Growing a Franchise
Franchisors are balancing long-form storytelling with short-form video in a crowded digital space. Smart development teams use both, but video is emerging as 2026's most powerful franchise sales tool.
Franchise development websites have always relied on long-form content to explain the business model, articulate support systems and showcase franchisee success. But as buyer behavior shifts and attention spans shrink, many brands are leaning more heavily into video — not just as a supplement to text, but as a primary driver of trust and connection.
According to Brad Schneider, president of The Growth Coach, video has become essential to attracting, engaging and converting serious franchise candidates. And in 2026, the brands that win will be the ones that understand how different types of content — written and visual — work together to build credibility and momentum inside the funnel.
“We share videos and testimonials with prospects and on our fran dev website,” Schneider said. “We have made an effort to also embed video in texts and email campaigns to prospects in the funnel.”
What’s changed isn’t just the placement of video — it’s the strategy behind it. Schneider says The Growth Coach has moved almost entirely toward short-form video designed to make prospects feel something quickly.
“We really focus on short snippets, maybe 90 seconds at the most,” he said. “We try to get myself as the brand president in the videos, or we use videos that we already have of superstars who are already successful.”
The Growth Coach leans heavily into storytelling — not just the brand’s story, but the personal stories of real franchisees. Schneider says that’s where video becomes more than a marketing asset. It becomes a mirror that helps candidates imagine their future.
“When we have franchisees, we ask them to talk about the power of our business that has fueled their success,” he said. “We talk about the passion, the success with clients, the intrinsic value that comes with the ability to help a family business. Those are things that are making major differences in people’s lives.”
This emotional impact is something written content can support — but video can accelerate. Development websites still need strong long-form pages to explain investment ranges, support programs and differentiators. But Schneider says videos help candidates see themselves inside the system before they ever speak to a salesperson.
“Having our coaches share those stories is very important so owners can see themselves in the same position,” he said.
For lifestyle-driven franchises, Schneider says video is transformational.
“This business is really a great lifestyle brand,” he said. “So we have a video campaign getting ready to go out through paid social opportunities to drum up support and get people excited about making that next step in franchising. It is really appealing to them to know that this is a lifestyle that matches with them.”
Lifestyle is one of the hardest things to communicate through text. But through visuals, tone, facial expressions and real-life footage, candidates get a visceral sense of what their life might look like as a franchisee.
One of the barriers brands face is video production — but Schneider says it doesn’t have to be complicated.
“We are either filming them on location in Cincinnati, in our home office or via Zoom,” he said. “We also interview new owners who just went through training to talk about how it was going through that process. This is what it’s like, I’m getting ready to launch, this is how prepared I feel and how excited I am, etc.”
Zoom, he says, has become one of the brand’s best tools: fast, flexible and capable of producing authentic, intimate testimonial videos that prospects trust.
Schneider says video’s role at The Growth Coach has expanded far beyond development marketing. It’s now part of the learning ecosystem franchisees rely on.
“We’ve also done an overhaul of our training program, as well as an overhaul of our knowledge base,” he said. “Both of those have been focused on continuing to employ more video — not just how to use our products and marketing, but we’ve also been featuring the top performers in the network who are sharing their best practices on video.”
That creates a powerful feedback loop: development videos attract candidates, and internal videos help support and elevate the franchisee community.
“We still have an aggressive program to help owners,” Schneider said, “but they now can hear from the superstars in our network as well.”
The greatest advantage of video, Schneider says, is early relationship-building, even before the development team speaks with a candidate.
“Video is integral right now to any franchise business that is really looking to have an impact on the marketplace today,” he said. “I just did a meet-the-team with a candidate yesterday, and she told me: ‘Hey, I remember you from the videos!’”
For Schneider, this moment revealed the true power of video. “She already had a positive feeling about me as my role as a president because she had already seen those videos,” he said. “I was relationship-building and I didn’t even know it!”
Want to learn more about how 1851 helps franchisors grow their franchises with confidence? Visit www.1851growthclub.com and see what we can do for you.
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