Comparing Marketing Budgets and Leads from 2024 to 2025

Franchise Update Media recently released its 2025 Annual Franchise Marketing Leadership Report. The AFMR is a survey of top franchise marketing executives that provides insights into the latest consumer behavior trends, innovative marketing strategies, technology, and the impact of digital transformation on franchise businesses.

The AFMR is the first and only report dedicated to B2B and B2C franchise marketing leaders. It includes perspectives from industry experts about the evolving market dynamics and how franchises can stay ahead of the competition. This report delivers data collected from franchisors across the franchise community with responses organized by industry, marketing budget, system-wide sales, and more.

The annual report provides franchisors with the ideal resource for studying their marketing investments, benchmarking their sales and advertising budgets against their own industry categories, as well as setting goals and budgets for the year ahead. The AFMR also includes research into digital advertising practices, the growing investment in mobile and social platforms, and best practices in building marketing teams.

Over the last several years, the AFMR was expanded to include more information about online reputation management and the use of artificial intelligence (AI). It starts by identifying how many franchises are using AI and in which ways, along with their confidence in using the technology. It also looks at how the integration of AI has impacted the customer experience, its challenges and limitations, and their plans for future investment in AI. The report also explores franchisee involvement, franchisee training and support, and feedback from customers regarding the use of AI.

Benchmark comparisons between 2024 and 2025

As we approach the end of the year, many franchises have finalized their budgets and are looking at projections for the upcoming year. In the latest AFMR, Franchise Update asked respondents to compare their marketing budgets and leads from 2024 to 2025. We thought it would be instructive to contrast the results of the past two years as we head into 2026.

Comparing marketing budgets

When asked if their 2025 marketing budget was higher or lower than their 2024 budget, about half of the respondents in four of five industry sectors said it would be higher in 2025. The outlier was retail food franchises, in which 67 percent said it would be the same. Of the four sectors that said their budgets would be higher, they all ranged from 50 to 56 percent.

We analyzed the same question for franchises based on unit size. Three groups – franchises with 251 to 500 units, 1,001 to 2500 units, and more than 5,000 units – responded at a 100 percent rate that their marketing budgets would increase in 2025. Sixty percent of the franchises with unit counts of less than 25, and 501 to 1,000, said their budgets would remain about the same for the two years.

We also examined the same question through the lens of systemwide revenue. Among those who said the budgets were higher, lower, or the same, the percentages were very high, with very few mixed responses. One hundred percent of franchises in three categories – $251,000 to $500,000, $100 – $250 million, and $500 million – $1 billion – said their marketing budgets would be lower in 2025. One hundred percent of franchises $501,000 to $1 million said their budgets would remain the same, along with 75 percent of the franchises in the ranges of $5 – $10 million and $10 – $25 million.

Comparing leads

When also looking at marketing numbers from 2024 to 2025, Franchise Update asked respondents to compare their leads or traffic count for each year. Three of the five industry sectors said leads increased this year versus last year. The biggest exception is with retail (non-food) franchises, with 75 percent saying their leads decreased in 2025. Also of note were food franchises, with 44 percent saying leads were down while only 22 percent saying the number of leads was up in 2025.

When reviewing responses to that question based on the unit size of franchises, the primary takeaway is that respondents said traffic counts had either increased or decreased from the previous year, with few saying they remained the same. The smaller franchises – those with less than 25 units (60 percent), and 26 to 100 units (61 percent) – said leads were up. One hundred percent of respondents with 1,001 to 2,500 units also said they received increased traffic counts in 2025. However, four groups reported that leads or traffic count had decreased this year: Over 5,000 (100 percent), 501 to 1,000 (80 percent), 251 to 500 (60 percent), and 101 to 250 (40 percent).

When looking at responses to the same question from franchises based on systemwide revenue, their answers skewed in a generally positive direction. Eighty percent of franchises with revenues $1 million to $5 million said their traffic counts had increased in 2025, followed by franchises in the $25 million to $50 million range and $50 million to $100 million range (63 percent each). The biggest exception came from responses in the two smallest revenue categories. One hundred percent of franchises with revenues of less than $250,000 and in the $251,000 to $500,000 range said they had received fewer leads in 2025 than in 2024.

For more information about the 2025 AFMR and how you can purchase the report, read more HERE.