According to the International Franchise Association’s 2025 Economic Outlook, the franchise sector is expected to grow by 2.4%, outpacing the broader U.S. economy at 1.9% growth. Over 20,000 new franchise units are projected to launch, creating more than 210,000 new jobs.

Major growth areas:

• Personal services: +4.3% growth
  
• Retail food & services: +3.5% growth
• Top regions: Southeast and Southwest U.S. due to tax benefits and lower living costs

This is a massive opportunity—but with more units launching and more noise on social, it’s also more competitive than ever.

Implications for Franchise Marketing

This positive economic outlook presents both opportunities and challenges for franchise marketing, including the following:

• Increased Competition: With more franchise units opening, standing out in a crowded market becomes crucial.
• Localized Engagement: As franchises expand into diverse regions, tailoring marketing efforts to local audiences is essential for relevance and connection.
• Consistent Branding: Maintaining a unified brand message across all locations while allowing for local customization requires a strategic approach.

Meet Modo AI: Built for Franchise Growth

Modo AI, developed by SocialMadeSimple, is an AI-powered platform purpose-built to help franchisors automate and localize social media marketing and advertising at scale.

Here’s how it works:

Localized Content Calendars

Modo AI automatically creates and schedules social posts for each location, accounting for local seasonality, regional promotions, and market-specific engagement patterns. This ensures that each franchisee stays active and relevant on social media, without straying from brand standards. Learn how this supports brand growth in our blog on the role of franchisee marketing in brand building.

Localized Paid Ads with Central Oversight

The platform transforms your national strategy into hyper-local, performance-driven ad campaigns. Whether you’re running recruitment ads, lead generation offers, or brand awareness promotions, Modo AI customizes creative and targeting by location—right down to specific zip codes—and tracks ROI both at the franchisee and brand-wide level. For more on how this works in real-world campaigns, explore our tips for franchise social media advertising.

Centralized Brand Control

Modo AI allows corporate teams to set and lock in brand guidelines—including logos, voice and tone, visual assets, and approval workflows—while enabling franchisees to personalize messaging within those guardrails. The result is scalable content and advertising that feels local while remaining fully on-brand.

Real-World Franchise Results: HOTWORX

HOTWORX, one of the fastest-growing fitness franchise brands in the U.S., faced a common franchise marketing challenge: How do you support dozens of local franchisees with their marketing while maintaining brand consistency and visibility across the network?

They partnered with SocialMadeSimple to implement a strategy powered by Modo AI—automating the creation and distribution of localized content and ad campaigns across all participating locations.

The results:

• Branded content calendars were automatically generated and scheduled for each location, maintaining national brand voice while reflecting local messaging needs.
• Localized paid ads were launched across markets with individualized targeting for each studio, focusing on lead generation and brand awareness.
• Centralized reporting gave HOTWORX corporate full transparency into campaign performance by location—allowing them to compare engagement, conversion rates, and ad efficiency.

As a results of the campaigns, HOTWORX generated:

• Over 1.5 million leads generated  
• 50% of all new customer leads came directly from SocialMadeSimple
• Consistent brand messaging across all locations, even with localized content and offers

This case demonstrates how Modo AI enables fast-scaling franchises to grow smarter, not harder—removing the guesswork from managing hundreds of hyper-local marketing efforts at once.

Learn how we helped HOTWORX grow from 3 locations to over 750 open locations in the full HOTWORX Franchise Development Case Study.

Built-in Performance Reporting & Optimization

With Modo AI, you don’t just launch content and ads—you track it all in one place:

• See engagement, reach, and conversions by location
• Optimize creative based on real-time performance
• Get monthly reports that summarize everything for your executive team

Want to understand how performance is measured? Check out this article to learn more. Franchise Marketing Agency Success Stories: How to Measure ROI

Why It Matters in 2025

With more units opening and more franchisees needing marketing support, automation and personalization are no longer optional—they’re essential.

Modo AI is built to do both:

• Automate social and ad campaigns 
• Personalize content to every local market
• Keep corporate fully in control

It’s how you scale without compromise.

Franchising in 2025 is accelerating—and so is the complexity of marketing across dozens or hundreds of locations.

Modo AI, powered by SocialMadeSimple, gives your brand the tools to automate, localize, and optimize your social media marketing—while freeing up your team to focus on growth.

Request a demo and see how Modo AI can power your next phase of franchise expansion.