No matter where you hang your hat in today’s world, a social media presence can impact your business. Former social media content manager turned window cleaner Davis Roethler knows this more than most. But he isn’t just using social media to boost his Window Wolf cleaning service. He’s actually highlighting other local businesses along the way.
Knowing that the restaurant industry is one of the hardest to break even, Roethler wanted to help out struggling eateries in Kansas City. Wearing his Meta glasses, Roethler eats from a local restaurant and offers to clean their windows for free. While washing the windows, he records video from his Meta glasses to make a quick profile to promote the eatery.
A small video led to huge impact
The restaurant owners aren’t only thankful for the free window cleaning, but also for the boost in foot traffic that Roether’s covert videos have provided. Yeyo’s Bakery is one of them.
“He offered to clean our windows for free, and my wife was like, ‘Sure, why not?’” said Pedro Sagrero, co-owner of Yeyo’s Bakery to KCTV 5. “For the last two or three weeks [after Roethler posted a video], we’ve been noticing our sales are increasing tremendously. From, I would say, a hundred per day to four hundred.”
Another restaurant, Tasty African Food KC, was struggling with an incorrect address listed on Google and low attendance. About 24 hours after Roethler cleaned their windows and posted a video about them, the restaurant’s address was corrected online and they had a line form before they opened.
“By Friday at 9:30, and I was like, ‘Why are they out there? What’s going on?’ and so I finally just flagged one of them and said, ‘What’s going on?’” said Florence Muni of Tasty African Food KC. “I haven’t seen this much traffic since we’ve been here for two weeks, and he’s like we’re just waiting for the restaurant to open.”
Social media creating local community
“When you just look at the data, opening up a restaurant, from a business standpoint, it’s a terrible idea. It’s a huge risk. The numbers are not on your side,” Roethler told the Kansas City Star. “When you realize that, you realize that there’s so much opportunity in KC to help out these small businesses to make sure that they’re not part of that statistic of closing down.”
While Roethler is a businessman, the focus on the videos was from a community perspective. While he would give a good review of the food, his videos provided a window into the people who prepared it.
“What’s missing is like the story behind the owner and the person and the magic behind the food,” Roethler said to KCTV 5. “But ultimately, I know it’s right when I show up and you’ve got mom or dad behind the register and you’ve got their kids working in there…that’s where I’m like, all right, they deserve the limelight.”
The success that Roethler brings to local businesses isn’t mere social media marketing. His Instagram account has less than 10,000 followers. That number is meager compared to true influencers. But it’s the local community that does follow him that shows up to enjoy good food and uplift one another.
