FAQs
Frequently asked questions about joining a leading online marketing franchise
Below are some of the questions we get asked most often about joining our online marketing franchise. These should answer any queries you may have but you can also book a discovery call any time for an informal chat to ask us anything about joining our online marketing franchise.
About activ Marketing
activ Marketing is led by Katie Bullon, an award-winning entrepreneur, franchising expert, and marketing strategist. Katie took over activ in 2021 and transformed it into the UK’s only full marketing agency franchise of its kind, making marketing business ownership more accessible and scalable.
With over 20 years experience in marketing, a decade of that as both a franchisee and a franchisor, Katie understands exactly what it takes to build a successful marketing business. She has been recognised in the Great British Entrepreneur Awards, the Virtual Franchising Awards, and the Women in Marketing Awards amongst others, proving that activ Marketing is built on real expertise and a track record of success.
What is the activ Marketing franchise?
activ Marketing is a flexible, scalable franchise model that enables you to run your own marketing business under an established national brand. You can operate without employing anyone and with full training and support —choosing how much work you do yourself and how much you delegate to our expert head office team.
We offer three franchise models to suit different ambitions:
- Consultant Model – As a marketing professional, elevate yourself and your business with the back up of the activ team and brand.
- Location Model – Start a new local activ marketing business, launch and train from the ground up.
OMAF Model (Online Marketing Agency Franchise) – Upweight an existing freelance marketing business, trade under your own brand, grow on your terms with the support of the team
Training, Support & Development
activ Marketing provides one of the most comprehensive training and support packages in the industry. Our onboarding process includes:
- 1-2-1 mentoring from our award-winning CEO, Katie Bullon
- Business and marketing training covering everything from client acquisition to service delivery
- Marketing training modules on industry trends and marketing strategies
- Practical accreditation to ensure you feel confident and can prove your skills
- Ongoing monthly support from our designated business coach to work on personal development
Monthly marketing plan guidance to make your own marketing manageable
Our Accelerator Programme is designed to fast-track franchise partners to success. This includes:
- Exclusive monthly training videos
- Step-by-step guides to winning and managing clients
- A private support forum for ongoing advice
- Monthly group coaching for personal development
- Live Q&A sessions with our leadership team
We don’t just give you a business—we actively help you grow it.
Marketing evolves constantly, and we keep you at the forefront with:
- Regular updates on industry trends
- Exclusive training on new marketing techniques
- Email alerts for key changes in things like SEO, social media, and advertising
- Workshops and webinars on emerging opportunities
This ensures you can always offer cutting-edge marketing solutions to your clients.
Running Your Franchise
Yes! activ is perfect for marketing consultants who want to expand their services while keeping control over their clients. You can manage client relationships, set your own prices, and outsource services to head office as needed.
Absolutely! You can continue working with your current clients, decide which services to handle yourself, and choose which to outsource. You retain full control over client relationships and invoicing.
You have complete flexibility. Some franchisees start part-time, while others go full-time from day one. Our systems allow you to scale at your own pace.
No! activ provides a done-for-you fulfillment service, meaning you don’t need to be an expert in every marketing discipline. You can do the work yourself using our systems and training or you can focus on sales and client relationships while our team delivers services for you, such as:
- SEO
- PPC advertising
- Branding & design
- Content creation
- Website design
Financial Expectations & Business Growth
Your earnings depend on your effort and approach. Many franchise partners achieve a turnover of £5,000+ per month within six months. Our model gives you complete control over pricing and service delivery, so your income is scalable. Within 3 years you can comfortably turn over upwards of 6 figures.
activ has franchise partners who have been with us for over 15 years, managing 1000+ active clients collectively. We have a proven track record of success, and our business model is designed for long-term sustainability
3 members of our head office team alone have over 33 years of service at activ. We understand what it takes to build and scale a marketing business, and we provide hands-on support to help you succeed.
Unlike traditional franchises, activ Marketing is designed to mould around you and elevate your business so you are stronger with us than alone, and all on your terms.
