The 15 Best Digital Marketing Agencies for Franchises in 2024

Franchise marketing is never without hurdles.

One minute, you’re focusing on identifying with corporate brand identity, and the next, you’re addressing localized challenges at individual locations.

Unlike single-entity businesses, it is complex and extensive, especially for those with over a thousand locations, so if you’re thinking of partnering with an agency, great choice!

The right franchise marketing agency has the capacity and resources to help you weather the challenges of a franchise business model and get you the results you need – fast.

In this article, we reviewed and ranked the best franchise marketing agencies based on service quality, operational efficiency, and track record. 

The 15 Best Digital Marketing Agencies for Franchises

• HigherVisibility: Best Overall
• Amra & Elma
• IgniteVisibility
• Scorpion Marketing
• Curious Jane
• Lead PPC
• BrightPink Agency
• Goodwin.media
• 919 Marketing
• NinthRoot
• Searchnurture
• Crush2.0
• Elysium Marketing
• Consumer Fusion
• Goodway Group

For more detailed information about each agency and what makes them so great at franchise marketing, read through each description.

1.   HigherVisibility

Best for: Comprehensive franchise marketing

Headquartered in: Tennessee, United States.

Clients They’ve Worked With: ScripHessco, Restoration Roofing, Quest Software, LawnDoctor, OrangeTheory, and HOTWORX.

Industries serviced: E-commerce, Home services, Finance, B2B, B2C, Automobile, Franchise, Law, and Real Estate.

Length in business: 14 years

Accolades: 

• 2024 SEO Agency of the Year by Search Engine Land
• 2023 Best Full-Service SEO and SEM Agency by Forbes Advisor
• #1 SEO Agency by BestSEOCompanies.com for 2023
• Top Digital Agency for November 2023 by DesignRush
• 2022 Advertising Standard of Excellence Award by WebAwards
• 2021 Best SEO Campaign & Best SEO Agency of the Year by Agency Awards
• 2020 SEO Agency of the Year by Search Engine Land
• 2020 Best Large SEO Agency by the US Search Award

Why HigherVisibility?

HigherVisibility is a full-suite franchise marketing agency with hands-on experience crafting effective franchise marketing strategies. Our goal? To help franchisees dominate their local markets, increase sales, and expand exponentially. 

This is exactly what we did for HOTWORX, a franchise fitness company with 500 locations. Before reaching out to us, they faced two primary issues common to franchise brands:

• They suffered from brand incoherence, which resulted in a disjointed customer experience across franchisees
• Secondly, they experienced difficulty ranking for their respective local markets. Similar brands in the local area were outperforming them, limiting their reach online and offline.

 Our solution:

• We developed a cohesive brand identity and messaging for all touchpoints. This included the brand guidelines, tone of voice, and design elements
• Next, we performed a comprehensive website audit to identify areas of improvement (factoring in that core web vitals is one of Google’s ranking factors)
• We conducted an in-depth analysis of their user behavior to identify what’s impeding conversions. These insights informed our strategy development.
• Then, we developed a data-driven keyword research targeting fitness and wellness enthusiasts.
• On-page SEO. We created high-quality, optimized content to better serve each HOTWORX location in their respective markets. 
• Off-page SEO. We built their authoritativeness through link prospecting, outreach, and acquisition. We also claimed, optimized, and managed their Google Business Profiles for all locations and built citations for each local market to increase NAP consistency and other off-page essentials.

After 12 months, they got the following results:

• Over 59.48% increase in organic traffic YoY (year-over-year)
• Over 231% increase in organic traffic value
• Over 139% increase in the top three keyword rankings
• 50.41% + increase in organic leads

So, why should you partner with us?

If you’re looking for a results-oriented franchise marketing agency with a proven track record and skilled in navigating the complexities associated with franchise marketing, then HigherVisibility is your best bet. 

We house a team of experts skilled in the major aspects of franchise digital marketing – franchise  SEO, PPC management, website design, conversion rate optimization, link building, data analytics, reporting, etc.

