According to a survey of active franchise systems conducted by Franchise Insights, franchisors plan to raise their recruitment budgets this year as favorable growth conditions continue.
More than 86% of franchisors plan to spend at least the same amount in 2019 as they spent on franchise lead generation in 2018. And 67% of respondents said they planned to increase their budgets for franchise lead generation in 2019.
“Not only is the broad economy favorable for growth, but low unemployment means that franchisors are competing with traditional employers for attractive candidates,” said Michael Alston, president of Franchise Ventures, which operates Franchise Insights. “And we are seeing an increase in new franchise concepts coming to market, adding further competition.”
The December survey included 87 U.S. respondents, with franchise systems of 2,500 units or less, and budgets up to $500,000 for 2019.
Franchise portals were cited as a “primary lead source” in 87% of the responses. Among the other sources mentioned, in-house digital marketing tallied 8% (including search-engine and social marketing), brokers were 3%, and third-party agencies were cited 2% of the time.