Online marketing strategies which are available to self storage companies are vast and increase seemingly on a daily basis. One of the most cost-effective and successful online marketing options for self storage facilities is the use of self storage aggregators. These aggregators offer various features which are tailored to maximizing the visibility of self storage facilities online. The top five marketing tools available in online self storage aggregators are:
Lead Generator/Tracking
Self storage aggregators generate leads with only one purpose in mind, to fill your vacant storage units. Aggressively seeking new customers and presenting your storage facilities’ unique strengths is vital. This marketing option proves to be very economical as self storage aggregator fees and pricing are much less than traditional television and radio advertising, yellow pages, billboards/bus benches, etc. With the increase of Internet use and online searches for consumer products and services, online business directories and aggregators that offer valuable information like product details and customer reviews have become essential to the decision-making process. For example, printing and distributing flyers would be difficult, if not impossible, to track and would have a higher overhead cost when compared to online lead generation services. Online self storage aggregators that offer lead generation and tracking are also cheaper than managing a full-blown website. The design and maintenance of a website which would serve the same function could cost a company thousands of dollars. By using online lead generation services instead, self storage facilities are able to expand their online presence, as self storage aggregators often market the businesses nationally, but most importantly in the self storage facility’s local area.
Online Unit Rentals
With online rentals, potential customers can pay in advance for a storage unit instead of simply reserving it. It’s been proven that reservations do not have as high a conversion rate as online unit rentals, that’s why this feature alone offers considerable advantages for the self storage facility. Customers that rent a unit online are much more likely to convert to definite move-ins because they have made the commitment to pay in advance. This translates into increased revenue for the self storage facility which is always the main goal. Unit rentals can be made anytime - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Some self storage aggregators offer automatic inventory synchronization which allows you to keep your available units updated. This is especially helpful and lessens the time needed to update your facility’s inventory and profile. Aggregators also give you the ability to set custom specials that customers can choose when renting a unit from you online. Though renting units online is a fairly new concept, it is gaining a stable footing as more people start conducting business online.
Call Tracking/Recording
When operating a business, you will want to ensure that your customers are treated in a professional and courteous manner. Customers often spread the news about bad customer service more than good customer service. Therefore, an unhappy customer can cause damage for the reputation of your company. This great marketing quality control tool is designed to ensure that customer service at your self storage facility runs as smoothly as possible. Some self storage aggregators offer call tracking/recording and issue a local or toll-free number. When customers make a call to inquire about your self storage facility’s services, the call is tracked and recorded. The recording is made available for review on the website. An email is then sent immediately after the conclusion of the call to the facility with the caller’s information and the recorded call. This can be used for quality assurance purposes and training employees about the proper way of answering calls and customer inquiries about your products. More importantly, management can use these recordings to evaluate and teach employees regarding leads that didn’t materialize into customers.
Enhanced Facility Profile
When doing any form of business online, some customers wish to find out as much as possible about an organization or service before making a decision. If information about your self storage facility is not readily available online, customers might overlook your facility or get discouraged from doing business with you and will move on to the next storage facility listing which is able to provide what they are looking for clearly and concisely. With this feature, self storage facilities are able to provide a wealth of information to potential customers all in one place. It’s almost like having a virtual employee or interactive brochure available at the click of a mouse. Facilities are able to provide just about any form of information which would be relevant to the customer. The name, address, current specials, pictures, videos, amenities, and description will be prominently displayed. These are just a few of what can be listed. The self storage facility can customize this feature to suit the need. Some self storage aggregators will also show the location of the facility on a map which can be printed with directions. Inventory synchronization is a helpful part of the enhanced facility profile feature as it easily updates your facility profile and saves the time you would use to do it manually.
Email Notifications
These notifications will provide you with information every time you get a new lead. This is useful to assist with following up on the leads in a timely manner. The customer’s email address, name, phone number, unit size needed, desired move-in date, and number of months interested in renting will be clearly outlined in the email. These are more reliable than voice mail messages as the customer might neglect to leave all the relevant information or the message may not be entirely clear. These notifications also keep the information in one place and since it is stored electronically. You don’t have to worry about losing the sticky note or message pad where you wrote the message. Instead, you can always just go back to it when it’s stored in your email.
These online marketing tools should be at the core of your self storage facility’s communication efforts. When utilized properly, they can help to increase the visibility of your self storage facility and boost online presence. This will in turn put your business several steps ahead of those which are either unwilling or unable to implement these valuable online marketing strategies. Remember, the more people that know about your business the greater the chance the numbers will increase of those willing and wanting to try your service or product.
The online marketing tools listed above are just a few of the features that are available on USSelfStorageLocator.com. Owners and operators of self storage facilities can contact us by visiting our website – USSelfStorageLocator.com, in order to start a Free 30 Day Trial and take advantage of these invaluable marketing tools.