HigherVisibility Franchise SEO team

2.   Amra & Elma

Best for: Social Media Optimization

Headquartered in: New York, United States

Clients They’ve Worked With: Netflix, Nestle, Bvlgari, HTC, Disney, Warner Bros, Wells Fargo, Johnson & Johnson, etc

Industries serviced: Real estate, finance, automotive, SaaS, non-profits, manufacturing, pharma, healthcare, etc

Length in business: 9 years

Accolades:

• Featured on Forbes, CNN, Financial Times, Business Insider, Nasdaq, etc.

Why Amra & Elma?

If you’re looking for an agency to help you develop a strong presence on social media, boost your following, and attain industry relevance, A&E should be on your list.  

There are several reasons why I picked this agency, but the major is their commitment to results. The founders, Amra and Elma, have over 2 million followers on Instagram. Their proprietary brand social media and digital PR strategy has attracted features from several authoritative publications such as Forbes, Wall Street Journal, etc.

For instance, if you’re a franchisee to a renowned restaurant looking to gain recognition in your state or country, A&E can help you develop an effective social media strategy to propel your success. Their services are growth-focused: 

• Branding and strategy 
• PPC campaigns 
• Videography and photography 
• PR and crisis management 
• Influencer marketing campaigns 
• Email marketing and management  

3.   IgniteVisibility

Best for: Cooperate Franchise 

Headquartered in: Pennsylvania, USA

Clients They’ve Worked With: Therapeutic Company, Rocket Resume, Driven Brands, Tony Robbins, etc.

Industries serviced: eCommerce, B2B, B2C, D2C, SaaS, non-profits, and real estate

Length in business: 28 years

Accolades:

• 5X Inc. 5000 Company
• Clutch Top SEO agency in the US award
• The Manifest top paid Media agency in the US

Why IgniteVisibility?

IgniteVisibility is another leading digital marketing agency specializing in global franchise marketing. Their services include all relevant touchpoints – SEO, paid advertising, social media optimization, conversion rate optimization, creative services, and email marketing. Their goal? To boost marketing performance and ROI (return on investment).

I love how they start each of their campaigns with a custom audit. They analyze your data and current digital marketing strategy to draw out valuable insights to inform future campaigns. Next, they craft an effective data-driven strategy designed to attract new franchisees using hyperlocal marketing and local SEO tactics to help franchisees scale in their local market.

4.   Scorpion Marketing

Best for: Data-driven digital marketing

Headquartered in: Utah, United States

Clients They’ve Worked With: Evergreen Plumbing & Mechanical LLC, Drexler Law, Fowler Helsel Vogt Attorneys, Five Star Painting, etc

Industries serviced: Law firms, home services, healthcare, franchises

Length in business: 22 years

Accolades:

• 2021 The Big Award for Business Company of the Year
• 2021 Utah Business Magazine Best Companies to Work for
• 2023 The Sammy Sales and Marketing Technology Award

Why Scorpion Marketing?

Scorpion Marketing stands out by offering tech-focused marketing services to small, medium, and franchise businesses. This includes SEO, digital advertising, website management, listing management, social media optimization, and reputation monitoring. They also provide a platform to manage and track results in real-time.  

Outperform your competitors and scale effortlessly with their all-encompassing franchise marketing services. I particularly love how Scorpion Marketing combines artificial intelligence and machine learning to gather, organize, and optimize business data for improved, faster, and more effective results. Also, you get to automate, monitor, and manage your marketing campaigns all in one platform to improve outcomes.

5.   Curious Jane

Best for: Franchise Lead Generation

Headquartered in: Florida, United States

Clients They’ve Worked With: FedEx, neighborly, Focus Brands, Goodcents, Winmarleigh, Kumon, etc

Industries serviced: Automotive, B2B, Education, Finance, Food and Restaurants, Home services, Internet and Technology, etc

Length in business: 20 years

Accolades:

• Entrepreneur 2023 Top Franchise Supplier
• Franchise Business Review 2023 Gold Winner for Employee Satisfaction
• A member of the International Franchise Association

Why Curious Jane?

Curious Jane is a full-fledged marketing agency for franchises and entrepreneurs in the United States and Canada. They aim to help emerging and enterprise franchises scale and become industry leaders.

