HQ and franchisees don't agree on what's working
We asked over 500 franchise marketers, franchisees, and industry suppliers the same questions about local marketing. Their answers don't match.
HQ and franchisees don't agree on what's working
We asked over 500 franchise marketers and franchisees the same questions about local marketing. Their answers don't match.
Free to read.
Findings at a glance
Key Takeaways
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51%+ of franchisees want ready-to-use creative they can adapt to their own market.
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25%+ of franchisees want more local decision-making latitude.
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Nearly 25% of franchisees named approval turnaround as their single most important request.
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Franchisees can't find current materials, because they're scattered across multiple systems and tools.
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Franchisees named budget as a top concern, because co-op dollars fund national campaigns instead of local marketing.
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Franchisees are asking for real-time local-level performance data.
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AI is a top priority for franchisors, but franchisees rarely mention it.
Introduction
Franchise brands invest heavily in national marketing, brand funds, and a growing stack of marketing technology, yet local execution remains one of the most persistent and expensive gaps in franchising. FBR has tracked franchisee satisfaction for more than 20 years, and marketing support consistently ranks among the lowest-rated areas of the entire franchise experience. National marketing only becomes viable at scale, and many systems still rely on collective marketing funds while individual locations are left to figure out what actually works in their market. This report set out to understand where that disconnect comes from, and how the different perspectives across franchisors, franchisees, and suppliers impact local marketing.
The friction points that limit local marketing performance
Franchisees are rebuilding the materials HQ already made
National assets don't fit their local market, and franchisees are left choosing between something generic or building it themselves. Just over half of franchisees asked for the same basic thing: ready-to-use creative they can adapt to their own market.
Many of them report spending hours building graphics from scratch because the assets provided by corporate are either too generic or too locked down to be useful.
"Give me ready-to-post local content templates with editable fields for city, promos, and photos. Right now I spend hours making graphics from scratch."
Franchisee - FBR panel
Top local marketing challenges identified by franchisees
| Challenge | Share of franchisees raising it | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Localization | 51% | 51% |
| Flexibility and autonomy | 28% | 28% |
| Approval speed | 23% | 23% |
| Budget and co-op funding | 17% | 17% |
| Templates and asset libraries | 17% | 17% |
| Data, analytics and ROI | 7% | 7% |
2026 Franchise Marketing Insights Survey.
Franchisees could raise more than one theme, so shares total more than 100%.
Key takeawayFranchisees want materials that arrive ready to post, not more freedom to build their own.
Franchisees feel constrained by HQ
Top local marketing challenges identified by franchisees
| Challenge | Share of franchisees raising it | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Localization | 51% | 51% |
| Flexibility and autonomy | 28% | 28% |
| Approval speed | 23% | 23% |
| Budget and co-op funding | 17% | 17% |
| Templates and asset libraries | 17% | 17% |
| Data, analytics and ROI | 7% | 7% |
2026 Franchise Marketing Insights Survey.
Franchisees could raise more than one theme, so shares total more than 100%.
Brand standards built for national consistency don't leave room for local market conditions and community dynamics. More than a quarter of franchisees explicitly asked for more local decision-making latitude.
Franchisees are not asking for no brand standards, rather they’re looking for proper templates with enough room to adapt to local markets and community dynamics.
"There is often a disconnect between national marketing strategies and local market realities. Franchisees need campaigns, analytics, and support that reflect the specific needs and preferences of their local customers."
Supplier - FBR panel
Key takeaway
Franchisees are asking for customizable templates so they can address their local markets.
Approval speed is the bottleneck both sides name
The local market moves in hours, and approval cycles that take days or weeks put franchisees at a real competitive disadvantage. Nearly a quarter of franchisees named approval turnaround as their single most important request, and suppliers confirm it's a real bottleneck.
A national campaign that launches perfectly on a Tuesday is worth less than a local promotion that captures a Saturday opportunity.
"Provide faster approval cycles and more flexible, pre-approved localized campaign variations so we can react quickly to local demand, promotions, and traffic patterns without delays or rework."
Area Developer - FBR panel
Top local marketing challenges identified by franchisees
| Challenge | Share of franchisees raising it | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Localization | 51% | 51% |
| Flexibility and autonomy | 28% | 28% |
| Approval speed | 23% | 23% |
| Budget and co-op funding | 17% | 17% |
| Templates and asset libraries | 17% | 17% |
| Data, analytics and ROI | 7% | 7% |
2026 Franchise Marketing Insights Survey.
Franchisees could raise more than one theme, so shares total more than 100%.
Key takeaway
Franchisees need pre-approved template variations they can quickly customize to their local markets.
Budget is a big obstacle to local marketing
Franchisees contribute to a shared fund but don't see it translate into local support. Franchisees named local marketing budget as a top concern, often pointing to co-op dollars that fund national campaigns instead of reaching the local level.
