If you own a franchise, here are 8 action steps you need to take in 2025

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These are the 8 actions you or your CMO must take for your franchise to increase its sales and improve its margins:

1. Expand your reach - the more people you reach, the more people that are likely to try your product and the more people who are likely to become loyal customers. It's a funnel. Expand the top end.

2. Generate trial - Give customers reasons to try your franchise. A discount, location, a super-size, free consultation... they all work at one point or another to bring customers into your store.

3. Implement rigorous segmentation - 99% of the time, you won't have a single type of customer. Real research will unearth the different customer segments that drive your sales.

4. Create look-alikes - It's the easiest way to make sure you reach the right people all the time. And, yes, you do need an element of randomization to expand your reach, but creating lookalikes and marketing to them is the way to create more loyal customers.

5. Advertise constantly - 99% of the time, you will either have (1) a franchise that sells all the time (e.g., ice cream) or (2) a franchise where customers come into the market constantly and steadily (e.g., a home cleaning franchise). You need to be in the market all the time, both, to remind customers to visit again or to capture that initial customer as they come in.

6. Remarket to your customers - Small companies turn into big companies when their customers buy more frequently from them. There are many ways to remarket, upsell and cross sell. We've used them all and can guide you through the best choices. We can even create new products with you.

7. Create several referral programs - Referrals are gold. They are typically 4x or 5x cheaper than acquiring a new customer. Yet, many franchises do not have referral program. Create several, remember, you have several customer segments.

8. Hire the right team - let's talk.