How to Build the Perfect Franchise Marketing Program

The 3 Steps Thunderly Used to Build Kilwins a Full-Funnel Franchise Marketing Program

Camille Gilvar, Social Media Account Manager at Thunderly

 

If you’re looking to grow a franchise brand, a strong marketing plan is a necessity. But with lead generation, social media advertisements, public relations, video, website development, oh my! … where do you even start? 

You want the most bang for your buck, but with so many options, it can be a challenge to narrow down which strategies will be most effective. A great franchise marketing program isn’t about spending as much money as you possibly can and hoping the results follow. It’s about engineering a strategic full-funnel system that pulls people in, keeps them engaged, and ultimately converts them from curious browsers into committed franchisees.

Let’s break it down, step by step. And to sweeten the deal, we’ll show you how we applied this exact method to build a results-driven program for Kilwins, a hand-crafted chocolate, fudge, and ice cream franchise that’s scaling fast.

Step 1: Start with Clear Goals

Before you approach your marketing agency, ask: what are we actually trying to do here?

Are you launching a new territory? Trying to grow your pipeline of qualified leads? Boosting national visibility? Or increasing conversions at the bottom of the funnel? Different goals require different tactics, timelines, and budgets. When we know your goals, we can tailor our strategy to most effectively—and cost-effectively—achieve those goals.

The key is to consider both long-term and short-term goals and know how to balance both in your franchise marketing program.

Short-Term Goals

Short-term goals are focused on immediate, measurable wins—think leads, inquiries, or traffic within the next 30, 60, or 90 days. These are the KPIs that franchise brands often care about most when they’re actively trying to sell units in a specific region or timeframe. The focus here is speed and clarity. What are we trying to drive now, and how fast can we get there?

Originally announced in November 2024, Kilwins brought us on to run a performance-driven franchise lead gen campaign. With new leadership, strong investor backing, and store openings on the horizon, they needed qualified leads—yesterday. Ads across Meta, Google, and LinkedIn targeting ideal candidates with messaging optimized for conversion, paired with a refreshed, SEO-forward franchise website and blog content tailored to search intent, gave Kilwins the pipeline surge they needed. 

But as we dug in, the opportunity (and the challenge) got a lot bigger. 

Long-Term Goals

Long-term goals are about building a durable brand presence and authority over time. You won’t see results overnight, but you will build recognition, trust, and reputation that make it easier to close leads in the future.

Examples of long-term goals include:

• Building recognition as a category leader or emerging concept
• Strengthening trust through third-party validation (like media or awards)
• Increasing unbranded search traffic through thought leadership and evergreen content
• Growing organic social engagement over time

Long-term goals often support short-term ones. The better your reputation, the more effective your lead gen. It’s all part of the same funnel, but not all parts work at the same speed. While Kilwins was pulling in leads from lead gen efforts alone, there were missing pieces needed to shift their strategy from short-term wins to stable, consistent growth over time.

Step 2: Build a Funnel That Fits

Once your goals are clear, it’s time to build a marketing funnel that meets people where they are and guides them to where you want them to be.

Think of it like this: brand awareness creates the top of the funnel, engagement tactics move leads through the middle, and conversion tools close the deal at the bottom. Each part of your franchise marketing program should play a distinct role in that journey, becoming more targeted and specific as the lead follows the funnel.

 

When Kilwins first came to us, the focus was short-term growth: generating leads. We started with a performance-driven lead gen campaign and SEO-driven website content. But as the momentum picked up, we zoomed out. What kind of brand were we building, and how could we attract people earlier in their decision-making process?

The result: a full-funnel franchise marketing program, tailored to Kilwins’ short and long-term goals. Here’s how each piece of their strategy works together to move prospects through the funnel:

PR and Storytelling (Top of Funnel: Brand Awareness)

Before someone clicks “request info,” they need to feel something about your brand.

We launched a PR campaign to build visibility and credibility for Kilwins, focusing on feel-good stories around local franchisees (our favorite kind of media hit), new store openings, executive hires, and expansion momentum. These storylines not only generate buzz but also create powerful backlinks for SEO and recognition across trusted media outlets. 

Video Production (Top of Funnel: Brand Awareness)

At the top of the funnel, video is your hook. It’s emotional, memorable, and endlessly repurposable.

That’s why our creative director went on-site to capture what Kilwins feels like—from sizzling caramel to franchisees sharing why they joined. These visuals become fuel for everything from social media and PR to paid ads and website embeds. The goal is to show prospects what they could be part of, not just tell them.

Social Media Support (Top & Mid-Funnel: Awareness + Engagement)

Social media bridges the gap between awareness and engagement. For Kilwins, we built a content strategy that balances polish with personality—amplifying store wins, sharing brand news, showcasing franchisees, and reinforcing brand culture.

Every post is an opportunity to stay top of mind.

SEO Optimization and Web Design (Mid-Funnel: Engagement)

Once someone’s interested, your website becomes your most powerful closer.

We refreshed Kilwins’ franchise development site and layered in SEO-focused blog content to answer buyer questions, build organic traffic, and showcase success stories. Each blog doubles as a landing page, turning casual interest into qualified engagement.

When candidates start searching “How much does a Kilwins franchise cost” or “Why invest in a chocolate franchise,” we want to be the answer.

Digital Ads (Bottom of Funnel: Conversion)

With interest generated, it’s time to convert.

Our digital ad strategy targets high-intent prospects with precision, using segmentation, platform-specific creative, and constant optimization. From Google to LinkedIn, each campaign is built to drive conversions, not just clicks.

Whether it’s a seasoned multi-unit operator or a first-time entrepreneur, we make sure Kilwins shows up at the right time, in the right way, with the right message.

Step 3: Track, Optimize, and Adjust

A franchise marketing program is never “set it and forget it.” If Step 1 is setting your goals, and Step 2 is building the funnel, then Step 3 is where the real magic happens: measuring what works, optimizing what doesn’t, and evolving your strategy as you grow.

At Thunderly, every part of our marketing funnel is powered by data. That means real-time visibility into performance, not just monthly email reports that tell you last month’s story. We build custom dashboards for our clients so they can track the status of their program at any time, across all channels. Whether it’s PR coverage, video engagement, ad conversion rates, or SEO rankings, we turn data into decisions, fast.

Because franchise development doesn’t move in a straight line, we treat the marketing process like a cycle: 

Set measurable goals → Implement full-funnel strategies → Track results & adjust → Repeat.

That’s exactly how we’ve grown the Kilwins program. We started with a focused lead gen campaign built for short-term pipeline growth—and it worked. The ads performed, the website converted, and the leads came in. But instead of stopping there, we layered in long-term brand building with PR, social media, SEO, and video.

Now, Kilwins has a truly integrated franchise marketing program that supports every stage of the funnel, and it’s already delivering results. More qualified leads. Higher brand visibility. A stronger foundation for growth.

Want a Franchise Marketing Program Like This?

If you’re a franchisor looking to scale, it might be time to upgrade your franchise marketing program. You need strategies tailor-made for your brand and your goals to cut through the noise and stand out from the crowd.

And with over two decades of experience in utilizing the franchise marketing strategies that work, we have the tools to get the results you want—all under one roof.

Let Thunderly build you a custom strategy that does more than check the boxes. Contact us today or reach out to our Chief Growth Officer, Jack Monson (704-848-7811 or jmonson@thunderlymarketing.com).

 

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