If you’re like me, you probably have needed to use a self-storage service at some point in your life. The self-storage industry is a market that will never die. Consumers, well, they consume, and they spend, spend, spend. There will always be a need for this industry.
Because of the high demand of self-storage facilities, competition is high. I probably pass at least three to five different storage locker facilities on my drive every day.
That’s why it’s essential that storage businesses stay ahead of the competition and ensure that consumers are able to easily find their services online.
| Related: 5 Reasons You're Not Ranking Higher in Google Search Results
There are plenty of opportunities out there for storage facilities to get their feet wet in digital marketing. Plain and simple: a website is an easy place to start. No one can find your business nowadays if you don’t invest in a proper website that displays all of your services.
It’s what you invest into that website that will make or break your digital marketing efforts.
What follows is a breakdown of 10 key internet marketing strategies for storage facilities that can put your locker business on the map (literally).
Every digital marketer knows that a website requires a strategic search engine optimization (SEO) approach to rank on Google. Yes, we’re talking keywords.
Most consumers will search on Google “storage facilities near me” but ranking for those “near me” keywords can be quite a hassle as they don’t look very natural on your website. You can still rank locally on the first page of Google by doing a few other key items:
SEO is a comprehensive approach to ranking on Google and requires a lot of working pieces to get it just right. SEO requires constant upkeep, audits and regular check-ins on your keyword rankings.
Consumers don’t want slow, clunky websites. They want an easy, clean and smooth experience while browsing your services. Too many pages can be too much, while not enough content can really hurt your rankings and make your business look uninteresting.
When it comes to designing a website, here are some essential things to consider:
Speaking of content on your website, you can add a self-storage virtual tour to your site, gallery page and even your Google My Business listing. Nowadays, consumers don’t want to drive from storage facility to storage facility to browse your units in person. People simply don’t have the time.
By offering a virtual tour online, people are able to see your place and the measurements of your storage facility directly on your website and/or Google listing.
Take a look at the example below, which shows off unit measurements and allows users to spin a full 360 and see the entire facility.
A virtual tour like this lets your website visitors take control of their research. It’s easy, clean and informative. It saves the user (and your in-house staff) time, too.
| Related: Hiring a 360 Photographer? What You Need to Know
Site maps (also referred to as campus maps or site plans) are yet another interactive way to show off your business. Something like this is still pretty new to the self-storage industry, but can go a long way in your internet marketing efforts.
Check out the site map below.
This site map has been designed for an apartment community, but can absolutely be leveraged for a storage facility.
If you have a pretty large campus, this will allow users to select available lockers directly from the map and see your entire property in a bird’s eye view. Lockers are also labeled based on numbers.
An interactive site map does some pretty incredible things for your internet marketing efforts:
In addition, leveraging drone photography of your storage facility can have similar benefits to that of a site map and a virtual tour.
Drone shots aid in the visualization of the surrounding area of a storage facility, and can be utilized to navigate its layout.
Google pay-per-click ads are nothing short of intimidating, but they’re incredibly lucrative for local businesses. PPC ads attract new business to your website using specific keywords that users search on Google.
While many marketers stray from PPC due to the nature of budget concerns, a PPC campaign allows you to set a fixed budget based on a bidding system. Therefore, you can choose how much you’re spending each month on Google.
You can read more information on running a PPC campaign here.
Social media can really pay off if you put in the time and energy. For self-storage, this is no exception. Majority of Americans today are on Facebook, and YouTube remains one of the biggest social media platforms. Investing the time into these platforms for your self-storage can pay dividends.
Here are just a few social media ideas to share of your self-storage facility:
The list goes on. Remember to get creative with your social media posts! Self-storage can seem like a pretty ordinary industry, but you can get really fun with your social posts to engage and attract new business.
Your Google My Business listing is a powerful tool on Google Maps and Google Search. When users type in “storage facility near me,” your location is likely to appear in Search of Maps and a complete and accurate business listing with high-quality photos and a virtual tour really stands out among competition.
Free Download: Get a free Google My Business checklist delivered to you!
Google tends to rank complete listings that display high-quality content the highest on Google. If we do a quick search of “storage facilities near me” on Google, we see some quick results in the Google Local Pack.
All of them have impressive reviews, but let’s break this down further.
There is always the argument that the more reviews you have on Google, the higher you rank. But not always.
The Lock Up Self Storage has 30 reviews, an average of 4.5 stars, and a ton of photos and a 360 virtual tour of their offices and units.
Extra Space Storage, however, has 245 reviews, a 4.8 star average, but no 360 images like The Lock Up. They have plenty of photos, but they are generally pretty standard, user-generated photos. They still rank really well, though.
Investing in quality Google My Business photos can really help boost your rankings, especially in the Local Pack on Google Search.
If you take a look at many of the self-storage companies that appear, a good portion of them have photos and 360s - which only means if you’re not doing on your Google listing, you could be missing the opportunity to rank.
Referral incentives are a great way to attract new business. Consumers are more likely to use a business if they hear it from a peer rather than just discovering the business on their own.
Create a campaign on your website to share across social media where current customers can get a discount off rent if they refer new customers.
Referral incentives are highly effective and go a long way in your marketing efforts to attract new qualified business.
At the end of the day, not all of these strategies will align with your business model.
Perhaps your units are constantly filled, but you have a slow season during the spring and require more paid ads at that time. Or maybe you rank really well on Google, but need an extra push with referrals.
Whatever you do, choose an internet marketing strategy that aligns with your self-storage facility business.
Need more internet marketing strategies? Let us know how we can help put your storage business on the map.
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