Paid ads are getting more expensive. Organic reach is shrinking. Fewer people are clicking through to websites. But the bigger shift most franchise brands haven’t fully processed yet is this: Customers are making decisions about your brand before they ever reach you.

Welcome to the new visibility era, where trust drives discovery, customer decisions, and ultimately revenue.

In this new visibility era, your reputation is no longer just supporting your marketing strategy. It is your marketing strategy. In this session, we’ll explore what we call the Trust Economy and why franchise brands that understand it are outperforming the ones still relying solely on traditional traffic and advertising strategies.

You’ll learn:

• The 5 layers of trust every franchise brand needs to own in 2026
• How visibility, reputation, reviews, and social signals influence customer decisions before clicks
• Where franchise brands are unknowingly losing trust across the digital customer journey • What customers value most across franchise categories like home services, auto, healthcare, and more
• How leading franchise brands are turning trust into measurable location-level growth and revenue

This session is designed for franchise CMOs, marketing leaders, and multi-unit operators looking to better understand how customer behavior is changing – and how to compete in a world where visibility alone is no longer enough.

Speaker: Xan Gulish, VP of Business Development