In 2025, franchise marketers face an increasingly complex landscape filled with an overwhelming number of tools and systems. The key to staying ahead of the competition is harnessing the power of data and integrating various marketing technologies to streamline processes and optimize results.
In our recent Franchise Marketing Panel Webinar, Ashley Mitchell, VP of Marketing at East Coast Wings + Grill; Will Fraker, VP of Brand and Performance Marketing at Modern Performance + Recovery Brands; and Erin Martin, VP of Marketing at Netsertive, shared their insights on how franchise brands can effectively use data and integrations to improve their marketing strategies. Here are the key takeaways from the session.
1. The Critical Role of Data in Franchise Marketing
Data is at the heart of every successful franchise marketing strategy. With the correct data, marketers can make informed decisions, personalize marketing efforts, and drive better engagement.
Ashley Mitchell, VP of Marketing at East Coast Wings + Grill, emphasized the importance of data:
“We leverage data to inform every aspect of our marketing. Whether it’s through CRM systems or campaign analytics, the goal is always to make more informed decisions that will directly benefit our customers.”
Ashley shared that using data to understand customer behavior and preferences has been crucial in personalizing marketing messages and improving customer engagement.
Franchise brands that effectively leverage their data can also enhance customer experiences, ensuring that every touchpoint is tailored to their needs.
2. Integrating Your Marketing Tech Stack
As franchise marketers have access to more tools than ever, integrating these systems seamlessly is the challenge. Combining different platforms—CRM systems, paid media tools, social media dashboards, and more—into one unified system is key to reducing inefficiencies and providing a holistic view of customer data.
Will Fraker, VP of Brand and Performance Marketing at Modern Performance + Recovery Brands, shared his thoughts on integration:
“Implementing technology has given us much more opportunity to understand what drives our best performers.”
By integrating their tools, brands can streamline their processes, eliminate silos, and ensure data flows smoothly between systems. This makes tracking performance, understanding customer journeys, and optimizing campaigns easier.
3. Real-World Applications: Data and Tools in Action
The panel also highlighted real-world case studies from their brands, showing how they’ve successfully used data and integrations to drive marketing success.
Erin Martin, VP of Marketing at Netsertive, shared an example from one of their campaigns:
“We worked with a client who struggled with understanding their customers' behavior across multiple touchpoints. By integrating their CRM, paid media platforms, and customer feedback tools, we were able to get a clear picture of where the opportunities were and how we could better serve their customers.”
Erin’s example showed the power of integrating data across different platforms to uncover new opportunities and improve customer targeting.
These case studies served as inspiration for attendees, demonstrating how integration and data can be used not only to track performance but to refine marketing efforts continuously.
4. The Importance of Data-Driven Decisions
A recurring theme throughout the session was the importance of data-driven decisions. Successful franchise marketers use data to back up every marketing move they make.
Ashley Mitchell added:
“What story is your data telling? In order for my team to achieve success, we need to know the pieces and have it organized in this way so we can look at the data points that matter to our team and then make actionable items.”
Using data-driven insights allows brands to make proactive decisions, adjust campaigns in real time, and ultimately deliver better results for franchisees.
5. How to Build a Future-Proof Marketing Strategy
Looking ahead to 2025 and beyond, the panelists agreed that integrating data and marketing technology will only become more critical. To stay competitive, franchise marketers must build flexible, scalable systems that allow quick adaptations as the marketing landscape evolves.
Will Fraker emphasized:
“The key is building systems that can scale. You can’t just rely on the tools you’re using today; you have to plan for the future and ensure your systems can evolve with new technology and data sources.”
By anticipating the future needs of marketing and planning integrations that allow for flexibility, brands can remain agile and ahead of industry trends.
Key Takeaways:
- Data is King: Data informs every marketing decision, enabling marketers to personalize campaigns and better understand customer needs.
- Integration is Key: Integrating marketing tools and systems creates efficiency, streamlines workflows, and ensures data flows smoothly between platforms.
- Data-Driven Decisions: The most successful franchise marketers rely on data to drive decisions rather than intuition or past practices.
- Real-World Examples: Case studies demonstrated how integrating tools and using data can reveal new marketing opportunities and improve performance.
- Plan for the Future: Building flexible, scalable systems today prepares franchise marketers for tomorrow’s challenges and technology advancements.
- The Story Data Tells: Organizing and interpreting data in the right way helps marketers uncover insights and create actionable plans to drive success.
Final Thoughts
Data and integrations are the keys to staying competitive in a rapidly evolving marketing landscape. By strategically using data to personalize marketing, integrating tools to streamline processes, and making data-driven decisions, franchise brands can enhance their marketing strategies and achieve their goals in 2025.
If you missed the live session, the key insights shared during this panel can help guide your brand’s future marketing efforts. Watch The Live Replay Here.
Sydney Kleinsasser
Sydney Kleinsasser is the Marketing Manager at Netsertive. She excels in developing content strategies, managing marketing campaigns, and analyzing market trends. When she's not driving marketing success, she's staying active, practicing yoga, and enjoying nature walks.