One thing you’ll love about Curious Jane is their approach to franchise marketing. Instead of hiring different agencies to manage your franchise development, national marketing, and local SEO, they offer a comprehensive solution that streamlines all aspects of your marketing needs. This includes digital marketing, social media management, creative branding to align with the franchisor’s, media buying, and web design.

6.   Lead PPC

Best for: Franchise Advertising

Headquartered in: Utah, United States

Clients They’ve Worked With: Roberks, Mooyah, Costa Vida, Image Studios, IRIS, Deka Lash, Always Best Care, etc.

Industries serviced: Automobile, B2C, Fashion, Food and Restaurant, Fitness, Education

Length in business: 13 years

Accolades:

• Facebook and Bing Marketing partner

Why Lead PPC? 

If you intend to advertise your franchise business (either as a franchisor or franchisee) and funnel ready-to-purchase customers via PPC, Lead PPC might be just right for you. While they’re not fully a franchise digital marketing agency, they carved a niche for themselves by positioning themselves as specialists in PPC franchise advertising.

Lead PPC has handled lead generation for over 70 brands, highlighting their expertise and skill sets required to craft and execute a successful lead generation strategy. They specialize in major advertising platforms – LinkedIn, Bing, Facebook, Google and Instagram. The best part is that they use value-based pricing, so you only have to pay for the specific services provided to your franchise business.

7.   BrightPink agency

Best for: Franchise Marketing Strategy

Headquartered in: Florida, United States

Clients They’ve Worked With: PuroClean, Central Bark, oh Deer, SFCRI, Florida Health, Aero Design Services, etc

Industries serviced: Automation, Finance, Healthcare, Home Services, Fashion and beauty, etc

Length in business: 15 years

Accolades:

• Gold Stevie Awards
• Addy Awards
• International Bronze Stevie

Why BrightPink?

As a franchise business (either corporate or individual franchise operator), you need a well-defined franchise marketing strategy to maintain a cohesive brand presence across locations, increase brand awareness, and, most importantly, scale business revenue. This is where BrightPink agency steps in. 

BrightPink is a full-service marketing agency for local businesses, franchise networks, and nonprofits. Their mission is to help businesses clarify their brand message and tell their story across digital and traditional media. They believe that a well-defined marketing strategy arms businesses with the right pathway to succeed, either as a franchisor or franchisee. Aside from this, they also offer franchise web design and development services, franchise content marketing, and local franchise marketing.

8.   Goodwin.media

Best for: Growth Marketing

Headquartered in: Utah, US

Clients They’ve Worked With: Salt, Big Barker, Swig, M|M, Sudanese, Health Catalyst, Adobe, Rags,  etc.

Industries serviced: Health, SaaS, eCommerce, Food and Restaurant ‘, Fashion, B2C, B2B.

Length in business: 17 years

Accolades: NIL

Why Goodwin.media?

While Goodwin.media isn’t exclusively a franchise digital marketing agency, it does shine in areas of growth marketing. Their core services are focused on helping you grow digitally through data-backed growth marketing strategies. This includes conversion optimization, web design and development, advertising, email and SMS marketing, etc.

What sets Goodwin.media apart is their systemic and comprehensive approach to growth marketing. They leverage omnichannel marketing to strategically target every stage of your sales funnel, right from the awareness to the retention stage. Their process cuts across vital touchpoints – optimizing your website for higher conversions, automating email sequences to nurture customers, adopting personalized marketing to attract and retain them, etc.

In addition, you have full access to a team of marketers, strategists, designers, and developers, all at the cost of one. This isn’t just cost-effective but eliminates the need to hire independent agencies or talents. The only downside is that they have very few reviews on their GBP. You may need to do extra research to validate their professionalism and deliverables.

9.   919 Marketing

Best for: Early-stage Franchise

Headquartered in: North Carolina, US

Clients They’ve Worked With: Recovery Alliance Initiative, Closets by Design, Talk it Out, Scooters Coffee, AFC Urgent Care, College Foundation, etc.

