Top 25 Franchise Marketing Leaders: Kelly Mance — Vice President of Marketing, Premium Service Brands

Name: Kelly Mance
Role: Vice President of Marketing
Brand: Premium Service Brands

Kelly Mance says she found her way into franchise marketing “serendipitously,” but her career path made it a natural fit. She has spent years on both the agency and corporate sides, building scalable marketing programs in highly regulated, multi-stakeholder environments. Add in her time as an independent consultant and business owner, and franchise marketing became the perfect space to unite her strengths.

At Premium Service Brands, Mance is focused on marketing that not only generates demand but actually drives revenue — helping franchise owners improve lead quality, accelerate conversion and build long-term customer relationships.

Q&A With Kelly Mance, Vice President of Marketing, Premium Service Brands

1851 Franchise: How did you find your way to franchising and franchise marketing?

Kelly Mance: I often say I found my way into franchise marketing serendipitously, but it quickly became clear that this space was the perfect culmination of my career to date. I’ve spent time on both the agency side and in enterprise leadership roles, building and scaling marketing strategies across highly regulated, multi-stakeholder environments.

Combined with my experience as an independent consultant and business owner, franchise marketing brings together everything I’ve learned — strategy, operations, empathy for operators and the discipline required to drive measurable growth at scale.

1851: What makes franchise marketing uniquely challenging (and rewarding) compared to corporate-only marketing?

Mance: Franchise marketing sits at the intersection of brand stewardship and local entrepreneurship.

Unlike corporate-only marketing, success isn’t defined solely by impressions or pipeline — it’s defined by whether an individual owner can turn demand into booked revenue. You’re balancing national consistency with local flexibility, supporting operators with vastly different levels of marketing sophistication and earning trust across a system where you don’t “own” execution.

That complexity is what makes it rewarding. When you get it right, marketing becomes a true growth partner for franchisees, not just a support function.

1851: What is the single most powerful lever a marketing team can pull to directly impact franchisees’ profitability at the unit level?

Mance: Speed-to-lead — paired with lead quality optimization.

You can double a franchisee’s return without increasing spend simply by improving how quickly and intelligently leads are routed, responded to and followed up on.

Marketing teams that take ownership of the entire demand lifecycle — not just generation — can materially impact close rates, average ticket size and customer lifetime value. Profitability doesn’t come from more leads; it comes from converting the right ones faster.

1851: What is an untapped marketing opportunity you see for franchise brands?

Mance: Cross-brand and lifecycle-based marketing is an area that seems underutilized. Many franchise systems leave revenue on the table by treating each brand — or each transaction — as a silo.

The real opportunity lies in designing connected customer journeys that recognize when a customer is ready for their next service, upgrade or maintenance plan. Brands that leverage shared customer intelligence, proactive re-engagement and bundled value will win on both retention and lifetime value.

1851: What is one marketing fad or buzzword that you believe will actually deliver real results in the coming year?

Mance: AI — when applied responsibly. The brands seeing real results aren’t using AI to replace strategy or creativity; they’re using it to enhance speed, insight and consistency.

Predictive lead scoring, smarter local SEO and operational dashboards that surface actionable insights for franchisees will move the needle. AI is powerful when it’s human-led and outcome-driven — not when it’s treated as a shortcut.

1851: What’s your boldest franchise marketing take?

Mance: In five years, marketing teams that stop at lead generation will be behind the curve. The future belongs to franchise marketing organizations that operate like revenue engines — owning demand orchestration, conversion strategy and customer lifetime value across brands and markets.

From what I’ve seen, there is room to improve in this area, and the systems that figure it out will transform marketing’s impact — not just supporting the business, but defining how franchise systems can scale profitably.

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.