Franchise lead generation

2025 Franchise Development Lead Sources Survey Highlights

May 13, 2025 – Business news is bustling with headlines about tariff negotiations, the disruption and opportunities presented by AI, antitrust claims and remedies potentially impacting Google, and content freedom vs. moderation on many platforms, and a pending outright ban of TikTok in the U.S. along with separate actions TikTok brought by several states. Meanwhile, franchisors must navigate these waters to successfully grow their systems.  

Record Optimism a Tailwind for Franchise Development

By: Michael Alston for Franchise Insights April 16, 2025 – Franchise development teams should enjoy a new tailwind in prospect optimism. Surveys in the last week of March 2025 showed a record 87.5% of persons exploring ownership agree or strongly agreed that “now is a good time for startup”. In the same survey, 74.1% of …

Changes in Cost Per Lead for Top Paid Franchise Development Lead Generation Sources

April 9, 2025 – Most systems responding to the 2025 Franchise Development Lead Generation Survey anticipated increased spending in 2025, to which higher costs per lead were a factor for most sources. In 2025, 87% of franchisors expect to employ Google paid advertising (including YouTube), up from 82.5% in 2024, despite 24.6% of them reporting that lead costs increased somewhat, and 7.3% significantly.

Changes in Franchise Development Lead Generation Paid Sources Planned for 2025

March 26, 2025 – When asked about advertising plans for 2025, 100% of franchise development teams already using the major franchise lead generation sources expected to increase their spending somewhat or significantly in 2025.
This is following a difficult 2024 where, despite challenging business conditions and the distractions of an election year, more than 58% of franchisors surveyed either stuck to their growth plans (50.0%) or increased them. Franchises increasing their expansion plans (8.3%) included all  tiers of system sizes, and 98% of them increased their spending in 2024 across the four largest third-party advertising platforms.

Full January Impact — Franchise Lead Generation Throttled By Natural Disasters

February 25, 2025 – Retail sales dropped 0.9% in January 2025, the largest drop since March 2023,  given that much of the country was covered with snow and the Palisades fires raged from January 7-31. If your franchise development team noticed a marked decrease in lead generation and prospect responsiveness in January, weather across the U.S. and fires in California were key among the reasons.

Franchise Development Propelled by More Prospects Leaving Full-Time Jobs

February 5, 2025 – Franchise development faces reduced competition from employers for the best candidates. Return-to-work mandates, cost-cutting, and increasing automation by employers are compelling more individuals to conclude that now is the time to buy a franchise and move forward on the path of “being my own boss”, the leading motivator for business ownership.

Are You Betting On The Best Practices For Reaching Franchise Prospects?

January 29, 2025 – Franchise prospects want to know who is calling before accepting a call. More than thirty-seven percent (37.2%) of respondents indicated that they preferred to be emailed first as an initial contact by a franchise they have expressed interest in, according to the recent December 2024 Franchise Insights Mystery Shopping survey. 

Natural Disasters Significantly Impact Franchise Lead Generation

January 14, 2025 – If your franchise sales team is noticing a decrease in lead generation in recent days, they are not alone. Despite a great start to the year, California is experiencing a significant drop in inquiries – down 21.3% through January 13, according to proprietary data from the Franchise Ventures lead generation platform of franchise investment inquiries in the United States. 

Record Share of Business Startups Planned Within 2025

January 1, 2025 – Monthly surveys of buyers actively seeking franchises and businesses for sale have shown an increasing inclination to start businesses in the ensuing twelve months when asked about their time frames. In late December 2024, a record 93.0% said they planned their business startups for within the next twelve months, in continuation of an upward trend since the beginning of 2023.

Aspiring Business Owners See Clear Skies Ahead

November 6, 2024 – Now 75% of aspiring business owners surveyed either agree or strongly agree that “now is a good time to start a business,” showing optimism about conditions now and ahead, the highest percentage in more than three years. In the October 2024 survey, 90.7% of respondents see conditions for business and franchise startups “the same or better in three months.” 

