LOS ANGELES — Letting people know what your laundry business does, why you do it better than the competition, and how you can make their lives better is key to attracting customers and keeping them coming back.
These are the essential building blocks of an effective marketing plan.
Patty Ross shared this advice during her Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) webinar, “How to Create a Marketing Plan for Your Small Business.” She’s a social media expert, brand manager and business marketing adviser at Golden State Marketing.
In Part 1 of this series, we looked at the importance of planning a marketing strategy and using SWOT analysis and a company’s unique selling proposition (USP) to provide the necessary information.
Today, we’ll explore how to build a brand, create a marketing budget and measure the success of marketing efforts.
THE BUYER’S JOURNEY
To design a marketing plan, it’s important for an owner to put themselves in their customer’s shoes and see how they make the decision to not only go into a laundromat, but to go to their laundromat.
There are three crucial stages in the buyer’s journey:
- Awareness — “The customer has a problem they are looking to solve, and needs to learn about potential solutions,” she says. Marketing content at this stage might include blog posts, newsletters and educational materials.
- Interest — “There are potential options we’re still exploring, and we’re looking at the different benefits,” Ross says. This stage calls for demonstrations and detailed service information.
- Decision — “I’ve completed the research, and I’m trying to make a final decision,” she says. Here, prospects need proposals and clear pricing.
Craft messages that prompt immediate interest. A simple list of services and qualifications is weak. Stating who is served, the solutions provided and their outcome is strong, Ross says.
Most importantly, focus marketing on the customer.
“Make it about them,” she says. “What’s their problem? What’s the solution?”
CONFUSED BUYERS DON’T BUY
Consistency in marketing should span all aspects of a company’s operations, Ross says.
“Everything you do crafts your story,” she says. “Every touchpoint a potential customer sees — whether it’s your website, social media, marketing materials, storefront, delivery vans, uniforms or other — should be consistent. Confused buyers don’t buy.”
Ross warns against taking shortcuts in customer outreach.
“I hear this all the time,” she says. “‘Oh, I’ll just have my 17-year-old daughter do my social media. She’s great at creating Instagram reels.’ You need to treat marketing the same way you treat your HR or accounting. You wouldn’t have your kid who gets A’s in math be your accountant.”
THE STORY OF YOUR BRAND
A company’s brand story should clearly communicate why the business exists and what makes it unique.
“Who are you as a business?” Ross asks. “What is it that makes your brand tick? How do you want to see your brand out there? How does it live up to that? How will it live up to that?”
Visual branding is also key to connecting with today’s consumers, so essential elements include professional facility photos, team images, consistent logo usage, and a unified color scheme across all materials.
“It’s important to share who you are,” she says. “People connect with people.”
MARKETING AND BUDGETING
Try to set aside 10% of revenue for marketing efforts, Ross recommends.
Many companies, when budgets are lean and sales are down, are tempted to cut marketing efforts as a “non-essential” expense. Ross strongly disagrees with this school of thought.
“The marketing budget isn’t something you should cut out when things are bad,” she says. “That’s something you should keep. You need money to make money. So, you should think about your marketing budget above anything else in order to make money. Obviously, you need money for staff and inventory, but you should have a marketing budget in place.”
Advertising costs (print, digital, outdoor, etc.), marketing materials, website maintenance, social media management, email marketing platforms, staff training and professional photography all warrant consideration when allotting a marketing budget.
MEASURING SUCCESS
Laundry owners should keep an eye on marketing performance, and be willing to tweak — or potentially rethink — their efforts.
“You’ve done all this work,” Ross says. “You’re out there on social media, you’re sending out your emails and doing your billboards, or whatever you’re doing in your mix. Now, you have to measure these efforts and make sure they are working.”
Key metrics to track include:
- Website Performance — Visitor numbers, page views, time on site, contact form submissions
- Social Media — Follower growth, engagement rates, click-through rates, customer interactions
- Email Marketing — Open rates, click rates, conversion rates, list growth
- Business Metrics — New customer acquisition, customer retention rates, average order value, revenue growth
“It’s a lot of information to look at,” she says. “Make sure you have somebody who knows how to look under the hood.”
INVESTMENT, NOT EXPENSE
Marketing isn’t an expense, Ross says, it’s an investment in growth — but only if it’s properly planned, executed and maintained.
“Marketing is just telling people what you do, over and over again,” she says. “But you want to make sure you’re (consistently) telling the right people in the right place at the right time.”
Miss Part 1? You can read it HERE.
link