those differences and implementing campaigns to capitalize on them—hopefully, before the competition does.

In addition to the responses below, here are several articles you may find helpful in connecting with customers in your various markets (before the competition does).

Top 15 Local Store Marketing Ideas for Restaurants in 2025

9 Local Store Marketing Ideas for Restaurants To Attract a Loyal Crowd

2025 Restaurant Franchise Marketing: Creating Local Content

9 Local Store Marketing Ideas for Restaurants Your Brand Needs

12 Local Franchise Marketing Strategies

Top Local Franchise Marketing Strategies You Need To Know in 2025

How [Franchisors Can] Help Franchisees Market Their Business Locally and Drive Maximum Revenue

Remember, it’s not all about digital, SEO, geofencing, etc. They all are part of the LSM puzzle. But don’t forget about the value of in-store flyers and offers, or of face-to-face time with customers, including training your frontline staff to connect with customers. There’s more to marketing success than 0’s and 1’s!

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Franchisee Bytes: How do you balance life and work?

CONLEY MCINTYRE III

Company: Owner, Eggs Up Grill

Brands: 10 Eggs Up Grill

Years in franchising: 8

We adapt each LSM plan to the needs of the specific community. We may do similar things (burger special, characters, etc.), but each is tailored to meet the needs of that community/store location. We choose to tailor the LSM plans so we can get the most value and response from our efforts. The old saying, “Not one size fits all” is the way we look at it.

For instance, our Anderson, SC store, next to a Publix with a largely senior customer base, thrives on a Senior Day free coffee promo. In Powdersville, SC, a rural market, community involvement with schools, sports teams, and pancake dinners drives the best results. Our Simpsonville location is in a more affluent area so we lean into catering and children’s events. Our Savannah, GA location is in a tourist area, a residential area, and in a pre-gentrification area, so it requires a mix of value offers for locals, tourist-targeted promotions, and reputation rebuilding in a gentrifying neighborhood.

By targeting our LSM to the specific area, we are able to maximize marketing dollars, strengthen community ties, and build loyal repeat customers who feel like family.

CHARLES R CHADWICK, JR.

Company: Franchise Owner, L&L Hawaiian Barbecue

Brands: 5 L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, 3 Round Table Pizza, 2 Pizza Factory

Years in franchising: 12

We market heavily on delivery apps as the convenience of ordering through a mobile device has proven successful to our stores. We also leverage mailers and targeted social media advertising to promote our offerings and highlight events tailored to each location.

SETH GOLDSTEIN

Company: Management 360 LLC

Brands: 9 Jersey Mike’s, 4 Sola Salon Suites

Years in franchising: 40

We adapt to local needs by looking for events, meetings, fundraisers—and of course, golf tournaments!—that are unique and really local to our shops. Supporting them with product or coupons shows participants that we really want to be part of the local community. We give to give, and look for recognition only from that community or organization. We do specific advertising to businesses for catering options, sometimes supplying them with a free meal, just so they can sample and see our ability to fill their future catering needs. In our Sola Salon Suite business, we advertise to licensed stylists and help them with their online presence by amplifying their posts and helping them to procure new clients.

GREG THOMAS 

Company: President, LSGF Management 

Brands: 4 Smoothie King, 71 Great Clips, 1 Salty Dawg Pet Salon + Bakery (Area Developer) 

Years in franchising: 21

Thomas is a member of the Multi-Unit Franchising Conference Advisory Board. The company has been a Smoothie King franchisee since 2008, and although the examples below are for LSGF’s hair salon business, they are directly applicable to how multi-unit restaurant operators can adapt their local marketing strategies and tactics for different markets and consumer tastes.

I think it’s important to first identify your target customer and then determine what is the specific goal of your marketing. For example, is your goal to attract first-time customers or to increase the frequency of your existing customers? Although my biggest holding is in the hair salon business, the tactics below also apply to my restaurants.

My primary goal for marketing is to attract new first-time customers. For the most part, that means I have to convince a customer to leave their current salon and to give my store/brand a try. Offering a slight discount typically won’t get them to leave their favorite stylist. But a steep discount or a “free” offer might. When doing an aggressive offer such as this, you have to be strategic about where you’re marketing. You don’t want to give steep discounts to your existing customers because that’ll kill your profits.

While targeting first-time customers is my primary goal, I’m also cognizant that there are a lot of people out there (perhaps 20% of the market) who are not loyal to a brand or to a stylist; rather, they’re loyal only to the coupon they have in their hand that day. For example, this month they might visit Supercuts because they have a 20% off coupon; next month they might visit Sport Clips for the “first-time-customer” free offer; and the next time they might visit Hair Cuttery for their Senior Tuesday special. To make sure my Great Clips salons get our share of the consummate coupon-cutter’s business, sometimes it’s good to do a large shared-mailer coupon with just a slight discount of perhaps $5 off. This type of discounting won’t attract many new customers, but it can definitely boost incremental sales.

