So you’re looking into social media because you’ve seen larger storage operations using it to boost their digital marketing efforts. That’s great! Social media can be a powerful marketing tool when used effectively. But that’s the key—using it effectively.
Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Google+, Twitter—no matter which platform(s) you choose, you need to have a game plan. You can’t just jump into social media and start posting. There needs to be a marketing strategy behind it. Whether you want to build an identity for your storage facility, get more rentals, or help current customers, it’s a good idea to have a clear direction of where you’re going.
Strengthening Your Storage Facility’s Identity
Creating a likable identity for your storage facility can be the difference between seeing a few rentals and having loyal customers who legitimately appreciate your business. How do you craft this business persona on social media? You establish a voice and a purpose.
Here are some questions to think about when crafting your storage facility’s identity:
- What is my storage facility’s personality?
- How can I use language to portray this personality?
- How am I going to relate to my audience?
- What types of posts should I be creating to strengthen this identity?
As with all forms of branding, be sure to use consistent messaging on your social media platform(s) so customers can associate an identity with your storage facility.
Getting More Rentals
When it comes to the self storage industry, finding new rentals can be difficult to come by. With social media, however, you might have an easier (and cheaper) opportunity to get more rentals.
The good thing about advertising through social media is that it’s fairly inexpensive to reach a large demographic. Rather than posting ads in print media, on billboards, or in online classifieds, you can use social media ads to target storage rent specials to specific people.
For example: During the off-season for boating, you could push your facility’s boat storage specials to people who own boats or who’ve liked boat-related social media accounts or pages.
Helping Customers Instantly
Perhaps the best aspect of social media is that it allows businesses to interact with customers. This makes social media the ideal tool for online customer service, as long as you have the resources to make sure there’s always someone monitoring your account(s).
While instant customer service can be great for your storage facility, there are a few things to keep in mind.
- Check on your account constantly. This often means having an employee whose job is to maintain your social media account(s) so customer complaints, comments, or questions don’t go unanswered.
- Establish guidelines for how to respond to customers. Using the same response for every situation will make your facility feel like a robot, which is the opposite of what you want to accomplish on social media.
- Prepare for negative interaction. At some point in time, you will have to handle negative comments from a disgruntled customer. A respectful attitude toward negative comments is important for ensuring your facility’s personality remains professional on social media.
Remember: Social media is only effective when it’s used with a purpose and a plan. So don’t just start using it because you think you should.