Most Franchise Prospect Journeys Begin With A Narrow Focus On Just A Few Concepts

October 30, 2024 – One consistent observation on franchise buyer behavior over almost five years of website journey analysis is how quickly researchers parse among many options to narrow their focus to a few for further inquiry. Most prospects only focus on a single concept when requesting information about franchises, despite the thousands of offerings across dozens of categories in the franchise directories of the Franchise Ventures lead generation platform.

With A Billion Political Texts Per Week, How Are You Most Likely to Reach Prospects?

October 23, 2024 – Both political parties have discovered the effectiveness of blanketing mobile phones with fundraising texts. According to YouMail, which offers call and text-blocking apps, political texts alone may be approaching one billion per week in October 2024. How do legitimate franchise representatives get through to sales prospects who want to hear from them?

Today’s Franchise Development Prospects Desire to Follow a Proven System

July 2, 2024 — In our June 2024 survey, almost two-thirds (66.3%) of respondents claimed  “willingness to follow a proven system”, an essential characteristic for succeeding at franchise ownership.  Grit, or “persistence towards a goal despite obstacles” was cited by over half of respondents (50.6%) of respondents, followed closely by “team leadership experience” at 47%.

Employment Data Bodes Well for Franchise Development – Fewer Applicants Coming From Full Time Jobs

April 10, 2024 – Franchise developers have been swimming upstream against a tide of employers clinging to full-time workers since the post-pandemic return to work. Over the last year, fewer aspiring franchise owners were leaving full-time jobs. In our March 2024 Small Business Startup Sentiment survey, franchise seekers who say they are leaving full-time jobs reached a four year low at 36.9%, as U.S. employers shed full-time workers.

Franchise Prospects Indicate Preferred Sequencing for Initial Contact Channels

March 27, 2024 – Most franchise prospects (42.4%)  prefer to be emailed on initial contact by a franchise they have expressed interested in according to fresh data in the March 2024 Franchise Insights Mystery Shopping survey. Another 30.6% indicated a desire for a phone call for the initial contact. This order preference is consistent with prior monthly “mystery shopping” surveys, including when we last shared franchise prospect contact preferences data.

Franchise Development Teams Expect to Increase Google Spending More than Meta and LinkedIn in 2024

February 28, 2024 – When asked about advertising plans for 2024,about a third of franchise development teams expected to increase their spending somewhat or significantly at Google, Meta or LinkedIn. This is following 2023 wherein, despite tumultuous business conditions and shocking news headlines, more than 58% of franchisors surveyed either stuck to their growth plans (50.0%) or increased them.

Franchise Development Teams “Lean In” To LinkedIn for Franchise Lead Generation

February 14, 2024 – Signs from a number of metrics (time spent, monthly active users) and media reports are that we may have reached “peak” social media as measured by postings, monthly active users and time spent. The Wall Street Journal posits in a recent article that users are doing a lot more lurking than posting these days and foresees more of the same in this election year, along with mounting concerns about privacy.

Small Business Startup Sentiment Surges to Highest in Over a Year

February 7, 2024 – Prepare for launch! January startup sentiment data show 84.5% of aspiring franchisees plan their launches in the next twelve months, the highest percentage seen since December of 2023. The first of our Predictions for Franchise Development and Lead Generation for 2024 is looking very much on target.

Predictions for Franchise Development and Lead Generation for 2024

January 31, 2024 – The most reliable options for franchisors to directly acquire prospects in recent years – email and text marketing, paid search and social media – are all undergoing significant change, as are the dominant mobile and desktop platforms offered by Google and Apple (and a few others hardly worth mentioning).

Franchise Development Teams Face Growth Headwinds in Paid Search

January 24, 2024 – In our last article, we highlighted some of the headwinds facing advertisers who generate franchise leads from Google. Traffic exclusivity from Apple, antitrust and regulatory court proceedings threaten Google in 2024, along with greater competition by other players like Microsoft who aim to use artificial intelligence to get a bigger piece of the search marketing pie.

