NEW YORK — In the summer of 2020, with business stopped cold and time suddenly on his hands, Zach Pozniak started making videos.
Pozniak is co-owner of Jeeves NY, the New York drycleaning operation he runs with his father and co-owner Jerry Pozniak, who brings more than 40 years of industry experience to the business. Zach came to dry cleaning from a mechanical engineering and construction background, and is now a fourth-generation dry cleaner. When COVID emptied the calendar, he turned his attention to something he’d been thinking about anyway: getting the company’s website to rank higher in search results without spending a fortune on paid advertising.
What followed was a social media presence that has grown to roughly two million followers across TikTok, YouTube and Instagram, built almost entirely on content drawn from Jerry’s decades of knowledge and Zach’s ability to make it accessible.
Pozniak shared that experience during a recent Drycleaning & Laundry Institute (DLI) Marketing Masterclass webinar, walking attendees through the strategy, the results and an honest assessment of what this kind of marketing can and can’t deliver.
Why Video?
The case for video is clear at this point. As of 2025, online video accounts for more than 65% of all consumer internet traffic, and Pozniak says the platforms have made it easier than ever to reach people who have never heard of your business.
But the deeper rationale for Jeeves NY wasn’t just reach. Dry cleaners, Pozniak says, carry a perception problem that content can help address directly.
“I don’t think a lot of our customers or potential customers have any idea how difficult our jobs are, or why they would need to use a dry cleaner,” he says. “I think dry cleaners often get a bad rap. But I do think a lot of that trust can be built through transparent information about what we do. I’m trying to use that as an advantage.”
He offered an illustration of where the audience’s attention now lives. A friend recently told him she’d read an interesting article — then admitted she’d actually watched a TikTok. That gap between how people describe their information habits and how they actually consume information is, Pozniak says, exactly why video is the medium to be in.
Two Kinds of Content
Pozniak divides his content into two broad categories, and understanding the difference is central to his approach.
The first he calls “boring information,” or boring to everyone outside the industry, at least. This is general garment-care education, such as how to read a care label, what household products work for at-home stain treatment, the difference between chlorine bleach and oxygen-based color-safe bleaches and so on.
“My first very successful video is explaining the care label, just something as simple as that,” he says. “It’s something that everyone needs to know.”
This kind of content reaches a large audience. The problem is that this large audience mostly consists of people who will never walk through your door. Someone in California learning about oxygen bleach from a New York dry cleaner will not be visiting that store. There are limits to general education content for direct customer acquisition.
The second category is where the business case gets stronger: showing your work. This includes behind-the-scenes footage of the plant, difficult stain removal, problem garments restored or equipment in action. This is content that demonstrates why a professional dry cleaner is worth the price. It’s also harder to replicate with stock images and promotional copy.
“People love a double shirt buck, steam tunnels and drying cabinets — this is all unknown to a lot of people,” Pozniak says. “And it’s what we do and see every day. But there are a lot of people who find this exciting.”
The Actual Goal
Pozniak is clear that none of this is altruistic. The point is revenue, and the path to revenue runs through trust.
“Do I think I’m doing a nice service and giving people some information to make their lives a bit easier? Sure,” he says. “But it needs to be something that we can monetize, as well.”
The framework Pozniak describes has five steps: demonstrate value, minimize consumer skepticism, acquire new customers, build relationships and, eventually, increase revenue. The first two steps are the ones content does best. The rest follow from there, but it takes time.
“People think dry cleaners are a necessary evil,” Pozniak says. “But when the people who actually care about their clothes, want to look really good, and learn about the incredible stuff that we can do, it totally changes the perception of our value.”
Come back Tuesday for Part 2 of this series, where we’ll get into the specifics of what content works, the shift from hard selling to soft selling and his evaluation of what this approach will and won’t deliver for your business.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Dave Davis at [email protected].
