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Crumbl has experienced rapid growth since it was founded in 2017, thanks to its clever social media marketing efforts. The brand now has 918 locations and over seven million TikTok followers.
Over-the-top dessert shop concepts have grown in popularity in recent years. What makes Crumbl Cookies stand out from the competition and why has it been so successful in generating a large and loyal customer base?
The brand was founded in 2017 and already has 918 stores across the country. From 2022 to 2023 alone, the brand more than doubled its number of franchise locations from 326 to 689.
How has the brand managed this rapid success? Let’s take a look.
In short, much of Crumbl’s success comes down to the giant, influential social media presence the brand has cleverly created. By regularly posting engaging content, and mixing in a few well-thought-out marketing strategies, the brand has taken its young following and converted them into loyal customers.
As with any good social media marketing strategy, Crumbl has instilled major FOMO (fear of missing out) into its following. Crumbl famously has a classic cookie flavor that’s always on offer: milk chocolate chip. Beyond that, all of the flavors come in and out of rotation with new flavors continually being introduced. The rotating flavor concept is very effective, as the flavors are only announced each week and only offered for a limited time. This creates a sense of FOMO in the brand’s followers, prompting them to go and try this exciting new flavor before it’s gone. It also keeps social media flowers engaged as they wait and see if their favorite flavor will make its return or if a new tempting flavor will be introduced. To further influence the masses, the brand works alongside influencers and celebrities, creating unboxing videos with beloved and well-known faces as the taste testers.
How effective have these strategies been in terms of followers and subscribers? Let’s take a look at the numbers.
Followers: 4,200,000
Followers: 7,200,000
Likes: 75,200,000
Subscribers: 1,770,000
Franchising with Crumbl Cookies might sound quite tempting at this point. However, Crumbl isn’t the only successful gourmet cookie concept in the franchise space. Let’s see how it compares to some of its competitors in terms of the required initial investment and number of franchised units.
Initial Investment: $227,666 to $567,833
Franchise Fee: $25,000
Unit Count: 918
Initial Investment: $49,550 to $317,15050
Franchise Fee: $25,000
Unit Count: 370+
Initial Investment: $123,330 to $234,600
Franchise Fee: ??$35,000
Unit Count: 17+
Initial Investment: $160,600 to $385,000
Franchise Fee: $27,500
Unit Count: 300+
While Crumbl’s competitors have had varying degrees of success, with some experiencing impressive growth, Crumbl still seems to reign supreme in the gourmet cookie industry. It’ll be interesting to watch as new, emerging brands and established competitors alike continue to fight for a top spot in consumer’s minds and social media feeds as marketing strategies continue to evolve.
Are you interested in learning more about franchising in the dessert industry? Check out these stories and resources:
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