Local digital activation + LTO media + loyalty app growth across 12 units.
A 12-unit QSR franchisee in the Southeast had a brand app in the market — their parent franchisor had launched it two years prior — but active users represented less than 8% of total transaction volume. LTO (limited-time offer) windows were a quarterly pressure point: the franchise owner was committing marketing dollars to LTO support campaigns, but couldn't measure whether the spend was moving comp-store sales or just running a brand awareness exercise the franchisor would have done anyway.
The blended local CAC had drifted upward over 18 months. A national agency had been running local search and social campaigns across all 12 units from a centralized playbook — the same ads, the same creative, the same timing, regardless of whether a given unit was in a dense urban market or a suburban strip center with different competitive dynamics and different drive patterns. CPM and CPC benchmarks looked fine in aggregate; comp-store sales told a different story.
The ask was precise: reduce blended local CAC, grow app installs to a threshold where loyalty data could actually drive merchandising decisions, and demonstrate a measurable comp-store sales lift attributable to digital activation — all within a 9-month budget window the franchisee had negotiated with corporate.
Six of 12 units had GBP listings with outdated hours, no menu photos, and 60-day gaps between posts. All 12 listings were audited, corrected, and enrolled in a weekly content cadence: location-specific promotional posts timed to LTO windows, photo updates for new menu items, and a review response program that brought every unit above a 4.1-star average within 60 days. Maps pack visibility increased across 9 of 12 units. Near-me search traffic to store pages up 38% by month 4.
Built Meta app install campaigns targeted by 1.5-mile radius from each unit — not DMA-level targeting the national agency had been running. Creative personalized by unit neighborhood, daypart, and LTO window. Used lookalike audiences seeded from each unit's existing app user base rather than generic "fast food interest" targeting. The result: app install cost fell from $4.70 (prior national agency average) to $1.18. Install volume up 340% in 9 months across the portfolio.
Built an LTO activation calendar keyed to the franchisee's POS transaction cadence — identifying which units had the lowest cross-sell rates during each LTO window and directing incremental budget there. In-app push notification timing tested against transaction time patterns per unit: morning LTO push at 10:47am outperformed the default 11am push across 8 of 12 units. LTO redemption rate lifted 52% across the portfolio over the engagement.
Designed a post-install nurture sequence for new app users: onboarding offer at install, re-engagement push at day 7 (if no transaction), unit-specific personalized offer at day 14, and a monthly loyalty milestone trigger for users who had visited 3+ times. Repeat-visit rate (defined as 2+ visits in 30 days) lifted 18% across the app user base. High-frequency users (5+ visits/month) grew as a share of total active users from 12% to 21% by month 9.
| Month | App Install CAC | Monthly Installs | Repeat-Visit Rate | LTO Redemption |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baseline (prior agency) | $4.70 | 210/mo | 22% | 14% |
| Month 1 | $3.80 | 280/mo | 22% | 15% |
| Month 3 | $2.40 | 440/mo | 24% | 18% |
| Month 5 | $1.74 | 620/mo | 27% | 19% |
| Month 7 | $1.42 | 810/mo | 30% | 20% |
| Month 9 | $1.18 | 924/mo | 26% | 21% |
National QSR marketing runs campaigns that make the brand look good. What a franchisee actually needs is a system that puts app users in seats and makes that measurable at the unit level — not the DMA level. Those are two very different briefs.
This engagement maps to our Co-Pilot tier at $1,797/mo. Bi-weekly strategy calls, full digital execution, and monthly performance reporting.
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We audit your current unit-level digital presence — GBP health, app user penetration, LTO attribution — and tell you exactly where the comp-store lift is being left on the table.
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