StoragePug is a modern marketing company for self storage. We create intelligent marketing websites that allow you to rent units & take payments through your facility’s website.
When you own or operate a self storage facility, your reputation is everything. If you get positive reviews and glowing comments online, your business is likely to thrive.
Showcase your positive reviews directly on your website.
However, if you receive nothing but negative reviews and online complaints, you’re going to have a much harder time drumming up business.
How can you know what people are saying about your storage facility? Start by creating a series of alerts that are delivered right to your inbox. In effect, creating the right signals means you get an email each time someone mentions your business.
Here’s a look at how it works.
Monitor the Internet
There are two kinds of alerts you can set:
- Internet alerts
- Social media alerts.
Let’s start with Internet alerts.
The most popular service for Internet alerts is Google Alerts. Log in to your most commonly used Gmail account, or create one if you don’t have one. Then visit Google.com/alerts, where you can enter any word or phrase that you want to track.
If and when that word or phrase appears on the Internet, you’ll get an email “alert” that lets you know about it. For example, if you’re mentioned in a newspaper article, you’ll get an email letting you know. Alternatively, if you someone blogs about good or bad service at your business, you’ll also get an email.
Not interested in using Google? Talkwater Alerts is an excellent alternative. It delivers similar information, though it’s organized a bit differently.
Be careful how you create your alerts.
If you create an alert for a simple, broad phrase like “self-storage,” your inbox is going to be overrun with alert messages. Instead, monitor your business name and any relevant industry terms that might be helpful.
Monitor Social Media
Internet alerts don’t always capture social media, where your customers and prospects are perhaps most likely to talk about your business. So, in addition to creating Internet alerts through either Google or Talkwater, you’ll also want to establish some social media alerts.
Your options for social media monitoring include:
You’ll find a range of free and premium plans when you explore these different options. Look for the most cost-effective solution that allows you to track the social media platforms that are most relevant to your business.
Tips for Effective Alerts
Your Internet and social media monitoring will only be as effective as the alerts you create. So make sure you’re creating useful signals by following these tips:
Be Specific: As noted above, the less specific you are, the more your inbox will overflow with irrelevant alerts. Be specific to ensure you’re capturing the right words and phrases, and don’t be afraid to use quotation marks in alerts so that you get notified at the right time.
Try Different Permutations: Customers use different name permutations for specific businesses, so you’ll need to create alerts for as many different permutations as possible.
For example, your official business name might be “The Denver Storage Company, Inc.” You’ll need to create alerts for “Denver Storage,” “Denver Storage Company,” and “The Denver Storage Company” as well. In short, you need to guess the many different ways your customers will describe you.
Use Google Operators:
Many searchers don’t realize it, but Google offers many “operators” that you can use for better search results. For example, you can use a dash to exclude specific terms from your search results, and you can use an asterisk as a placeholder for unknown words. Here’s a rundown of different operators, which also work when creating Google Alerts.
Track the Industry and Competitors:
Don’t just track your own company. Track relevant industry terms plus your direct competitors. Things that are happening or changing in your industry, as well as news about your direct competitors, could represent either opportunity or threats to your self storage facility.
Read Your Alerts:
This one’s easy to forget. If you delete your alerts as they roll in, they won’t do you much good. You have to read them — and act on them. How should you act on alerts? Anyone who posts something useful, ask them for a backlink (which helps with SEO); anyone who posts something terrible, take it as an opportunity to reach out and learn how you can better meet his or her needs.
Here’s one final tip:
Set up some alerts and then adjust them as needed. You likely won’t create optimal alerts right off the bat, but you need to start somewhere. Once you’re able to see how effective or ineffective your initial alerts are, you can tweak them over time and inch them a little closer to perfection.
Let StoragePug Broaden Your Digital Influence
So much is happening online, and alerts are a great way to try to keep up with things that are affecting your business. At StoragePug, we help our clients master the digital world by providing an array of services, including web design, pay-per-click campaigns, online rentals and much more.
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