Navigating franchise marketing can feel like a constant balancing act of shifting priorities, high expectations and the pressure to drive results across every location. That’s exactly why we brought together Flamel CEO Paul Ehlinger, franchise CMO Alexandra Russo and Another Nine Co-Founder and CEO Ethan Grob to help the marketers of the franchise world step into leadership with confidence.
Below are the biggest takeaways from this lively, practical and very real conversation about what it means to lead marketing inside a growing franchise system.
Think Like a CMO: Build Scaleable Systems
Alex put it best. “Thinking like a CMO is thinking about what we have in place in order to make everybody's job easier.”
It’s not uncommon for marketers to drown in tasks like social posts, events, urgent franchisee questions and last-minute campaigns. But the shift to a CMO mindset comes when you zoom out and ask big-picture questions like:
Do we have the right tech stack to see what’s working?
Are we able to track metrics like bookings, conversions and renewals accurately?
Is our CRM set up correctly . . . or is it duct-taped together?
Can this process scale when we go from 5 locations to 50?
Ethan echoed this in a way every operator feels deeply saying, “I kind of toggle between both states on a any given day really, so it’s like you kind of have to wrestle between asking ‘is this something I need to just do . . . or is this something that I need to build for scale?’ My default is always to build it for scale.”
Empower Franchisees With Clarity (Because Clear Is Kind)
Empowerment doesn’t come from saying, “You should post more.” It comes from clear guidance by marketing leaders in the forms of:
Streamlined platform guidance
Clear templates
Clear expectations
Clear ownership of tasks
Clear deadlines
Clear feedback (“This was great, so do more of it.”)
Alex reminded us that franchisees aren’t avoiding marketing. Rather, most simply don’t know what to do or how to do it. Systems + support = confidence.
If you want comprehensive guidance on franchise marketing processes and thoughtful insights from franchising leaders, get your copy of our 2026 Franchise Marketing Guide Book.
The First 90 Days: Attract → Convert → Bring Them Back
Alex broke down the “starter CMO roadmap” into three buckets:
How do we find new clients?
How do we get them to buy?
How do we get them to return?
Everything fits into one of those three categories, and this line of thinking turns an overwhelming job into a manageable structure.
For new marketers or leaders suddenly holding the marketing keys, this framework becomes the compass for all decisions. Marketing simply equates to doing the right things at each stage of the customer journey.
Know Your Metrics (But Don’t Drown in Them)
Both Alex and Ethan emphasized focusing on the metrics that truly drive revenue and actually move the business forward. They highlighted several metrics worth paying attention to, while reminding marketers to prioritize the ones that matter most for their specific franchise model:
Cost per acquisition (CPA)
Cost to bring a customer back
Retention and visit frequency
Understanding true, realistic baselines
Customer acquisition cost
Lifetime value (LTV)
Conversion rates
Use the metrics that align with your brand and business model, because if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it, and you can’t explain its successes and shortcomings to franchisees.
Before You Scale, Get the Boring Stuff Right
This might be the most important lesson in the whole webinar. Both Alex and Ethan stressed that brands often skip the fundamentals, such as:
Correcting Google Business names
Ensuring accurate hours
Updating photos regularly on their profiles
Having consistent Instagram naming conventions
Managing Yelp + Apple Maps listings
Cleaning their marketing & sales data
Boring stuff? It can be.
But is maintaining this information transformational? Absolutely.
Be Findable Where Customers Actually Search, Especially in the AI Era
This topic sparked one of the most exciting conversations of the entire webinar.
More consumers are now searching in:
ChatGPT
Claude
Perplexity
Google AI Overviews
Of course, this means that fewer are typing traditional Google queries.
Ethan’s team is already optimizing Another Nine’s online presence so these AI search models recognize and recommend the brand.
Alex added that one of the easiest wins right now is treating your Google Business listing like a social feed:
Post weekly photos
Keep everything fresh
Respond to reviews
Make it easy for AI tools to “trust” you
Understand that Reddit, social and blog data are now powering LLMs, and said data’s authenticity is key.
AI is changing discovery. The brands who treat every digital touchpoint as a part of their strategy will win the next decade.
Authenticity Beats Perfection, Especially in Social
Alex made a compelling point that people want to see the humans behind a brand.
The next breakout franchise on social?
It’ll be the founder who say, “Come with me to work today as I build this thing from scratch.”
Ethan shared that Another Nine keeps their brand consistent but varies their tone across platforms—snarkier on TikTok, more polished on Facebook, etc.—but everything is anchored in authenticity and consistency. Your personality is an asset. Use it.
Ready to Lead Marketing With Confidence?
Whether you’re a founder, a fractional CMO, a newly promoted marketer or an operator who's been volun-told to “take over the marketing stuff,” this webinar is the roadmap you need.
Watch the full conversation above and remember: You don’t need the CMO title to lead like one. You just need the mindset and discipline to execute.
If you want to kickstart your franchise marketing processes and get thoughtful insights from franchising leaders, get your copy of our 2026 Franchise Marketing Guide Book.
