How to Build Your Laundry’s Brand Through Social Media Marketing
[This is the second of a two-part feature on how laundromat owners can use social media to market their businesses and build their brands. You can read Part 1 here.]
Long-time laundromat owner Patti Fielding, who operates Embassy Laundromat in Lowell, Mass., mainly has focused on Facebook as her social media platform of choice.
“Facebook is great because, if customers respond to my posts, their friends will see who they’re engaging with,” Fielding said. “Even if they aren’t necessarily considering promoting my laundry through ‘word of mouth’ advertising, they still are.”
Fielding, who manages her business’ social media marketing program, had ample personal experience when getting started to feel comfortable using social platforms to get the word out about her laundromat.
“I’ve also learned a lot online from other businesses, as far as what they do to increase awareness and encourage their customers to engage with their content,” she explained, adding that she typically spends about two hours per week creating and overseeing her store’s social accounts.
Fielding noted the types of content that seem to work best and receive the most engagement for her laundry business occur when customers win something of value at her store or when they are asked to respond to a specific question.
“If all you do is post content, without getting your customers involved, you might get a ‘like,’” she said. “But, when you ask for input, it enables and encourages others to get involved. Also, videos seem to spur activity as well.
“After all, social media is just that – social. If people merely want to read something, they’ll go to your website, but many people find value in being part of some kind of community, which is why there are so many social media groups. In general, people enjoy – and thrive off of – communicating with others.”
Fielding recommends that laundromat owners who are looking to boost engagement hold some sort of online contest, where they ask their customers to respond to their social media post, as well as share it on their own personal account pages.
“Again, it’s word of mouth advertising in the digital world,” she said.
Be sure to document all of the fun and exciting events that occur at your laundromat, Fielding advised. She pointed to events at Embassy Laundromat where Santa Claus visited the store, as well as cross-promotions held in conjunction with other area businesses.
“In general, we get the most reaction when we give away as a prize or we get personal with our customers, such as asking for prayers and so on,” she said.
By far, the biggest mistake to avoid?
“Don’t battle with someone on social media,” Fielding warned. “How you treat people online is a reflection of who you are.”
Social Media for Full-Service Profits
Kent Wales, owner of Happy Laundry and Dry Cleaning in Spokane, Wash., utilizes Facebook, Instagram and TikTok to promote his operation.
“In general, I think of the social platforms as a good form of brand advertising for our business,” he said. “To be clear, we use them only for our commercial and residential pickup-and-delivery business.”
Wales breaks down the strengths of the various platforms this way:
- Facebook: service awareness, employee spotlights, good news and “good feeling” posts.
- Instagram: Employee spotlights, good news, and sharing images and videos of the work being done at Happy Laundry.
- TikTok: Fun videos. (Wales is still experimenting with this platform.)
“We’ve had the most success with Facebook, because we have used it the longest,” he explained. “Good photos work on Instagram, and good videos are needed for TikTok. Again, for us, our social media program is about brand and service awareness.”
Happy Laundry outsources its social media content, with Wales simply managing the concepts and ideas.
“I’ll meet with our social media company about 60 minutes per month, regarding what we want to cover for the upcoming month and to review how everything is playing out,” he said, adding a reminder that operators need to focus on running a quality business first. “As a consumer, I had five to six years of experience before we grew to a level that made sense to market our laundry business on social media. I think there are basic elements laundry owners need to be considering within their businesses before engaging in social media as a promotional strategy – or at least paid social media.”
For Wales, the most successful and impactful social media content has been employee spotlights (what team members do for the business and how they do it – including videos of them doing work within the operation); funny video clips of the business; and good news stories, reposts and photos.
Over the years, Wales also has developed four clear-cut best practices for getting out the word about his full-service laundry business:
- Only positive information on social media – ever! Never post anything negative or critical of others.
- Promote staff and the great job they do to serve your customers.
- An absolute maximum of one out of every seven posts can be about directly promoting your product or service. For the most part, use social platforms to let customers get to know your team, what your business does, and how you help others. Only occasionally post a sale or direct-response ad.
- Always use great pictures, common language and short videos.
Wales shared one of his favorite and most popular social media posts.
“It was a team member profile,” he explained. “One of our team members had been homeless for much of his teens and early 20s. We talked about how the job has given him structure and a good work environment. He has stepped up to the task and really become a great part of our team. People love to see how your team is doing well for themselves and overcoming obstacles.”
Develop Your Plan
Many small-business owners make the same mistake when it comes to social media marketing, according to Diaz. They don’t create a strategy before they begin firing off posts in every direction… and on every platform. Unfortunately, without a plan, it’s difficult to know specifically what to post or when.
“When creating a social media strategy, it’s critical to set goals,” he said. “What do you want to achieve with your social media campaigns? Do you want to increase brand awareness, drive traffic to your website or generate leads? Once you know what you want to achieve, you can create content to help you reach those goals.”