Industries serviced: Food & Restaurant, Automotive, Healthcare, Education, B2B, Finance, etc

Length in business: 27 years

Accolades:

• Wall Street Journal Top Promotional Stunts in America
• Forbes America’s Best PR agency
• Regan PR Daily Awards
• Inc. 5000
• Entrepreneur Top Franchise Suppliers
• Clutch Top Content Marketing Agency

Why 919 Marketing?

919 Marketing is a leading and award-winning all-in-one digital marketing agency for franchise businesses. Since its inception, its franchise marketing system has helped franchise businesses attract leads, boost awareness (nationally and internationally), award more franchises, and, most importantly, grow revenue. 

They offer integrated digital marketing services, including social media marketing, web development, media buying, PR, etc. To further accelerate their clients’ success, they built a unique system, 919 Insights – a predictive marketing analytics platform to track and manage marketing campaigns. Each of their strategies is customized based on their client’s goals and expectations.

10.  NinthRoot 

Best for: Multi-location marketing

Headquartered in: Utah, United States

Clients They’ve Worked With: zerorez, Rushbowls, Dog Training Elite, LemonTree, Paramount Tax & Accounting, etc.

Industries serviced: Finance, Energy, Law Firms, Beauty and fashion, B2C, Fitness, etc.

Length in business: 14 years

Accolades: NIL

Why NinthRoot?

NinthRoot offers holistic digital marketing services for franchise and multi-location businesses. They believe localized marketing is key to franchise success, so they adopt localized marketing strategies to help franchise businesses preserve brand integrity, generate leads, and scale successfully. 

For instance, if you own a bakery with franchises in 10 different locations, NinthRoot will implement localized marketing initiatives customized for each community, such as online advertising, community engagement campaigns, Google My Business, local SEO, and social media strategies tailored to each locality. 

11.  Searchnurture

Best for: Franchise SEO

Headquartered in: Oakland, United States

Clients They’ve Worked With: OneView Commerce, eCreamery, ban, Aurora, Bioré, New Relic, etc.

Industries serviced: eCommerce, SaaS, B2B, Law Firms

Length in business: 6 years

Accolades:

• Facebook and Google verified partners
• Amazon Ads verified partner

Why Searchnurture?

Search Nurture is a full-stack digital marketing agency that caters to franchise eCommerce businesses. They’re experts in SEO, SEM, Paid Social Advertising, and Retail Advertising. They specialize in helping software and online retail businesses, tailoring their strategies to suit each client’s unique needs.

What makes them stand out is their commitment to clear communication and transparency. You can always track your campaigns and see how they’re performing in real time through their live dashboards. Additionally, their team is made up of top-notch professionals, ensuring that you get specialized expertise for the best results.

12.  Crush2.0

Best for: PR & Digital Outreach

Headquartered in: Tampa, Florida

Clients They’ve Worked With: Honor Yoga, Idolized, MEDNAX, BeBalanced.

Industries serviced: B2B and B2C

Length in business: 14 years

Accolades: NIL

Why Crush2.0?

Whether you’re new to the franchise industry or looking to expand, strategic digital outreach and PR can be the catalyst for propelling your business growth. CRUSH Agency 2.0 stands out as the go-to agency for franchise PR and digital outreach. Though they offer fully-fledged digital marketing solutions, they seem to be well-versed in franchise lead generation through digital outreach. 

13.  Elysium Marketing

Best for: Food & Restaurant Franchise

Headquartered in: Philadelphia, United States

Clients They’ve Worked With: Yogurtland, Aramark, Panera Bread, Glo Tanning, Ziggi’s Coffee, Margaritas, etc.

Industries serviced: Food & Restaurant

Length in business: 8 years

Accolades: 

• Member of the International Franchise Association (IFA)
• Microsoft and Bing Ads Partner
• Member of the Franchise Supplier Network

Why Elysium Marketing?

Elysium Marketing Group is a franchise marketing agency with a proven track record of helping food and restaurant franchise brands expand brand awareness, drive sales, and build customer loyalty.

Think of Elysuim as the extension of your marketing team. They adopt a data-backed approach to help their clients scale and get high-quality leads that impact the bottom line. 