A Pivotal Year Ahead For Google’s Role in Franchise Development

January 17, 2024 – One of the most reliable pathways to filling the franchise sales funnel is under siege in 2024. Not only has it fallen to second place behind Microsoft in consumer “mindshare” regarding AI, it faces potentially disruptive regulatory threats, while committing unforced errors of its own in the name of privacy.

How “Peak Social Media” May Impact Franchise Development

January 10, 2024 – Signs are that we may have reached “peak” social media as measured by posting activating and consumer surveys. The Wall Street Journal posits in a recent article that users are doing a lot more lurking than posting these days and foresees more of the same in an election year along, with mounting concerns about privacy.

Surveys Show Franchise Prospect Initial Contact Rates Improve in October. Is Live Voicemail Helping Franchise Development Teams?

November 29, 2023 – Prospect initial contact rates are up, as reported by the latest FranchiseInsights.com survey in October 2023. Almost 52% percent of respondents say they were contacted by all of the franchises they inquired about, up from 46.2% in June when we last reported this data. Aside from the efforts of franchise sales teams, what could be driving this improvement?

When Researching Franchises, Prospects Focus on Just a Few Concepts for Follow-Up

November 1, 2023 – As we have observed many changes in franchise buyer behavior in the three years since the global pandemic began, one aspect changed very little. Despite the thousands of offerings among dozens of categories in the franchise directories at FranchiseVentures online brands, most prospects still narrow their focus to a single concept on a visit to request further information about franchises.

Post-Pandemic Migration of Prospect Interest Northward and and Eastward for Franchise Development

October 25, 2023 – The migration of interest in franchises continues to shift northward and eastward according to new data from FranchiseInsights.com. By comparing quarterly shares by state for the first quarter  of 2022 to the third quarter of 2023, there was a continuation of the shift in the mix of where aspiring franchisees were expecting to locate franchises – from south to north, and west to east.

Coming Apple Feature May Help Overcome “Silence Unknown Callers” Barrier to Initial Prospect Contact

July 26, 2023 – Apple announced a new “Live Voicemail” feature for its anticipated September iOS 17 iPhone software update. Rather than banishing the caller directly to voicemail without ringing, as the “silence unknown callers” feature does, the first several seconds of the caller’s message is presented in text on the home screen, giving the call recipient an option to pick up the call.

Franchise Inquirers Give Feedback on Improving the Buying Process

March 15, 2023 – Aspiring business owners talking with franchise sales teams were largely satisfied with their experience, according to recent mystery shopping surveys over the last six months ending in February 2023. Almost half (48.7%) said they were either “satisfied” or “very satisfied”, and only 12.4% said they were “unsatisfied” or “very unsatisfied.”

The High Cost of Not Following Up Promptly With Franchise Prospects

Kudos to the franchise sales teams who reached out to all of the inquirers who requested information from them in February 2023. There is no doubt that they will be finding new franchisees, unlike those teams that did not follow up with an initial contact within seven days. 

Over 58% of Aspiring Business Owners Say ‘Now is a Good Time’ to Launch Their Startups

February 8, 2023 – As of January 2023, 76.6% of aspiring business owners are planning to launch their businesses within the next 12 months. And now, 58.4% of aspiring business owners either agree or strongly agree that “now is a good time to start a business”, consistent with the prior month, but down from the high of 73.5% as recently as February 2022.

Top Ten Franchise Lead Generation Insights

January 18, 2023 – Analyzing our content viewed over the past year, we developed a “Top Ten” list of the most popular topics among our insights in 2022 based on the readership of articles in topic categories. Along with each topic, ranked in descending popularity, are a few key and most recent articles that address each particular subject.

