For any business, marketing is extremely important. Marketing brings you constant leads and increases your brand visibility.
Franchise businesses must also do marketing, but their marketing strategy is different. Most corporate marketing strategies focus on centralized messages everywhere.
Franchise owners must know that this doesn’t apply to them. Most centralized marketing campaigns do not fit into the local environment of franchises. This is where digital franchise marketing comes into play.
While doing a franchise marketing strategy, you have to use these local franchise marketing strategies for optimal growth.
When doing so, you generally need to stick with the franchise’s corporate marketing guide. It is hard to come up with the right franchise marketing tactic.
Using franchise marketing statistics can help you create the best-performing marking strategies. We made a list of important marketing statistics that every owner should know in 2022.
Important Marketing Statistics
1. The USA has more than 700,000 franchises
Statista states that about 790,000 franchise establishments are in the United States. Even though the numbers are not steadily increasing, mostly due to the pandemic, it is still a big number.
The amount of franchises being close to one million shows how hard it might be to differentiate yourself from other franchises.
2. Expected franchise sector growth is 2.5% each year
The franchise sector is ever-growing. Franchising suggests that the expected annual growth in the franchise sector will be around 2.5% in 2022.
This number is also following the overall sector growth annually. This shows that there are many new franchises coming into business every year, making it harder for existing franchises to be more visible.
3. 42% of local searches click on the local map suggestions by Google
Backlinko’s latest research shows us that 42% out of all the people that makes local search click on local suggestions by Google.
Your Google My Business profile has a crucial role in getting your business out there. When you have your Google My Business setup correctly, you increase your chances of visibility.
4. Applebee’s franchise had a 102% quarterly sales increase because of a viral TikTok
According to the CuriousJane report, Applebees had an incredible increase in sales because Walker Hayes’ song with lyrics about Applebees went viral on TikTok.
It is undeniable how much modern social media platforms can affect your marketing efforts. Without doing anything themselves, Applebees got extremely popular.
5. The biggest and most profitable franchise business in the USA is McDonald’s
With $93.3bn in global annual sales, McDonald’s leads the pack in the franchise business per Statista’s latest statistic report. McDonald’s is not only the most profitable franchise business in the US.
They are also one of the most profitable businesses in the world. These statistics show every franchise business owner what kind of potential they possess.
6. 93% of consumers use the internet to find local businesses
Latest local consumer surveys reveal that up to 93% of all consumers use some sort of platform on the internet to find local businesses in their areas.
These platforms are mainly social media or search engines. Considering that most franchise marketing campaigns start from two of these places, it is important to know how many people use them.
7. Reading online reviews is at its peak, with 77%
In 2021, about 77% of consumers said that they always or occasionally read reviews of the businesses they want to visit.
This means that as a franchise, if you don’t have enough reviews or your reviews are not good enough; you might miss out on potential customers. Marketing your reviews are equally important.
8. 70% of franchise marketers believe SEO is more important than other marketing strategies
Out of all the surveyed marketers, about 70% of them said that franchise SEO is way more effective.
The latest survey from 2019 reveals that other marketing strategies, such as paid search ads, resulting in more leads and conversions compared to franchise SEO. It is clear that franchise SEO is also cheaper than most marketing strategies.
9. 21% of consumers searched in search engines every day
In a 2021 survey, about 21% of all the consumers using the internet to find local businesses or learn more about them used search engines every day. 21% might seem like a low number, but nearly a quarter of all people using the internet to find businesses use it every single day. This gives you an amazing opportunity to put yourself ahead.
10. The top three ad spots on a search result attract 40% of the clicks for high commercial intent searches.
Not every search is the same. These are highly commercial intent searches if a search is focused on an industry, brand, or product. They are easier to target, and the statistics also prove this.
About 40% of the clicks go to the top three ad spots on a search result. You are likely to get more clicks on your franchise PPC campaign for commercially intended searches.
11. The expected largest franchise sector establishment growth is personal services.
Due to COVID, many personal services franchises had to shut their doors. In the latest 2022 survey, the franchise growth expectation is mostly on personal services.
Personal services include gyms, beauty salons, venues for entertainment, and so on. The reports expect this growth to be about 3.1% annually.
12. About 1/3 of every internet user will use their mobile phones for internet access by 2025
Experts expect that people will likely leave their computers beyond for internet access. By 2025, they expect at least 1/3 of internet users to use their mobile phones.
Considering this, focusing on franchise marketing campaigns both for mobile devices and computers is becoming very important.
13. Only 34% of consumers leave a positive review
Even though reviews are extremely important for consumers, the number of people leaving reviews is exceptionally low.
Out of the number of people surveyed, only 34% of them said that they leave positive reviews if they have a good experience with a local business. This number goes down to 7% when it comes to negative reviews.
14. Franchise marketing newsletters only have a 22% open rate
Newsletters are getting outdated. There are many different marketing strategies, but some franchises still use marketing newsletters.
According to the latest research, these franchise marketing newsletters only had a 22% open rate in 2021. Finding the right strategy could increase your open rate, but it is still a risky move.
15. Google is leading the pack as the most popular platform for evaluating franchises.
Google is one of the most used services in the world. This is especially applicable to businesses.
People use Google to read reviews and evaluate businesses. About 81% of consumers use Google to evaluate a franchise business.
There is an amazing increase from 63% compared to the previous year in the number of people using Google to evaluate businesses.
16. 33% of those who received a welcome email after subscribing to a list showed more engagement
Establishing a relationship is equally important as providing good value. The latest 2021 report shows that 33% of those who registered to a subscriber list showed more engagement if they received a welcome email.
Marketing is not just showing yourself on the platforms. It is also providing good content to your consumers and subscribers.
17. The top business type where reviews play a critical role in care services with 83%
83% of people said that they think reviews are exceptionally important with care services. This is the highest number in business types.
The second most important business type is healthcare, with 82%. If you are in one of these sectors, paying special attention to your reviews is even more important than other businesses.
18. There are more than 1 billion searches containing “near me” phrases in the US.
Franchises are mostly local businesses due to having multiple locations. That is why focusing on local marketing is important.
The main point of local marketing is phrases like “near me.” There are more than one billion searches every month in the US containing this phrase.
19. 88% are likely to leave a review if a business goes above and beyond in service
The number of people ready to leave reviews when a business does exceptionally well in service is quite high.
With 88%, franchise marketers need to make sure that their franchise is doing well on the service side to manage the reviews easily.
You have to ensure that your franchise is doing everything possible to provide exceptional service.
The Verdict
All in all, franchise marketing statistics are important to follow. To start a franchise marketing campaign, you need to know what the market is like.
It also lets you see what the others are doing and their situation. These statistics can help create your marketing strategy and get better results.
Amit Gupta is the founder of DrFranchises – a digital marketing agency that helps brands rank better on Google Maps through local SEO strategies. Amit has over 11 years of experience in digital marketing, SEO, email marketing, and social media marketing. He’s also the owner of multiple franchises and has helped countless brands achieve success online. When he’s not working, Amit can be found playing with his dog.