Franchise Growth Hacked: How GPS Tracking and Behavioral Modeling Are Fueling Local Conquest

Franchise Growth Hacked: How GPS Tracking and Behavioral Modeling Are Fueling Local Conquest

 

In a franchise world dominated by national brand awareness, the real battle often happens on the street corner. Competing for the same customer in the same zip code as your biggest rival, or even a neighboring franchisee, demands more than just slick branding or great signage. It requires precision. That’s exactly what we set out to prove with our new hyperlocal marketing platform, Pathfinder – and the results have been nothing short of remarkable.

 

The Franchise Marketing Gap No One’s Talking About

 

At We Are Kymera, we work with dozens of franchise brands across sectors, fitness, food, personal care, senior services, home improvement. And one consistent pain point we hear from franchisees is this:

“I’m following the national playbook, but I’m not seeing enough traffic at the local level.”

It’s not surprising. National campaigns build brand familiarity, but they don’t always drive foot traffic or phone calls to your location. The missing piece is precision, and in 2025, precision starts with mobile data.

 

The Pathfinder Difference: Behavior-Based Targeting Meets Hyperlocal Messaging

 

In January 2025, we launched Pathfinder, a new geofencing platform built to do one thing: deliver high-intent customers to your doorstep.

Pathfinder doesn’t just geofence locations. It builds behavioral profiles of mobile users based on where they go, when they go there, and how often they show patterns that align with your best customers. Then, it delivers personalized messaging to them wherever they spend time online, with total flexibility in creative, calls-to-action, and timing.

Our messaging strategy blends 50% branding, showcasing your personality, credibility, and reviews, and 50% targeted promotions, featuring limited-time offers or weekly specials. Each campaign is custom-crafted based on location, vertical, and audience behavior.

 

The Pathfinder Difference: Behavior-Based Targeting Meets Hyperlocal Messaging

 

From Test Case to Proof Point: Tuohy’s Downtown

 

To prove the model, we ran Pathfinder at my own restaurant, Tuohy’s Downtown, a chef-driven, upscale-casual spot in Vero Beach, Florida.

We opened in June 2024. By late January 2025, high season was heating up, and so was competition. We launched Pathfinder to target four distinct segments:

  1. Affluent locals (our best shot at off-season survival)
  2. Snowbirds in high-income coastal enclaves
  3. Tourists in nearby beach resorts
  4. Patrons of other similar local restaurants
  5. Office workers within a 5-mile lunch radius

We combined geofencing with weekly creative and mobile-first offers (like happy hour deals and new menu items), and tracked actual visits and sales lift over time.

The results?

  • Return on investment hit 611% at its peak.
  • Return on Ad Spend reached almost 1700%
  • Cost per incremental diner fell below $2.
  • We maintained strong momentum even as traditional advertising wore off.

“Pathfinder was a game changer,” says Bob Heid, business partner at Tuohy’s. “It helped us laser target the right people with the right message to get their attention. I’ve run a lot of marketing campaigns in my career, and this one flat-out worked. It blew traditional advertising out of the water.”

 

Why This Works So Well for Franchises

 

Why This Works So Well for Franchises

 

Let’s be clear: Tuohy’s is an independent brand. But Pathfinder is even more powerful for franchises, especially in highly competitive, service-based categories like:

  • Gyms & fitness centers
  • Quick-service restaurants (QSRs)
  • Day spas and salons
  • Pet services
  • Urgent care and wellness clinics

Here’s why:

  • You’re competing with neighbors, not just the market at large
  • You already have brand recognition, so targeting behavior beats awareness
  • You can steal market share from competitors based on real-world data
  • You have limited territory, so efficiency matters even more
  • You know exactly what your ROI and ROAS are every month!!

This is what we call competitor conquesting done right, and it’s already delivering real results.

 

What Franchisees Can Do Next

 

If you’re a franchisee or brand operator tired of wasting budget on ads that don’t move the needle, here’s what to consider:

  1. Audit your market – Identify who your best customers are and where they actually go.
  2. Geofence your competitors – Not just nationally, but locally.
  3. Personalize your creative – Weekly specials and authentic storytelling win clicks.
  4. Track in-store visits – Don’t rely on impressions. Demand action.

And above all, own your neighborhood. National ads may win hearts, but local targeting wins wallets.

Send Us Mail

Like what you see? Wanna have coffee? Maybe plot world domination? Use the contact form to the right to get the ball rolling!

Name(Required)