Without budget, franchisees struggle to compete locally.
"An increase in budget. This will overcome the obstacles we faced in local marketing."
Franchisee - FBR panel
Top local marketing challenges identified by franchisees
| Challenge | Share of franchisees raising it | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Localization | 51% | 51% |
| Flexibility and autonomy | 28% | 28% |
| Approval speed | 23% | 23% |
| Budget and co-op funding | 17% | 17% |
| Templates and asset libraries | 17% | 17% |
| Data, analytics and ROI | 7% | 7% |
2026 Franchise Marketing Insights Survey.
Franchisees could raise more than one theme, so shares total more than 100%.
Key takeaway Franchisees aren't asking for more money. They're asking to see where the money they already contribute actually goes.
Franchisees are still hunting through email for assets
Top local marketing challenges identified by franchisees
| Challenge | Share of franchisees raising it | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Localization | 51% | 51% |
| Flexibility and autonomy | 28% | 28% |
| Approval speed | 23% | 23% |
| Budget and co-op funding | 17% | 17% |
| Templates and asset libraries | 17% | 17% |
| Data, analytics and ROI | 7% | 7% |
2026 Franchise Marketing Insights Survey.
Franchisees could raise more than one theme, so shares total more than 100%.
Assets are scattered across portals, drives, and email chains, with no way to know if what they've found is current. Franchisees consistently described searching multiple systems for materials that may or may not be up to date.
Without easy access to a library of approved materials, franchisees struggle to compete locally.
"A full design revamp of all marketing material templates and a centralized place with ALL of them that are easily customizable/orderable for franchisees."
Franchisee - FBR panel
Key takeaway Franchisees don't need more materials. They need one place to find the ones that already exist.
Franchisees have stopped asking for performance data
Top local marketing challenges identified by franchisees
| Challenge | Share of franchisees raising it | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Localization | 51% | 51% |
| Flexibility and autonomy | 28% | 28% |
| Approval speed | 23% | 23% |
| Budget and co-op funding | 17% | 17% |
| Templates and asset libraries | 17% | 17% |
| Data, analytics and ROI | 7% | 7% |
2026 Franchise Marketing Insights Survey.
Franchisees could raise more than one theme, so shares total more than 100%.
Many have stopped expecting their franchisor to share local performance data, but not because they've lost interest in having it. Franchisees, especially experienced multi-unit operators, want real-time, location-level visibility into what's actually driving local sales.
Typically, franchisees are already investing in local marketing and want to optimize it further.
"Better access to real-time performance data for franchised marketing campaigns at the local level, so I can quickly see what's actually driving sales and shift spend without relying on delayed or high-level reports."
Franchisee - FBR panel
Key takeaway Franchisees want local-level performance data so they can understand what's working in their markets.
AI is widening the technology gap
Franchisors are moving fast on AI. Franchisees are still asking for the basics: easier access to existing content and faster approval to launch it. AI ranks among franchisors' top cited priorities for the next 12 months, tied with data and analytics. Franchisees almost never mentioned it.
Among franchisees who have used AI in their local marketing, the single most common use case isn’t customizing HQ-provided templates; it’s creating content HQ never gave them a template for in the first place. It may be that franchisees aren't asking for AI, because they simply want easier access to the content that already exists.
"Creating a tailored awareness education to enlighten franchisees in what AI tools are and the best way to implement them to their best use for faster results."
Franchisor, Management Team - FBR panel
Franchisors’ top priorities to improve local marketing
| Priority | Share of franchisors naming it | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Localization | 35% | 35% |
| Data, analytics and ROI | 16% | 16% |
| AI tools and adoption | 16% | 16% |
| Flexibility and autonomy | 10% | 10% |
| Approval speed | 10% | 10% |
| Budget and co-op funding | 10% | 10% |
| Training and field support | 9% | 9% |
2026 Franchise Marketing Insights Survey.
Franchisors could name more than one priority, so shares total more than 100%.
Key takeaway Franchisees aren’t waiting for permission to use AI. They’re already using it to fill the gaps corporate hasn’t addressed
Your most experienced owners rate your support lowest
A first-year, single-unit owner faces a different set of marketing challenges than a seasoned multi-unit operator. Tenure and portfolio size both change what franchisees need from marketing support, and what they have stopped expecting.
What your veterans expect has changed
Franchisees with 10+ years rated marketing support lower than newer owners on every measure, with the largest gaps in overall marketing support, team accessibility, and national marketing effectiveness.
Franchisee satisfaction scores by tenure
Index scores out of 100.