Regardless of what type marketing we do, it’s always important to know how many miles around your store you should be targeting. If you’re in small city such as Statesboro, Georgia that’s surrounded by miles of farmland, you might want to target homes within a 20-mile radius of the store. But if you’re in Atlanta and have dozens of other salons nearby, you might want to just target homes that are within 3 miles of your store. One mistake a lot of franchisees make is to target customers who live near their fellow franchisees’ stores with steep discounts. While that coupon might be redeemed at your salon that’s several miles away, the next time that customer gets their hair cut, they’ll simply return to their neighborhood salon. Which means you just lost money servicing a first-time customer who’ll never return to your store and pay full price. That’s not smart discounting.

FRANCHISEE BYTES

How do you balance life and work?

There is constant retooling. I have had to work on putting down guilt of not being with my family when at work and not being at work when I am with my family. It is not an easy lesson to learn, and it takes time.
—Chad Given is Brand President of Sizzling Platter, which operates 361 Little Caesars, 107 Little Caesars Mexico, 185 Wingstop, 92 Jamba, 33 Jersey Mike’s Subs, 31 Dunkin’, 7 Sizzler, 5 Red Robin, and 1 Cinnabon. He is the 2025 Mega-Growth Leadership MVP for achieving excellence in growth and expansion. He’s been in franchising for 25 years.

Setting strong boundaries. Once I pick up my daughters from school, it’s mom time until they’re asleep.
—Chanel Grant is the 2025 Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion MVP for demonstrating exceptional commitment to the promotion of diversity, equity, and inclusion in her organization. She is co-owner of Healthy Living Ventures, which operates 6 Tropical Smoothie Cafe, 3 Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa, and 1 Vio Med Spa locations. She has been involved in franchising for 10 years.

Work-life balance is a work in progress for me. At this age, I am trying not to bring work home with me, but I believe it’s important to lead by example and show my children the value of both hard work and taking time for personal life. Finding that balance is something I’m still working on every day. My daughter, at a young age, always asked why I go to work on the weekends, and from there, I realized I needed to prioritize “me time.”
—Sam Chand is the 2025 Multi-Brand Leadership MVP for achieving brand leadership with multiple brands. He is CEO of Jasam Enterprises, which operates 35 KFC and 25 Checkers & Rally’s. He’s been in franchising for 27 years.

I think it’s more of a blend than a balance. I love what I do, and my family knows that and supports me. It really doesn’t feel like work to me, so sometimes, it’s hard to shut it off. I try to keep a reasonable blend of family time, faith, fun, and business. I am doing better than I used to, and I cherish the time I spend with my family.
—Nick Crouch is Co-Winner of the 2025 Single-Brand Leadership MVP for achieving leadership with a single brand. He is Co-CEO of Dyne Hospitality Group, which operates 118 Tropical Smoothie Cafes. He’s been in franchising for 13 years.

For me, there’s not a traditional sense of balance, and that’s okay. I love what I do, and I choose to be fully present and accessible. Being an entrepreneur means you’re always on, but it also means you get to lead from the front and inspire others every step of the way.
—Lawrence Kourie is Owner-Operator of 22 Dave’s Hot Chicken restaurants. He’s been in franchising for 12 years

You’ll never truly find the balance between life and work without the right partner. I’m blessed to have an amazing, caring, and loving wife and a wonderful family.
—Yunus Shahul, with his brother Thameem, is owner of Smartfoods Group, which operates 24 Cousins Maine Lobster units and 1 German Doner Kebab. He’s been in franchising for 7 years.

Balancing life and work can be challenging since I love what I do, which often leads to long hours. To maintain balance, I have to remind myself to step away, whether it’s shutting off my phone for the night, taking a mental health day, or sneaking away for a weekend. Being proactive about downtime helps me stay balanced and energized.
—Alex Karcher is Operating Principal of JCK Restaurants, which operates 61 Carl’s Jr., 11 Jersey Mike’s, 8 The Human Bean, 8 Dave’s Hot Chicken, and 1 Hawaiian Bros. He’s been in franchising for 14 years.

This comes down to prioritization in both life and work. A valuable lesson I learned early on: “If someone else can be doing it, they should be.” This helps prioritize your time and avoid spending it on things you simply don’t need to do.
—Mike Kulp is CEO of KBP Brands, which operates 828 KFC, 119 Arby’s, 85 Sonic, and 56 Taco Bell locations. In 2016, he served as Chair of the Multi-Unit Franchising Conference. He’s been in franchising for 26 years.

I plan, and I am intentional. I make a lot of lists and set reminders constantly. I surround myself with an amazing village. I make sure that I give myself fully to each child and my husband when we are together. I multitask with work like nobody’s business. I am known to post to Instagram for our six shops at 5 a.m. while feeding the dog and balancing my QuickBooks. I will continue to balance that work during lunch while I chat with my amazing co-workers.
—Carrie Ayers (along with husband Josh Ayers) is the 2025 Veteran Entrepreneurship MVP for outstanding performance, leadership, and innovation by military veterans. They operate 6 Playa Bowls and have been in franchising for 5 years.

We learned that the way to achieve a work-life balance is to recognize when imbalances occur, make the necessary adjustments, and then reprioritize what is needed. For us, we chose this lifestyle early on, and so to be effective, we learned to harmonize the two.
—Phong Huynh is the 2025 American Dream MVP for achieving remarkable success in his new country. He is Co-Owner of Fuego Investments, which operates 30 El Pollo Loco restaurants. He’s been in franchising for 15 years.