Franchise leaders juggle brand control, local needs, and growth targets. Search is crowded, paid media is volatile, and inboxes are loud. The right franchise marketing agency brings accountable systems, clean data, and repeatable wins you can scale. This guide gives you a clear checklist, examples, and 25 questions you can use in your RFP and vendor interviews.

Why the right partner matters:

A strong partner does three things well: drives qualified demand, protects the brand, and proves impact with source-of-truth reporting. Expect excellence across SEO, lead generation, email nurturing, and Google Ads.

Your core engines:

SEO: Technical fixes, location pages, reviews, and content that ladders from national themes to local intent.
Lead generation: Offer strategy, landing pages, call tracking, and fast lead routing.
Email marketing: Welcome, nurture, reactivation, and franchisee enablement sequences.
Google Ads / PPC: Clean account structure, conversion imports, negative keywords, and budget discipline.
Tip: Ask for a 30-60-90 plan, a measurement framework, and sample dashboards before you sign.

25 due-diligence questions to ask any partner,

Strategy & Fit:

1. How do you tailor national strategy to local markets without fragmenting the brand?
2. What makes your approach better than other franchise marketing companies for multi-location complexity?
3. Show a sample annual plan with goals, tests, budget tiers, and creative cycles.
4. How do you prioritize markets, services, and spend when budgets are limited?

SEO & Content:

1. What is your technical SEO checklist and 90-day remediation plan?
2. How do you build and maintain location pages and Google Business Profiles at scale?
3. Share a content map that connects national themes to local search intent.
4. What is your reviews playbook for volume, velocity, and response quality?

Paid Media & CRO:

1. Show your standard account structure for Search, Performance Max, and remarketing.
2. How do you handle offline conversion imports and lead quality feedback loops?
3. What is your landing page framework and testing cadence?
4. Provide three examples where you cut CPL while improving lead-to-close rate.

Email, Nurture & Lifecycle:

1. What automated journeys do you deploy in month one vs quarter one?
2. How do you segment by location, service line, and buying stage?
3. Share examples of win-back and reactivation offers that worked for franchisors.

Data, Reporting & Governance:

1. What does your franchise marketing dashboard and reporting include, and who owns the data?
2. Walk through your UTM standards, deduplication rules, and call-tracking QA.
3. How do you roll up national performance while letting each franchisee see their own numbers?

National-to-Local Execution:

1. Describe your playbook as a national to local marketing agency for franchises.
2. How do you manage co-op funds, creative approvals, and compliance at speed?
3. What is your process for spinning up a new market in under 10 business days?

Team, SLAs & Commercials:

1. Who is on the named team, and how much time do they dedicate weekly?
2. What are your response-time SLAs for urgent issues and standard requests?
3. How do you price pilots vs ongoing retainers, and what is included?
4. Provide two franchisor references and show redacted reports we can inspect.

Quick examples of what works:

Home Services, 40 units: Rebuilt account structure, added offline conversion imports, and moved budget to high-intent terms. Result: 28% lower CPL in 60 days and cleaner lead routing to sales.

Health & Fitness, 120 studios: Localized landing pages and reviews cadence. Result: 18% lift in organic leads and stronger brand consistency across regions.

QSR, 75 locations: Introduced a nurture email sequence and remarketing offer. Result: increased repeat orders and measurable lift in store-level ROI.

These are composites that mirror common outcomes when governance, tracking, and testing are aligned.

What to expect from a partner relationship:

A capable franchise digital marketing agency should operate like an extension of your team, not a black box. You should see a shared roadmap, role-based dashboards, and weekly notes that explain what changed and why. If you need a refresher on how we structure this, you can review our approach at Fetchasquad.com.

Must-have specializations to look for:

A franchise digital marketing agency for franchisors that understands corporate-to-local needs.
A franchise recruitment marketing agency that can source, filter, and route development leads.
A stack that includes a franchise marketing dashboard and reporting your executives will actually use.
A proven national-to-local marketing agency for the franchise model that protects the brand while staying relevant in each market.

How to run your selection in 30 days:

Week 1: Issue RFP, share goals, and ask for a 30-60-90 plan.

Week 2: Shortlist two vendors. Request live walkthroughs of dashboards and case studies.

Week 3: Require a pilot plan with KPIs, budget, and risk scenarios.

Week 4: Check references, align on SLAs, and sign a 90-day pilot with clear exit terms.

Light next step:

If you’re ready to compare plans or want a quick audit, we can outline a pilot and a measurement plan you can take to your team.

About Fetchasquad:

FetchaSquad is the franchise digital marketing agency trusted by Steamatic Corporate, helping franchise owners grow their local markets with proven, ROI-focused strategies. We specialize in Google Ads, SEO, Meta Ads, and lead generation tailored to the restoration industry. As specialists in franchise SEO services for multi-location brands, our web and marketing team keeps your phones ringing and your pipeline full. Your brand’s success is at the heart of everything we do.