They provide comprehensive solutions for franchise success, including: 

• Marketing Strategy, 
• Customer relationship management (CRM) and Marketing Automation, 
• Website Design and  build Marketing Design, and 
• Logos & branding, 

14.  Consumer Fusion

Best for: Online Reputation Management

Headquartered in: San Diego, United States

Clients They’ve Worked With: Electro Soft, Preferred Home Improvement, Harvest Seasonal Grill, etc.

Industries serviced: Home Services, Food and restaurant, Energy, B2B, B2C, eCommerce, etc.

Length in business: 10 years

Accolades: NIL

Why Consumer Fusion?

Consumer Fusion is your go-to digital marketing agency to protect your brand image locally, regionally, and globally. They use AI and smart technology to remove negative comments about brands across different websites. With over 70,000 negative reviews already taken care of, Consumer Fusion helps businesses maintain a good online presence.

Additionally, they don’t just stop at reviews; they also provide tools to monitor your brand across different websites and ensure your business shows up in local online searches. With automated owner responses and integrated review generation, Consumer Fusion ensures businesses maximize their digital presence and build a positive and influential online image.

15.  Goodway Group

Best for: National Franchise Marketing

Headquartered in: New York, US

Clients They’ve Worked With: Dr. Pepper, Kubota, Strategic America, Tacori, Bagel Brands, etc

Industries serviced: B2B, Commerce, and Healthcare

Length in business: 94 years

Accolades: NIL

Why Goodway Group?

While many franchise marketing agencies focus on lead generation or local franchise marketing, Goodway Group excels in national marketing. They use programmatic advertising and technology to expand franchise business advertising efforts across different platforms.

Goodway Group ensures you connect with customers nationally and locally – whether your business operates online, offline, or both – through paid advertising on search engines and social media. They also cover TV and audio advertising on Alexa, Spotify, and more, maximizing your reach across several channels. 

Why Do You Need an Agency with Franchise Experience?

Franchise marketing is tricky. Really tricky.

The franchisor focuses on large-scale brand awareness to attract new franchisees and boost brand awareness, ignoring customer preferences for individual local locations.

Meanwhile, franchisees handle local marketing and may or may not stick to a corporate franchise strategy. This mix-up usually induces myriad challenges for both parties, including disjointed brand identity, inconsistent brand messaging, and poor brand perception.

The most difficult of all is that the impact isn’t isolated. When one outlet is affected, it reverberates across other connected locations.  

Marketing agencies with franchise experience have hands-on experience navigating the complexities associated with a franchise business model. The most reputable has handled diverse use cases across different verticals so that they can make almost accurate predictions for success based on their expertise and foresight.

In addition, they can help develop a coherent strategy across multiple channels and locations, leading to a consistent brand identity.

Or, if you’re experiencing other difficulties, such as getting more franchisees, increasing your customer base, and driving sales, partnering with the right franchise marketing agency can set you up for sustainable success. 

Read more: Why you should work with a franchise marketing agency.

Tips on Hiring the Right Franchise Marketing Agency

Now, how do you find the perfect marketing agency for your franchise business? Here are some tips that help:

• Start with having clearly defined goals and objectives. Are you looking to attract more franchisees or accelerate overall franchise sales? Not all agencies offer integrated digital marketing solutions, so outlining your goals will help streamline your options.
• Tap into your network. Ask for recommendations on social media from colleagues in your industry. You also want to know about their professionalism and deliverables.
• Google search is quite broad, but articles like this can be a great starting point. Or, you can streamline your search by adding a modifier, for instance, your location or the exact services you’re looking for. E.g., best franchise marketing agency in Ohio or best franchise marketing agency for lead generation.
• Once you have a couple of agencies that piqued your interest, take a thorough look at their case studies, reviews, and testimonials, displayed like this:

• Next, reach out to the shortlisted agencies for a proposal. Be sure to include all relevant information to help them create a detailed proposal for your brand.
• You can also ask for an audit and strategy report. This shows the agency’s expertise and ability to generate results for your brand. Ensure you access the reports thoroughly to inform your final decision.
• Lastly, reach out to your preferred agency to ask the right questions before investing. Now, you have the full opportunity to access their professionalism and how enthusiastic they are in partnering with your franchise. 

Read more: How to check the credibility of an SEO agency that aligns with your business goals.