Online marketing is different for boat/RV- and mobile-storage businesses than it is for traditional self-storage. In most cases, customers of these services are looking for different things than traditional storage tenants. For instance, boat/RV owners know the exact size of their prized possessions and exactly how much storage they’ll need. In the case of mobile storage, many customers are moving, which makes them a special audience.
These are just a few examples of why you should market your RV/boat-storage facility or mobile-storage operation differently than self-storage. This article offers some tips and tricks to help you get more out of your online marketing dollars and generate more leads.
Build a Good Website
Most people who own a boat or RV spent a large sum of money on the item and really care about it. These owners are attached to their toys. Because of this, you need to make them feel their property will be safe with you. On the Internet, this translates to investing in a quality website. The look, feel and design of your online storefront has a higher likelihood of influencing the buying decision for boat/RV owners than the average storage customer due to the nature of the items being stored.
If someone spent $20,000, $50,000 or even $100,000 on his boat, do you think he wants to store it at a facility where the owner can't be bothered to build a nice website? Unlikely. People will correlate the quality of your website with the quality of your operation. Investing in your website will definitely be worth it in the long run.
The decision-making process is not the same for mobile-storage customers, however. These potential renters are looking for convenience. You should still build a quality website, but the emphasis should be on why your solution is the simplest and most convenient option for their move or warehouse storage needs.
Drive Traffic to Your Website
Once you have a high-quality website, the next step is to bring people to it. Unfortunately, the Internet is not like good real estate—just having a website doesn’t ensure Internet users will find it. The easiest way to get started is to buy pay-per-click ads from Google or Bing. This means you pay for the lead only when someone actually visits your website. However, this can be expensive and hard to manage.
Another way to get users to your website is to get your website ranked in the organic (free) listings of search engines. The first step is to set up a Google Local listing (also free), and then work to optimize your website so it ranks high in Google searches. Search-engine optimization can be complicated, so consider hiring a third-party marketing agency that specializes in helping self-storage operators drive traffic to their websites.
To drive traffic to your website, you can also work with local boat and RV dealers. Many of their customers will need storage as soon as they make a purchase. This is a good time to market your facility to them. Ask local dealers to add a link to your website on their home page. You can even offer a special Internet promotion such as a free month of storage to anyone who purchases from your dealer partners. Even better, some might be willing to give you a link if you simply give them a link on your website.
You’ll also need to offer the dealers an incentive for referrals, such as cash or a gift certificate. Some may even be looking for storage for their own personal vehicles. Mobile-storage operators can propose the same partnership with local moving companies.
Consider a Third-Party Partner
The last major channel for acquiring new customers online is through aggregator websites. These comparison-shopping websites are for consumers who prefer to look at all their options in one place. Examples of aggregators for the self-storage industry include SpareFoot.com, USstoragesearch.com and the U-Store-It Network.
The companies behind these websites spend a significant amount of money driving traffic to their sites and then refer tenants to you. In some cases, the sites are strictly pay-for-performance, meaning you don't pay anything unless a tenant actually moves in. Aggregator sites are a great way to complement your other marketing initiatives with little or no risk.
Every boat/RV- and mobile-storage operator can market online relatively easily by investing some time and money. There are millions of prospective tenants online looking for storage every month, and it’s in your best interest to be found. Try these simple strategies to find out which online marketing approaches bring in the most new tenants for your business.
Chuck Gordon is the CEO and co-founder of SpareFoot.com, an online self-storage marketplace. SpareFoot is 100 percent performance-based with no setup or monthly fees. For more information, call 202.257.2111; visit www.sparefoot.com.
Related Articles:
Three Ways for Self-Storage Operators to Boost Their Online Presence
Offering Online Reservations to Self-Storage Customers: Knowing the Options, Choosing a Partner
The Internet as the Best Self-Storage Storefront: Online Payments, Rentals and Account Management
Building and Marketing a Successful Self-Storage Website
