The focus of marketing is shifting toward social media and informative, entertaining, and genuine content. Learn how to make your self-storage blog your main marketing tool, and supplement your success with smart social media tactics.
4. Blogging matters for your business.
PRPR
Social
Media
Social
Media
BrandingBrandingSEOSEO
Blogging: The Cornerstone of Modern
Media
Blogging: The Cornerstone of Modern
Media
8. Step Two: Write
Value PropValue Prop Story IdeasStory Ideas LogisticsLogistics
• Position as
local voice and
expert
• Find a unique
angle
• Position as
local voice and
expert
• Find a unique
angle
• Company and
industry
updates
• Interactive
contests and
polls
• Storage and
moving tips
• Company and
industry
updates
• Interactive
contests and
polls
• Storage and
moving tips
• Hire an intern
• Link back to
other pages on
your site
• Hire an intern
• Link back to
other pages on
your site
11. Promote your best content.
Start with…
•Staff friends and family
•Local organizations
•Local bloggers/reporters
•Non-competing industry
connections
13. Search for related blogs.
Use Google Reader to keep up with new entries on multiple blogs.
14. Contribute to discussions.
1. Log in using your social media accounts.
2. Contribute meaningfully to the discussion.
3. Include a link to your website.
16. Does it work?
Tracking + Analytics
• Exclusive offers
• Unique phone #
(CallFire.com)
• Google Analytics!
• Social metrics: FB
Insights, Sprout
Social, HootSuite
17. Fun ideas for the road.
Bye!
• Invite user-generated photos,
videos, stories about product
• Ask / Answer
• Poke fun at the mundane
• When in doubt cute animals
Why it matters for your business Blogging is a cornerstone of modern media and has marketing benefits for self-storage businesses. Running your own blog, or even just participating in blog communities*, boosts your facility’s efforts in... SEO : Google loves fresh content on your website, and you can cross-link from posts. When people visit/share/like your blog posts = traffic + positive SEO cues. PR : Contribute news/guest blog posts, be the expert resource to other blogs for mentions and links. Social : Participate and connect with peers online, find share-able content, promote your profiles. Branding : Add value and identity to your company locally and in self-storage world.
Don’t have one yet? Add a Wordpress blog to your website’s domain. Publish ~weekly.
Position yourself as a local voice and expert on storage/moving/whatever topics. Look at other storage blogs and find a unique angle for yours. Need story ideas? Local events, facility updates, unique storage uses, fun work stories, opinion on industry trends, customer profiles, storage FAQ, review a related product, report on a trade show, staff profiles, run a contest, take a poll, share company history, show off charity efforts, talk about the future, top 10 list/resources roundup... Hire an intern (sharp English/journalism majors) to write content and edit for you. Remember to include links back to other pages of your website from keywords in each post.
Use accounts on social media sites (you have those, right?) to log in with branded identity and add comments to blog posts. Contribute meaningfully to discussion + include a link to your website.
Promote by commenting on other local/storage/related blogs with a link back to your blog (more on comments below) + use social media + your website + biz card + email sig + newsletters, etc.
*If your business is small and you can’t spare resources for your own blog, you can still benefit: OR if you want to do more promotion with your existing blog
Search for blogs on topics like your city/neighborhood, self-storage, moving, small biz, etc.— should relate to your business. Use Google Reader to keep up. Local publications/newspapers have blogs you can follow, too.
Use accounts on social media sites (you have those, right?) to log in with branded identity and add comments to blog posts. Contribute meaningfully to discussion + include a link to your website.
Submit guest articles to blogs you read that accept contributors/guest bloggers. Share your expertise + request a link back to your website in article. Pitch your company news/other story ideas to relevant blogs for mentions and links.