Base: 201 franchisees and area developers, 75% under 10 years.
| Measure | Under 10 years bar | Under 10 years score | 10+ years bar | 10+ years score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall support | Under 10 years 73 | 73 | 10 or more years 64 | 64 |
| Team accessibility | Under 10 years 79 | 79 | 10 or more years 71 | 71 |
| National marketing | Under 10 years 73 | 73 | 10 or more years 66 | 66 |
| Perceived ROI | Under 10 years 73 | 73 | 10 or more years 67 | 67 |
| Team helpfulness | Under 10 years 80 | 80 | 10 or more years 79 | 79 |
2026 Franchise Marketing Insights Survey.
New owners judge support on availability. Veterans have built their own customer knowledge and marketing teams, and measure support against what they could do themselves. They also bypass HQ deliberately, because materials don't fit or approval is slow, where newer owners more often didn't know the materials existed.
Satisfaction scores: single-unit against multi-unit
Index scores out of 100.
Base: 36 single-unit, 165 multi-unit.
| Measure | Single-unit | Multi-unit |
|---|---|---|
| Third-party training | 46 | 71 |
| National marketing | 48 | 76 |
| Digital marketing | 52 | 73 |
| Perceived ROI | 52 | 76 |
2026 Franchise Marketing Insights Survey.
Your single-unit owners are the least satisfied
Single-unit franchisees are the least satisfied group in the dataset, 10 to 28 points below multi-unit operators on nearly every measure.
Team accessibility is the exception. Single-unit owners can reach their marketing team without difficulty. But what they find when they get there are materials, processes, and reporting built at multi-unit scale.
They also route around HQ for different reasons: single-unit owners cite materials that don't fit (35%), multi-unit owners cite approval speed (26%).
Key takeaway
Support built for a multi-unit operator with in-house marketing staff is not support for a single-unit owner with an hour a week.
What this means for franchise marketers
The findings in this report point toward a simple but important conclusion.
The next competitive advantage in franchise marketing won’t come from producing more campaigns. It will come from making local execution dramatically easier.
Where to start
Where Marvia fits in
Most of the friction in this report sits in the same place: the gap between what HQ produces and what a location can actually use.
Marvia was built to close that gap.
HomeWell Care Services
HomeWell Care Services has grown 75% in operating territories over the past 3 years, and their old marketing platform couldn't keep up. Rigid templates, months-long support timelines, and state compliance requirements that forced the team to produce three versions of every asset meant their one designer was overwhelmed. Franchisees stopped waiting and started making their own materials. Brand consistency suffered, and so did revenue.
Moving to Marvia changed that. Platform usage is up 60% year over year, and since launching Flex Templates, downloads have jumped 52% above trend. Franchisees now have a reason to stay in the platform rather than work around it.
Jeremiah's Italian Ice: when you've outgrown your setup
Jeremiah's Italian Ice is a clean example of the symptoms in chapter 6. One designer on the central team, buried in requests, with a three-week turnaround on marketing materials.
Franchisees who'd stopped waiting and started making their own. And a previous platform, Marq, that had no integrated asset management and couldn't handle local customization.
Marketing Manager Maggie Sumner put the decision plainly: they'd hit a wall with what they had.
Replacing it with one platform covering both templates and asset management removed the three-week queue — franchisees get what they need immediately, and the central team is back on strategy rather than versioning. The network now averages 40+ downloads a day.
The three-week queue was never a design problem. It was one designer and no system, and that's the most common version of this failure.
Read the full Jeremiah's story →
See what closing these gaps looks like
Most of the friction in this report has a fix. Book a product demo and we'll show you how Marvia closes the gap between what HQ builds and what locations use.Domino's, Burger King, Boston Pizza, ZEISS, KidStrong and Nurse Next Door run their local marketing on Marvia.
About the research
The Franchise Marketing Insights 2026 report is based on responses from more than 500 franchisees, franchisors and industry suppliers, conducted by Franchise Business Review. The report also draws on FBR’s broader research: a satisfaction survey of 26,000 franchisees across 330 brands, and its 2026 Franchise Industry Outlook Report, which surveyed more than 100 franchise brand executives.
Together, these sources provide both a fresh snapshot of local marketing execution and a benchmark against years of franchisee sentiment data. The research was sponsored by Marvia, and all findings reflect self-reported responses from participants who chose to take part.
| Primary survey | More than 500 franchisees, franchisors and industry suppliers, fielded by Franchise Business Review. |
| Satisfaction benchmark | 26,000 franchisees across 330 brands, from FBR’s ongoing franchisee satisfaction research. |
| Executive outlook | More than 100 franchise brand executives, from FBR’s 2026 Franchise Industry Outlook Report. |
| Reading the figures | Percentages are rounded to whole numbers, so a set of shares may not total 100. Questions allowing more than one answer total above 100. |
| Sponsorship | Sponsored by Marvia. Fieldwork, question design, and analysis were carried out by Franchise Business Review. |