Every modern business needs a social media manager… right?
It’s easy to see big brands getting thousands of interactions on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram and think you need to be getting your share. But hiring a social media manager is a big commitment in money and effort.
Is social media marketing worthwhile for a self storage facility?
The vast majority of your tenants are going to come from two sources: people driving past your facility and people finding your website.
Less than 2% of renters are going to come from social media sources, and most of those will be from well-targeted ad spend rather than organic interactions. People simply aren’t looking for storage units on social media.
People use different tools when they want to shop. People search Google or ask their AI assistant (who then searches Google).
Social media is for entertainment and being social (and complaining), and while some brands have managed to get a foothold in that world, it’s simply not worth the time and effort for a storage operator to try and generate rentals from people who aren’t shopping.
But all these big brands have entire teams of people working on their social media, right?
They do! And you could definitely benefit from it the same way they do.
The goal just isn’t rentals.
Yes. Self storage social media marketing can bring long-term benefits to your business by building your brand and helping you get in front of potential customers.
This is a slow burn, though, and you’re not going to convince someone to RENT NOW because you showed up in their Twitter feed (even if you could get a post to go viral).
Instead, you gain value by showing people in your community what type of business you’re running. That doesn’t mean you need to have an artfully staged and professionally decorated storage unit to get likes on Instagram - it means you need to show people that you’re a caring part of your community.
If you can make a good impression, usually without trying to get people to rent right away, you can be the first thought that comes up when someone needs a storage unit months or years down the road.
Here are some of our best ideas for reputation-building social media marketing:
You may get a few rentals from these tactics, which would be great! But more than that, you’ll develop your relationships with local businesses, encourage referrals, and improve your reputation.
This is a very different approach than trying to become a social media titan - or worse, trying to go viral!
Can you make your advertising go viral? Sure! It’s possible that you come up with something incredibly clever, timely, funny, or otherwise clickworthy that gets your business’s posts shared to thousands or even millions of people.
The odds of that happening are incredibly low.
Remember that you’re going up against the whole of social media. Everyone wants to go viral. Social media is a huge arena, filled with experienced professionals and amateur clout-chasers that spend more time than you can fighting for that attention.
And worse still, even if you hit the jackpot and get a hugely viral post, those extra eyes can’t even rent from you!
One fundamental principle of self storage marketing is that your customers come from the area immediately around your facility. There will be exceptions, and some RV and boat storage businesses don’t follow this rule, but for everyone else it holds true.
Self storage social media marketing isn’t an efficient marketing tool because you can’t target your efforts on potential renters very well.
You can target advertising to specific areas on Facebook and other social media platforms, but the results will still be underwhelming compared to running paid Google ads.
With all that in mind, should self storage operators hire a social media manager?
Not usually. Most operators, especially those with only a handful of facilities or less, would be better off spending those marketing dollars elsewhere.
That being said, if you’ve got a low-cost manager willing to keep your brand updated, it also won’t hurt you (provided they know what they’re doing).
If you don’t want to spend the money on hiring a professional, you can still do a good job with a minor time commitment.
Don’t worry about posting too often - once a week is plenty. Be pleasant, and if you’re annoyed about something, find somewhere private to vent. You’re not posting as yourself, you’re posting as your business!
Social media is a way to let people know about your facility and what your facility is doing in the community. Just like with facility photos, it pays to show your good side!
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