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Survey: Website Most Popular New-Media Choice Among Laundry Owners

CHICAGO — Two-thirds of self-service laundry owners and operators who have entered the realm of “new media” use a website to promote their stores, according to July’s AmericanCoinOp.com Wire survey. Respondents were asked to identify which of several new-media tools they use.

More than 45% use Facebook, roughly 18% use e-mail marketing, 12.1% use Twitter, and 6.1% use “Other.” No one who took the survey uses text messaging as a promotional tool. Slightly more than 21% said they don’t use new-media tools.

“A website with keywords is a must-have for laundry owners now,” wrote one respondent. “It’s the main way that customers look for Laundromats in their area. Yellow Pages are so yesterday!”

Another countered that they’ve never had a customer find them through the Internet. “The media source that has worked best for us is GPS. I once had a couple come in to wash some items who said they entered ‘Laundromat’ in their GPS, and it pulled us up.”

Attracting new customers (84.6%) is the reason that most use these new-media tools, but more than half (53.8%) use them to publicize promotions. Educating customers (42.3%) and increasing customer loyalty (30.8%) were the other choices from which respondents could choose.

Do the tools satisfy the users’ marketing goals? Roughly 47% said “sometimes,” 33.3% said yes, and 20% answered no.

While the Wire survey presents a snapshot of readers’ viewpoints at a particular moment, it should not be considered scientific.

Subscribers to Wire e-mails—distributed twice weekly—are invited to take a brief industry survey anonymously online each month. All self-service laundry owners and operators are encouraged to participate, as a greater number of responses will help to better define operator opinions and industry trends.

To sign up for the Wire, click the “Subscriptions” button at the top right-hand corner of this page and follow the instructions.

wire survey chart
wire survey chart

Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Bruce Beggs at [email protected].