Top 2023 Predictions For Franchise Lead Generation

January 11, 2023 – It’s a new year, with new opportunities for franchise growth ahead. Yes, there are economic, legislative and regulatory headwinds, but who would bet against the collective entrepreneurial spirit, creative energy and grit of the franchise community?

The Primary Motivations for Franchise Ownership in Q4 2022

December 28, 2022 – Headlines about war, surging inflation and interest rates, and imminent economic slowdown were no match for the entrepreneurial instincts of Americans in the final months of 2022. The control over one’s destiny continues to propel entrepreneurs towards owning a business in America. 

A Costly Paradox: After Near-Record Contact Attempt Rates in August and September, a Disturbing Trend Emerges in Outreach to Franchise Prospects

November 16, 2022 – This month a shocking and record low percentage of inquirers about franchises for sale were contacted by all of the franchise systems they requested information from, according to the FranchiseInsights.com monthly “Mystery Shopping” survey. Only 42.2% of inquirers to franchises reported that they were contacted by “all of the franchises they …

Franchise Systems Continue to Pursue Growth in 2022 Despite Business Conditions

October 11, 2022 – Despite soaring interest rates, volatile financial markets, declining consumer confidence and increasing lead costs,  none of the U. S. franchisors responding to a recent survey say they have cut back their development budgets significantly for 2022. Moreover, one third (33.3%) have actually increased their expansion plans for this year.  There was …

A Best Kept Secret in Franchise Lead Generation – Lifetime Value (LTV)

NORFOLK, VIRGINIA — September 21, 2022 — In comparing lead sources, “price”, and even the holy grail – “cost per sale” – are incomplete, if not misleading. There are two other critical variables in assessing return on your investment in franchise portals or other third party lead suppliers. In a prior article, we quantified the …

Update on Decline in Facebook (Meta) Franchise Lead Generation

May 18, 2022 — Since February 2022 when we last wrote about the decline in Facebook (Meta) Lead Generation after Apple’s iOS 14.5 release, three more months of data show that advertisers for lead generation shouldn’t expect results to improve any time soon. Meta’s own CFO estimates that consumers opting out of tracking will cost …

SBA Loans and Personal Savings Are Top Two Sources Expected for Funding Business Startups

March 16, 2022 — Most aspiring franchise buyers plan to use Small Business Administration loans and personal savings to start their businesses, at 48.9% and 45% respectively, according to the FranchiseInsights.com Small Business Startup Sentiment survey. Loans from banks or other lending institutions were identified as the third most common source at 39.8%. The percentages …

Prospects Rank Desirable Characteristics of Franchises, with Surprising Results

March 10, 2022 — In the February FranchiseInsights.com Small Business Startup Sentiment survey, respondents were also asked to rank eight franchise characteristics in order of importance to their ultimate selection, along with a “not important to me” option for each. On the surface, “low cost of entry” and “higher earnings potential” were ranked highest, on …

Small Business Startup Sentiment Rises to the Most Positive in Eight Months

NORFOLK, VIRGINIA — March 3, 2022 — On February 24th, the day the survey launched, news headlines of the invasion of Ukraine stunned the world and roiled financial markets. Despite the uncertainty, 57.4% of aspiring business owners were resolute about starting their businesses within the next three months. Further, 76% of these survey respondents see …

Decline in Facebook(Meta) Franchise Lead Generation Explained. Now What?

February 23, 2022 — If you have not heard about the $300 billion drop in the market value in Meta Platforms (formerly known as Facebook), perhaps it is because you have had to work double-time to mitigate the volume dip and effective cost of franchise leads to achieve your franchise system growth goals.  The introduction …

Franchise Lead Generation Portals Drive Discovery and Consideration

January 26, 2022 — Even though over 28% of franchise prospects in January 2022 reported being already “somewhat familiar” or “very familiar” with the franchises they considered, they chose to inquire about them at franchise portal sites among hundreds of other listings. These findings are consistent with our prior data from August 2021.  When you’re looking …

