Franchisors looking to streamline email marketing often fall into a seemingly logical trap: consolidating all franchisee contacts into a single account. On the surface, this approach offers control, cost savings, and consistency. But as a franchise grows, this strategy starts to crack and crumble, leading to local marketing inefficiencies, customer confusion, and ultimately, lost revenue.

We call this the Consolidation Mirage-a strategy that promises efficiency but ultimately hinders scalability, erodes customer trust, and weakens local engagement. Let's break down why this approach fails and what a better alternative looks like.