Online marketing agency for franchises: all online channels in one pair of hands

In brief: online marketing for franchise brands

• An online marketing agency for franchises manages the website, SEO, local SEO, GEO, Google Ads, social media and email for the franchise brand and its locations.
• The difference from a regular agency: everything is set up for scale and reporting per location.
• Organic channels and AI visibility form the foundation; paid channels add reinforcement where needed.
• One permanent team of specialists, without rotating account managers.
• We measure results in customer actions per location, not in clicks or likes.

Which online channels does an online marketing agency for franchises manage?

Online marketing for a franchise brand consists of a brand layer and a local layer. The brand layer is about the visibility and reputation of the franchise brand as a whole. The local layer is about customers near each location. Most results come from the combination.

What makes online marketing for franchises different from marketing for a single business?

For a single business, you optimise one website, one profile and one advertising account. For a franchise brand, you multiply everything by the number of locations, yet it still has to remain one brand. That calls for structure: one organisation account for all profiles, a fixed layout for location pages, one Ads structure with local campaigns and a report that compares locations.

In our experience, online marketing at franchise brands often becomes fragmented: every location with its own Facebook page, ad hoc advertising and no overview. You can read how to prevent this in protecting brand identity on social media.

How do we combine SEO, local SEO and GEO?

Search behaviour is shifting. Alongside Google, people increasingly use AI assistants to choose a provider. Those assistants draw their information from websites, profiles and reviews. That is why we build SEO, Google Maps optimisation for chains and Generative Engine Optimisation as one whole: the same facts, consistent everywhere, with schema markup that search engines and AI understand.

For this, Gijs Bodenstaff developed the 30-minute GEO method: a fixed checklist for checking and improving the most important AI signals per page and per location.

How do we use paid channels for franchise brands?

We use paid channels where organic visibility still falls short or where speed is needed: for new locations, promotions and franchisee recruitment. For Google Ads, we work with a head office Manager account and local campaigns per location. Want to hand it over completely? Read outsourcing Google Ads.

How does an online marketing agency measure results per location?

Not by clicks or likes, but by customer actions per location: calls, direction requests, appointments, bookings and forms. Those figures go into one monthly report, with the same KPIs for every location. You can read how to translate that into return on investment in measuring ROI per franchise location.

Who works on your franchise brand's online marketing?

No rotating account managers, but a permanent team with specialisms. Every location gets the same approach, carried out by people who know your franchise brand.

How do you get started with an online marketing agency for your franchise brand?

With a scan of three locations. For each location, we look at visibility in Google, Maps and AI assistants, the reviews and the location page. From that come the five biggest opportunities and a proposal for the first channels. You then decide for yourself whether you want to continue, and which channels to start with.

Who is behind this approach to online marketing for franchise brands?

The approach on this page comes from our team's hands-on experience. Gijs Bodenstaff built up a franchise brand himself and therefore knows both sides: the head office that protects the brand and the location that has to attract customers with it. Together with Stanley Leijnse (chair of Stichting LODAK), he studied 500 Google Business Profiles of the 100 largest Dutch franchise chains. Angela, Elisabeth, Peter and ten trained freelancers carry out the work per location, following one method and with weekly training on changes at Google.

You can read more about who is behind this agency; the author's background can be found under Gijs Bodenstaff.