We live in a digital age, and companies across numerous industries are turning to social media to help them grow. This is especially true in the self-storage industry as brands in busy markets compete for customers. It’s imperative that facility operators get more creative in their marketing strategies, and this includes being active on social platforms. If you’re curious how they can help your business, here are a few easy tips.

Engage Your Audience

If you really want to communicate with your self-storage customers in a way that’s direct and timely, provide daily updates about your various offers and business activities on social media platforms. When someone replies to one of your posts with a question about your business, comment or compliment, you must respond as quickly as possible. The point is to engage your followers in a dialog.

For example, if you rely on reviews that customers write on such sites like Yelp, try to respond as they come in, no matter if they’re positive or negative. If you have Facebook or Twitter account, take advantage of the “buffer” application to queue up and post content. By doing so, you'll be able to provide the personal touch and interact with your customers, which is an expectation of younger consumers today.

Appeal to Special Groups

Many self-storage operators use social media to appeal to the Millennial customer base because of that generation’s love for these platforms. This was apparent when college students were forced to leave campuses quickly after the coronavirus struck in March. Some operators used their social media accounts to promote rental specials to this group, which will likely require storage for a longer period than normal.

You can consider targeting other groups, too. For example, offering rental specials to military personnel, first responders and healthcare workers helps people in times of crisis but also provides positive branding for your storage company. Posting these offers on your social media accounts ensures a lot of people see them, and they may share the information with their own followers. This helps spread your message.

Create a YouTube Video

As the second-largest search engine behind only Google, YouTube is a great way to make your self-storage facility stand out from the competition. This cost-effective, easy-to-use video-sharing platform is often the deciding factor when people are choosing between two or more facilities.

Your self-storage video should be good quality, including detailed views of your facility and a description of your services. Many operators are even using drones to create these videos. This type of marketing allows customers to get a better sense about the size of your facility and its many features.

Develop an Online Brand

Social media sites are convenient for customers and cost-efficient for business operators. That’s why many self-storage companies are making a greater effort to develop a true social media presence. To do so, they often turn to their staff. A hot trend in today's advertising world is to have one or several employees become the go-to social “persona” for your brand. If you add humor to the mix, the result can be a digital advertising campaign customers will remember for years to come.

Whether you’re offering various discounts, looking to reach a specific market or trying to build your self-storage brand, social media can be the answer. Being active on these platforms can play an important role in growing your business. Don’t be afraid to try something new! Finding the right message for your followers will lead to long-term success.

Dominic LoBianco is a guest author on behalf of SMARTBOX Moving and Storage, which offers portable-storage solutions nationwide. He produces content on a wide array of topics ranging from moving overseas to garage storage.