Planet Laundry Dec 2020

And the Next Fad Is... Let’s be real – no one knows whether the next innovation to come along is going to stand the test of time. There were people who thought the internet would be a passing fad, but look at us now. There are billions of websites, with billionsmore on theway. So what’s next? Nobody knows. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t continue to push forward. The future will be built by those who turn over the right rocks and probably make a fewmissteps along the way. Marketing has evolved tremendously over the last 20 years, and it will continue in the decades to come. My goal is to continue learning right alongside the laundromat businesses around the world to find out what works – and to then make magic happen. I hope you can say the same! DennisDiaz is theowner and founder of Spynr Inc., whichprovides companies with cutting edge graphic design, contentmarketing, customer engagement and community-building strategies. He can be reached at dennis@spynr.com.

Although the image above tried to tap into popular culture (dabbing and Bill Nye), the execution missed the mark. For one,

it’s fairly clear that Bill Nye isn’t in that photo. It’s also puzzling, because why would detergent make one do a popular dance move? The story presented doesn’t make much sense. When it comes to trying to tap into the humor and culture behind a meme, it’s all too easy to miss the mark. And missing the mark can leave your customers wondering what you’re trying to say, as well as potentially turning them off to your brand altogether. Of course, there’s always a caveat. If you follow the templates in your spare time and understand the underpinnings of a meme, you can absolutely use them occasionally to bring some humor to your brand. Look at Wendy’s Twitter account – they get it, and they’ve embraced it as part of their brand. My only advice is that, if you use them, do so with caution – and always keep your audience’s needs as the top priority. I’m just as guilty as anyone when it comes to focusing too much on metrics that don’t mean anything. I used to watch every social post like a hawk to see howmany likes and comments came through. But I don’t do that anymore. Why? Because at the end of the day, those pieces of data don’t mean much to the bottom line. When was the last time you won a customer because they liked your social media post? Or because they saw your banner ad, and your impression count went up? Or even because they received your ad mailer? You can’t know for sure that any of those instances led to a sale, which is why they’re called vanitymetrics. You can get hundreds of likes, thousands of impressions and send letters toevery address in your zip code – but, if it’s impossible to trace that to a sale, it’s a vanity metric. They need to stop taking the limelight. It’s high time that laundromat owners started digging deeper into data to win customers. I’ll share more about how to do this in 2021 and beyond – so be sure to revisit PlanetLaundry for future columns. Vanity Metrics It’s time to say goodbye to meaningless data.

industry commun Join the largest la NEW & IMPROVE

ity online! undry D

SUBSCRIBE MONTH* $9.97/ YL FOR ON

CLA MEMBERS FOR *FREE g/community .ory .coinlaundr www

11

December 2020

coinlaundry.org

Connect. Learn. Grow

Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator