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Franchise Recruitment Study 2026 · Press and data

Press and data

Numbers you can quote, with the base behind each one, how to cite them, and who to ask.

Only provisional values are listed below. Values under review or withdrawn by the calibration notice are left out. Say "provisional" when you quote.

Quote-ready numbers

  1. 88% of pages (176 of 199) didn't say what the opportunity is, or who it's for, on the first phone screen.

    Source: Franchise Recruitment Study 2026, Sell More Franchises / Digital Rocket, finding F0.2 (provisional). https://sellmorefranchises.org/findings/f0-2-first-phone-screen-says-what-and-who/

  2. 75% of pages (149 of 199) had no sticky call or apply bar on a phone.

    Source: Franchise Recruitment Study 2026, Sell More Franchises / Digital Rocket, finding F1.2 (provisional). https://sellmorefranchises.org/findings/f1-2-sticky-call-or-apply-bar/

  3. 4 of 199 pages said what it is and who it's for, showed a button, and kept a call or apply bar on screen.

    Source: Franchise Recruitment Study 2026, Sell More Franchises / Digital Rocket, finding F1.6 (provisional). https://sellmorefranchises.org/findings/f1-6-phone-screen-all-three-basics/

  4. 46% of brands (92 of 200) asked about territory on the form.

    Source: Franchise Recruitment Study 2026, Sell More Franchises / Digital Rocket, finding F2.2 (provisional). https://sellmorefranchises.org/findings/f2-2-forms-asking-about-territory/

  5. 13% of brands (26 of 200) asked when the candidate wants to open.

    Source: Franchise Recruitment Study 2026, Sell More Franchises / Digital Rocket, finding F2.4 (provisional). https://sellmorefranchises.org/findings/f2-4-forms-asking-when-they-want-to-open/

  6. The median inquiry form in the study has 9 fields.

    Source: Franchise Recruitment Study 2026, Sell More Franchises / Digital Rocket, finding F2.7 (provisional). https://sellmorefranchises.org/findings/f2-7-median-inquiry-form-fields/

  7. 80% of brands (161 of 200) had a Meta pixel on the recruitment page.

    Source: Franchise Recruitment Study 2026, Sell More Franchises / Digital Rocket, finding F3.1 (provisional). https://sellmorefranchises.org/findings/f3-1-meta-pixel-on-recruitment-page/

  8. 46% of brands with a pixel on both sites (58 of 126) used the same Meta pixel for customers and franchise candidates.

    Source: Franchise Recruitment Study 2026, Sell More Franchises / Digital Rocket, finding F0.3 (provisional). https://sellmorefranchises.org/findings/f0-3-shared-meta-pixel-customers-and-candidates/

  9. 88% of brands (177 of 200) showed no server-side tracking signal in the browser.

    Source: Franchise Recruitment Study 2026, Sell More Franchises / Digital Rocket, finding F3.4 (provisional). https://sellmorefranchises.org/findings/f3-4-no-server-side-tracking-signal/

  10. 4.4% of recruitment ads (117 of 2,638) named or quoted a franchise owner.

    Source: Franchise Recruitment Study 2026, Sell More Franchises / Digital Rocket, finding F4.7 (provisional). https://sellmorefranchises.org/findings/f4-7-ads-naming-or-quoting-a-franchise-owner/

  11. 57% of brands (114 of 199) showed a named franchise owner on their website.

    Source: Franchise Recruitment Study 2026, Sell More Franchises / Digital Rocket, finding F0.7 (provisional). https://sellmorefranchises.org/findings/f0-7-websites-showing-a-named-franchise-owner/

  12. 22% of recruitment ads (591 of 2,638) had been running unchanged for 90 days or more.

    Source: Franchise Recruitment Study 2026, Sell More Franchises / Digital Rocket, finding F4.5 (provisional). https://sellmorefranchises.org/findings/f4-5-ads-unchanged-for-90-days/

  13. 70% of recruitment page headlines (140 of 200) led with ownership and lifestyle.

    Source: Franchise Recruitment Study 2026, Sell More Franchises / Digital Rocket, finding F5.1 (provisional). https://sellmorefranchises.org/findings/f5-1-headlines-leading-with-ownership/

  14. 14% of hero sections (29 of 200 pages) said who the franchise is for.

    Source: Franchise Recruitment Study 2026, Sell More Franchises / Digital Rocket, finding F5.2 (provisional). https://sellmorefranchises.org/findings/f5-2-hero-sections-saying-who-its-for/

  15. 74% of brands with recruitment ads (107 of 145) ran them from the customer brand page, not a franchise page.

    Source: Franchise Recruitment Study 2026, Sell More Franchises / Digital Rocket, finding F7.1 (provisional). https://sellmorefranchises.org/findings/f7-1-ads-run-from-customer-brand-page/

  16. 82% of recruitment pages (164 of 200) didn't state the franchise fee.

    Source: Franchise Recruitment Study 2026, Sell More Franchises / Digital Rocket, finding F7.5 (provisional). https://sellmorefranchises.org/findings/f7-5-pages-not-stating-franchise-fee/

  17. 64% of recruitment pages (128 of 200) shared no earnings data: no Item 19, unit volumes or average sales.

    Source: Franchise Recruitment Study 2026, Sell More Franchises / Digital Rocket, finding F7.6 (provisional). https://sellmorefranchises.org/findings/f7-6-pages-sharing-no-earnings-data/

How to cite

Digital Rocket (2026). Franchise Recruitment Study 2026: Why franchise ads don't sell more territories. Sell More Franchises. https://sellmorefranchises.org/research/franchise-recruitment-study-2026/

One number: add its finding ID, for example "finding F1.2", and link its page. Licence CC BY 4.0: credit "Sell More Franchises / Digital Rocket".

Keep the market and base: 200 brands with 50+ units, 178 US and 22 Australia, not a US-only or industry-wide benchmark.

Method in brief

  • 200 franchise brands with 50 or more units, from Digital Rocket's lists of franchisors that recruit with paid ads. A selected sample, not a census.
  • Fieldwork 8 to 19 October 2026. Each recruitment page saved on a phone and a desktop, with the form and every tracking request logged.
  • 35 yes-or-no checks per brand: recruitment page 9, phone view 4, inquiry form 9, tracking 6, Meta ads 7. Plus 8 copy codes.
  • 2,638 active recruitment ads read in the Meta Ad Library. Units, fees and investment from public franchise directories and brand sites.
  • Scored against a fixed rubric with AI-assisted review. Human calibration is not complete; see the notice.
  • Brands are anonymous. Brand-level records stay private.

Full method and limits

Data

All 71 findings with count, base and ID, also as CSV and JSON. The full PDF report: get it on the study page.

Press contact

Ivan Janku, founder, Digital Rocket: ivan@sellmorefranchises.org

Updated . Study published .