If recruiting franchisees feels different, maybe slower than usual, take heart, because you’re not alone. Many franchisors say they’re finding things challenging – advertising costs are rising, competition is fierce and in today’s hyper-digital world, audiences are more distracted than ever.
We don’t subscribe to the ‘goldfish attention span’ generalisation, though. What studies actually show is that the average person switches screens every 40–60 seconds, down from just a few minutes a decade ago. That doesn’t mean we’ve lost the ability to focus; it simply means people have more competing demands on their attention. For franchisors, that makes it harder than ever to hold someone’s interest long enough to build a real connection.
And yes, sometimes the enquiries landing in your inbox just aren’t top quality. But even the best leads won’t convert if your brand lacks visibility, trust or clarity.
But we’re not trying to start a pity party – quite the opposite. If you know us at all, you know we’re going to give you the good stuff. Here at Rev PR, we’ve spent years helping franchisors across every sector in recruiting franchisees. Helping them to attract, engage and convert the right people. Along the way, we’ve seen the same patterns repeat themselves. So, here are five common communications mistakes that quietly sabotage your efforts when recruiting franchisees – and what you can do to fix them.
1. No one knows who you are.
Sledgehammer, meet walnut. You can’t recruit people who haven’t heard of you. We know it sounds painfully obvious, but brand awareness is one of the biggest barriers to franchise growth. Too often, franchisors rely heavily on portals or paid ads to do all the heavy lifting. Those activities are important, but they’re not enough on their own.
When someone’s thinking about investing in a franchise, they don’t just look at your listing. They google you; they check news stories, social channels and reviews. If what they find is minimal or inconsistent, alarm bells ring. A lack of visibility feels risky.
Fix it by: building familiarity long before someone clicks ‘enquire’. Share stories regularly about your brand in the franchise, trade and even local press. Comment on industry trends. Celebrate franchisee success publicly. When prospects see your name repeatedly, they start to feel they know you, and that sense of recognition makes them far more likely to reach out.
2. Your content lacks authenticity.
We think it’s safe to say that, even with the most creative campaigns at work, a lot of franchise recruitment content sounds the same. If we played Buzzword Bingo in the office, we’d all end up sozzled by noon. “Proven model. Low investment. Great support.” Yes, it’s probably all true, but none of it tells a prospect why you stand out, or how you align socially, or why they’d find their tribe in your network. If your brand voice is too detached or your stories feel overly contrived, people will struggle to connect.
Fix it by: showing the people behind the brand. Share founder stories, franchisee journeys and customer experiences. Let your leaders speak in their own voices and highlight the purpose that drives you all. That doesn’t mean letting everyone loose on their keyboards with no structure – consistency and professionalism are still vital. But get the balance right and you create authentic content that will elicit emotional responses in your prospects.
3. Prospects don’t trust you (yet).
Trust is the currency of franchising. Prospects are making a huge financial and emotional decision; they need reassurance that you’re stable, ethical and capable of delivering on your promises.
If your PR presence is weak, if you have no third-party coverage, awards or case studies, you’re basically just asking people to take your word for it. That’s like the coyote asking the roadrunner to just ‘trust him’. Meep meep. Remember: people don’t believe what brands say about themselves; they believe what other people say about the brand.
Fix it by: earning external validation. Pursue credible media coverage, collect testimonials and case studies and shout about awards and accreditations. Use your PR to demonstrate expertise and reliability. Every independent mention of your brand adds weight to your claims and shortens the trust-building process.
4. You’re not nurturing leads effectively.
The biggest drop-off when recruiting franchisees usually happens after an enquiry. Someone fills out a contact form, receives your brochure and possibly gets a missed call – especially if they’re at work. And then… silence. It’s possible that days or even a week or more could go by before they hear from you again. By that point, their excitement has waned or they’ve moved on to another, more proactive brand.
We all know that recruiting franchisees takes time. Prospects often need weeks or months of reassurance before they’re ready to commit. If your active communications dry up after the first few days of contact, you’re leaving conversions on the table.
Fix it by: creating a nurture journey that keeps prospects warm. Use PR content like press stories, franchisee features and thought-leadership pieces to drip-feed credibility and insight. Mix in email and social touch points like text or WhatsApp that educate and inspire. The goal isn’t to sell at every interaction; it’s to keep your brand front of mind until they’re ready to talk seriously.
5. Your message isn’t clear or consistent.
If you asked five people in your team to describe your franchise opportunity, would they all say roughly the same thing? If not, your prospects are probably sceptical at best and, at worst, confused.
Prospects need to quickly understand what your business does, who it’s for and why it’s a good investment. If your website, social channels and franchise collateral all use different styles of communication and have too many mixed key messages, it undermines buyer confidence.
Fix it by: defining your story and sticking to it. Consistency doesn’t mean being robotic or repetitive; it means your values, purpose and social proof points come through naturally on every channel. When your message is aligned and authentic, prospects start to recognise and trust your voice.
What good PR looks like when recruiting franchisees
Good franchise PR isn’t about shouting the loudest or chasing column inches for vanity’s sake. The aim of the game is to increase visibility and build that all-important trust over time.
The strongest franchisors we work with treat PR and content as strategic growth tools, not nice-to-haves. Invest in sharing meaningful stories, make your franchisees the heroes and use your media presence to educate your market. This will elevate your whole network’s reputation and strengthen your franchise recruitment with improved engagement, shorter timelines and stronger retention.
Challenges recruiting franchisees won’t disappear overnight, but they can be overcome. When you show up consistently, speak authentically and build credibility in the right places, recruitment becomes a lot less of an uphill battle.
If you need help with your own PR and content, then let’s chat. We’d love to help you take your process for recruiting franchisees to the next level. Email our co-founder Lucy Archer on lucy@revpr.co.uk or call 07921 572554. If you suggest meeting for cake, we’ll pay.
Here at Rev, we regularly share articles about hot topics and offer PR advice to help you maximise your PR activities. Follow us on social media to stay updated: LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram.