6 Must-Have Social Media Platforms for Laundry Owners
Social media is changing businesses everywhere. The United States is, by far, the largest social media advertising market in the world, as more than 9.4 billion U.S. dollars was spent on social media advertisements in the country in 2015 alone 1. There are so many ways in which social media can help your business. 71% of consumers who have had a good social media service experience with a brand are likely to recommend it to others 2. Social media showcases your laundromat and its features. Here are six social media platforms you should consider.
Yelp is a website where customers rate and review businesses. It is a great way to see what customers think of your laundromat. Use Yelp to your advantage by acting on criticisms or, in a best case scenario, continuing on what is going well. A store with positive Yelp reviews will gain more foot traffic. Many of Yelp’s reviews are beneficial to the businesses: Yelp has 108 million reviews, 44% which are four star reviews and 72% that recommend the store 3. Yelp advertises your laundromat through the opinions of customers.
Facebook is an obvious way to get your laundromat on the map. Over 1.3 billion people worldwide are on Facebook, so why not put your store out there? Facebook gives users the option to like or share stores allowing potential customers to see a business’s popularity. Facebook has the highest revenue per visit in the industry: for every visit on Facebook, the company amounts 1.25 U.S. dollars 1. It is a simple way to advertise your store to a huge population.
Foursquare has become quite popular among store owners because it gives costumers personalized store recommendations based on their likes and location. This positions your store conveniently for people unfamiliar with the area looking for a reliable store. Foursquare allows for customers to post tips or recommendations to the other users. 66% of foursquare users post tips and 80% act on them 4, so a well-represented store will get more attention. The easier it is for customers to find your laundromat, the more likely they will come.
Yext makes it an easy, one step process to get your laundromat on local search directories such as Yelp, Citysearch, Superpages etc. This will make your laundromat easily available to new residents or people who are temporarily in the area. Customers want convenience. 61% of local searches result in purchases and 50% of smartphone shoppers use a GPS/mapping app to find a retail location 5. By taking advantage of consumer habits you will be inviting potential customers and creating new loyal store goers and positive reviews.
LinkedIn should be considered as a choice for your business and requires the least amount of persuasion. LinkedIn is specifically designed to create a social network around your business, connecting you to clients, employees and other store owners, 10.25 million LinkedIn profiles are viewed every day 6. LinkedIn is strictly a business network and excludes non-business related news. 13% of LinkedIn users don’t have a Facebook account and 24.59% of users don’t visit Twitter 6; therefore, you will be able to reach an audience that the other platforms may not capture.
The benefit of having a Twitter account is that you will gain support through followers who build loyalty to your laundromat: 63% of people follow small businesses to show their support for them and 85% of followers feel more connected with a small business after following them7. Twitter will create a following base where your most loyal customers can be up to date on store news as well as allow less familiar customers to gain knowledge and loyalty to your laundromat.
Sources:
- “Social Media Marketing.” com.
- “Social Customer Service (Infographic).” GetAmbassador.com/Blog.
- “Facts Sheet.” com.
- “5 Reasons to Use Foursquare and 3 Compelling Stats.” RGBSocial.com.
- “10 Surprising Mobile Statistics for Local Business Owners.” com/Blog.
- “25 LinkedIn Facts and Statistics for 2015.” SensibleMarketing.com.
- “Twitter for Business.” BTwitter.com.