This means:
- No expensive overheads (no office or team required)
- Flexible working (work from anywhere)
- Scalability (No need to employ anyone but you can still scale to agency)
- Done-for-you fulfillment (you don’t have to do all the marketing work yourself – but you make a healthy profit even when delegating to the HO team)
We are the only marketing franchise in the UK offering this level of flexibility and support.
Next Steps
We don’t just train you—we help you win clients. Our franchise package includes:
- A tailored launch campaign
- Monthly marketing activity plans and resources
- Training on networking and how to gain leads and visibility
- Marketing materials to establish your presence
- Guidance on building a local or online client base
- Support on crafting proposals that close business and drive recurring income for each franchise partner
The process starts with:
- An initial call to discuss your goals and suitability.
- A detailed franchise information pack explaining everything you need to know.
- A discovery session where you’ll meet our team and explore how activ fits your goals.
- Business plan creation where you learn more and show how you can contribute to the activ network
- Onboarding and training, setting you up for success.
Below are some of the questions we get asked most often about joining our online marketing franchise. These should answer any queries you may have but you can also book a discovery call any time for an informal chat to ask us anything about joining our online marketing franchise.
About activ Marketing
You cannot of course deny that a marketing degree gives great knowledge. But, this is not necessary for our franchise partners in order to become marketing experts. You’re investing in your future by joining activ and this too involves training and accreditation to show your gained knowledge and expertise.
We run bi-weekly training modules for franchise partners which cover the most up to date trends and changes within marketing, as well as the basic fundamentals of business. Franchise partners are expected to attend training webinars or read up on the topics afterwards and complete subject assessment which means that they are a fully refined and accredited marketing professional.
Totally. Our consultant marketing franchise is ideal for those with a marketing background. As and experienced marketing professional, you can sit in the middle and offer the services of a full agency without employing anyone and grow your business with minimal risk and administration. Technical support is covered, along with the fulfilment of the marketing services you don’t want to do yourself. You can sit in the middle, plan, and project manage your clients with a full team behind you. You set your client’s pricing and pick and choose from our fixed price list which of those services head office fulfil for you. It could not be more perfect. We have an established brand for you to trade as, without losing your consultant identity, if you choose the consultant franchise option.
Yes! This is the perfect model to support the growth of your business to the next level. activ allows you to do as much or as little of the work for your client yourself so you can choose which work you continue to do yourself, and which work you outsource to your plug in head office team.
Don’t worry though, you maintain control and contact with your client as well as invoicing (if you want to!).
We have franchise partners with a wide variety of backgrounds, from HR, admin, finance, sales, software development, aerospace, to name but a few. The beauty of activ is that you can tailor how you operate your franchise to capitalise on your skills. If you want to focus on sales, the head office can fulfil all client work on your behalf and take a cut. If you want to build websites yourself, you can do so and the head office will just host, maintain and update your client’s sites and take a much lesser fee. The choice is yours. We can help you define your growth strategy. Plug-in to the team as and when you want to.
How much you earn depends on how much you put into your business. A franchise gives you a stronger grounding and a head start to going it alone. It is not unrealistic to think you could turnover over £5000/month after six months.
We have been running since 2008 making us the longest UK digital marketing franchise. We have serviced literally thousands of clients in that time.
Three of our originating head office team members have 28 years service between them! They know the business inside and out and are in a strong position to continue supporting franchise partners and clients as the business grows.
Yes! Our three longest serving franchise partners have 45 years ‘service’ combined and have over 500 live clients between them.
Don’t worry, many of our franchise partners have never run a business before joining activ. As part of your induction and training period you get a series of 1-2-1 online sessions with our MD Katie Bullon. Katie is a former franchisee who operated her South Wales based franchise from 2014 before she bought out the entire business in 2021. She is well placed to advise on how to run your business and what needs to be done at each stage. Even after these sessions Katie and our head office team are always on hand to help and advise.
The beauty of being part of a franchise like activ is that you don’t have to worry about this. Any significant industry changes that we feel need to be rolled out in the work we do for clients will be reviewed and rolled out to our entire network by head office. This may be in the form of an email update so you have the most up to date information for clients, or in more detail within a training workshop.
Either way, this is a huge benefit of being part of a franchise rather than going it alone.