The Primary Motivations for Franchise Ownership are Resilient

January 20, 2022 — Despite the disruptions to normal human behavior due to the global pandemic, the control over one’s destiny and financial independence continue to be the most powerful motivations for owning a business in America. In a very large sample over multiple years, working for oneself remains the main motivator cited by entrepreneurs researching …

Benchmarking Shows 62% of Franchise Lead Generation Budgets Growing in 2022

December 9, 2021 — In a survey conducted December 1-8, 2021, 61.7% of franchises responding say they expect to spend “more” or “much more” on franchise leads in 2022. Confidence in a better 2022 is seen in franchise systems in all stages of growth. Active U.S. franchises responding to the benchmarking survey hailed from a …

Impact of Facebook’s Outage on Franchise Lead Generation

October 13, 2021 — Over the past few years, paid Facebook advertising has become an attractive source of paid franchise leads for development teams, given its broad reach and extensive targeting options. But 2021 has become a challenging year for this resource. On Monday, October 4th beginning just before 12 pm Eastern time, Facebook and …

Franchise Prospects Show Record High Startup Intent For the Coming Month

October 6, 2021 — Despite never-ending twists in the pandemic, a looming debt ceiling, more volatile financial markets, and even lower consumer confidence in September, aspiring franchise owners are undeterred. Entrepreneurs who agree or strongly agree that “now is a good time to start a business” grew to 73.4% in September, continuing a three month …

Surveys Say It’s a Better Time to Buy a Franchise than a Home

September 22, 2021 – Preliminary results from the University of Michigan’s September 2021 survey of consumer confidence as reported by Business Insider show that the lowest percentage of consumers in four decades think that “now is a good time to buy a home.” High prices and low inventory have taken a toll on consumer enthusiasm …

Online Portals Drive Discovery and Consideration in Franchise Lead Generation

September 15, 2021 – When you’re looking for information on an unfamiliar subject, you might “Google it.” But what if you don’t know what you are looking for, or what criteria to use to compare the choices, or what options are available in a geography or category or price range? How do you satisfy yourself …

The Pandemic Had Little Impact on the Primary Motivations for Franchise Ownership

September 1, 2021 — Some things haven’t changed, despite the global pandemic. The control over one’s destiny and financial independence remain the most powerful motivations for owning a business. In fact, working for oneself remains the main motivator cited by entrepreneurs researching business ownership across the leading network of online franchise information directory brands.  “Be …

Apple Call-Silencing Feature Underscores Importance of First-Touch Channel

June 30, 2021 – Apple launched a “Silence Unknown Callers” feature in its September, 2019 launch of iOS 13, but the April 26, 2021 release of iOS 14.5 featured prompts to set it up when viewing the “recent” call list as seen in the graphic above. This development means that many consumers are not going …

Franchise Development Contact Attempt Rates Are the Highest Since October 2020

June 23, 2021 – In June, franchise sales teams performed at the highest levels in over eight months according to results from the FranchiseInsights.com Mystery Shopping survey. Respondents reporting that they were contacted by “all of the franchises they inquired to” reached 63.5%.  Further, those who reported being contacted by “none of them” dropped to …

Franchise Prospects are Much More Likely to Have the Support of a Marriage Partner

June 9, 2021 – Nearly two-thirds of prospects interested in buying a franchise are married, an above-average rate that may factor into the readiness of individuals to take the plunge.  Of entrepreneurs contacting franchises to explore ownership, 65.5% are married according to data from the FranchiseVentures network of franchise directory brands over the first four …

Franchise Prospect Age Distribution

How has the Pandemic Changed the Age Distribution of Franchisee Prospects?

May 19, 2021 — Entrepreneurs step forward at all ages, but the most common age may be older than you think. Analysis of January through April 2021 demographics of prospective franchise owners shows the most popular ages for exploring business ownership range from the mid-30s to mid-50s, peaking at age 51 thus far in 2021.  …

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