Optimizing Your Google Business Profile Workshop | ALSSA Webinar

Optimizing Your Google Business Profile Workshop

By now, we've all heard how important Google Business Profile is...

But how do you actually set it up the right way? In this workshop, we provided a hands-on, step-by-step workshop for operators to level up their listing. Have your phones or laptops ready to log into your Google account. We went through each section of the GBP to help you make sure your listing is in the right place. At the end of this session, you'll have learned:

How to claim and setup your Google Business Profile
How to edit and update your business info and gate hours
What settings and services to set up for your facility
How to get reviews and how to respond to them
How to add photos
How to access and understand GBP data and insights

Featured Speakers: Tommy Nguyen

Aired: December 13, 2023
Duration: 59:03

Overview

If you don't have time to watch the whole session, here are some of our favorite parts:

At 1:00, Donna highlights the ALSSA along with the benefits of joining.
5:30, Tommy covers why having your GBP optimized is so important.
Starting at 9:00, Tommy digs into the 4 things that you can utilize to make the most out of your listing.
At 16:30, he covers the most common search terms people are using when searching for storage.
19:10, Tommy highlights the importance of your business being in Google's local pack.
Around 21:30, Tommy walks through some example GBP's to showcase different features.
At 23:30, Tommy discusses the importance of photography and also shows examples of great photos.
27:30, he digs into options for virtual tours.
Starting at 31:10, Tommy shows how you can add your product listings to your GBP.
Around 34:15, Tommy talks about selecting services for your GBP.
35:50, Tommy discusses how to convert files and upload photos to your profile.
At 38:00, he talks about the importance of Google reviews and highlights a strategy to get more.
Starting around 42:00, Tommy covers how to find the Google reviews link for your business.
44:50, Tommy reviews a GBP shared by a member of the audience.
At 49:20, Tommy highlights another example profile from the audience.
51:50, Tommy discusses the benefit of adding video to your GBP.

Learn more about ALSSA

The Alabama Self Storage Association (ALSSA) offers quarterly events, as well as an annual expo, that allow members to participate in educational opportunities, network with peers, and gather information on the latest sales, marketing, software, and facility upgrades. They have partnered with some of the top vendors in the self storage industry to help their members continue to grow and succeed.

ALSSA is dedicated to providing its members with the most up-to-date legal information, and they supply their members with the knowledge and support needed to ensure their success, whether they own one site or multiple. Visit their website to learn more and for information on joining.

Learn more and join ALSSA!

Carol Mixon-Krendl

SkilCheck

Website: https://www.skilcheck.com/
Email: carol@skilcheck.com

Hailey Teal

Jenkins Organization

Website: https://www.jenkinsorg.com/
Email: hailey@jenkinsorg.com

Resources from this session

Awesome Quotes

“Once your operation is in place, you can become more dynamic with your pricing, but that requires data. You need some method of being able to record the data that you need to know whether your price is in the right place - whether you need to move it up or start giving some concessions.” - Warren Lieberman

“I never want to downplay to what someone else is doing. I'm better than they are, then I'm going to be worth a higher price. That's what value is. If you go out to a restaurant and get really good service, would you go back? Yes! What if it was pricier? You'd still go back because you got better service and a better product.” - Jim Mooney

"It's good to be informed on your competition. I don't want to ignore them, but I don't want to respond too strongly to them either." - Warren Lieberman

"We did a survey of 10,000 facilities on their pricing. We found out that two-thirds of those operators didn't change the price of a single unit of the course of a month." - Warren Lieberman

“Rate increases and value pricing are the number one ways to grow your revenue.” - Jim Mooney

"Tenants in more convenient units tend to be less price sensitive." - Warren Lieberman

"The size of the unit is only one aspect of what people are willing to pay for." - Warren Lieberman

Highlights

Foundational marketing strategies to have in place - whether leasing up or stabilized:

Website
Set up listings (Yelp, Google My Business, Apple Maps)
Social Media
Establish Local Partnerships

Lease up marketing strategies:

Lead Generating Strategies (like digital ads)
Aggregators (Sparefoot, Storagefront, etc.)
Awareness Campaigns (like billboards, flyers, and sponsorships)

Your average customer value
Find the average stay length of all tenants. Next take your economic occupancy and divide by how many units you have. That will tell you what the average customer pays.

Multiply the average length of stay by what the average customer pays, and that's the average value of a customer.

For example, if a customer stays for 12 months and pays $100 per month, then their value is $1,200.

Your average lead value

Figure out your closing rate (or conversion rate) i.e. how many leads do you turn into tenants? Multiply that by your average customer lifetime value to figure out what your leads are worth.

Pro Tip: see which lead sources are converting the best. It may be that certain sources have a higher conversion rate, so those leads are worth more to you than a source that barely converts.

Typical Lease-up timeline

According to our panelists, it's typical to see a 3-4% increase each month, putting your facility at 36% after the first year, and 72% after the second.

Alternately, you can look at your lease up goals through the lens of your units, aiming for 20 units rented per month.

For Nick and StorageMax, they pro forma their economic occupancy at 85% with their sweet spot at 92%.