Annual Franchise Marketing Report Data You Can Use

The Annual Franchise Marketing Report (AFMR) was created to provide the kind of data and analysis that top marketing executives need to measure their success and learn how they can do better.

The report offers benchmarking data that provides marketing leaders with the insights they need to know to determine how they stack up against other franchise brands and their industry. Over the past few years, the annual report has become a great resource for helping franchise marketers improve the effectiveness of their marketing efforts and make the most efficient use of their marketing budgets.

We are beginning a series of articles that will draw out some important insights from the AFMR in upcoming issues of the Franchise Marketing & Leadership Report. It’s hopefully the kind of information that can give you an edge in your lead generation and recruitment efforts.

The most recent report was collected from a group of marketing leaders at 65 franchise brands who each completed an in-depth questionnaire in 2023. Their responses were aggregated and analyzed to produce an in-depth look into the marketing practices, budgets, and strategies of a wide cross-section of franchise brands and sectors.

MARKETING SPEND & EFFECTIVENESS

Choosing where to spend your marketing budget is important and challenging. External events—from the X-ification of Twitter to the advent of ChatGPT and GAI variations—can upset the best-laid plans. Then there are the ever-changing consumer tastes and preferences to factor in. Here are some highlights that reveal where marketers spent, and where they got the best results. Results vary by industry.

Social media. For the Retail Food and Retail Non-Food categories, social media was a prominent driver of consumer sales. For all categories, more business is being generated through company consumer websites. The question remains what drives people to those websites in the first place.

Digital sources. Respondents in the Food category reported that the following digital categories drove the most sales. In order of ranking, they were: 1) pay-per-click on search engines, 2) social media advertising, 3) search engine optimization, and 4) sponsored content.

Best sales platforms. Facebook produced the most sales in all categories, with Instagram second. YouTube and Twitter (now X) were also strong drivers in the Food category.

Most effective platforms. Respondents found the following platforms the most effective: Google Analytics, Yext, SOCi, Medallia, Chatmeter, Reputation.com, Rallio, HubSpot, Listen360, Consumer Fusion, Podium, Riso SEO, Moz Pro, ReviewTrackers, Merchant Centric, and company CRMs.

Top revenue generators. Pay-per-click, SEO, social media, and sponsored content were the top revenue generators among the general business categories. Re-marketing and target trailing were not on the radar this year.