DO MORE Webinar Series Session 6: Marketing Websites Deep Dive

00:00:00:21 – 00:00:43:02
Unknown
Get the power to do more with storable websites. More marketing, more engagement. More customers moving into your facility. Storable helps operators do more with the most powerful technology in self-storage. Learn more at storable dot com slash. Do more I think we can go ahead and get started. So. Hi everyone. I am Jennifer McKinney and I am a product marketing manager here at Storyville, and I’d like to thank all of you guys for joining me today for our websites, Deep Dove, and I am really excited to share some great insight on marketing websites and the benefit a website can bring to your business.

00:00:44:01 – 00:01:11:14
Unknown
So I will go ahead and jump right in. So this is a continued session as a part of our broader deal more webinar series. And we’ve covered a few different topics in the past, but really the purpose of this series is to share our information, address market trends or shifts that we are seeing here at Storyville and hopes that it helps you as operators or managers make informed decisions about our business.

00:01:12:07 – 00:01:45:10
Unknown
Now, if you’ve joined any of our recent webinars, the next few slides may look a bit familiar, but I’d really like to recap some of the market forces that are impacting the industry today. So first we we’ve got the shift to digital. So especially during COVID we saw tenants preferring digital forms of engagement. And this is something we’ve always kind of expected, but this trend has only continued to accelerate So it’s becoming more and more accustomed to these new forms of engagement and communications.

00:01:45:18 – 00:02:19:09
Unknown
We are seeing operators evolve to meet those needs. So both the tenant and operator shift to digital that we are seeing is critical for future success. And next is the supply crunch So facilities across most markets are at record high occupancy levels. And this is resulting in a unique dynamic that we haven’t seen since 20, 15. And this is definitely something that you as an operator need to take into consideration as you are looking for new ways to optimize optimize your business.

00:02:20:10 – 00:02:54:06
Unknown
And the third is growth through M&A. So due to supply chain issues and the increasing cost of construction, this main building facility is pretty expensive. And like I mentioned, we are experiencing a supply crunch. So operators would have loved to continue building affordable facilities to meet tenant demands, but instead operators and especially large ones were forced to grow through M&A and As a result, we’ve seen both a record breaking number of deals as well as the value of deals.

00:02:55:09 – 00:03:19:19
Unknown
And the last one is market correction And many of the market forces that we just reviewed, but specifically the supply crunch, are actually symptoms of a much broader market correction that we are starting to see. So whether these shifts are being caused by increasing prices due to labor shortages or supply chain issues, they’re part of a broader concept that experts are calling the everything bubble.

00:03:20:14 – 00:03:51:12
Unknown
We’re still unsure on exactly what impact this will have on the market and the self-storage industry in general. However, we are seeing the Fed already begin to acknowledge inflation and increase interest rates to address it. But today’s conversation will be mostly focused on this topic of shift to digital. So I’d like to walk you through some of the data that we’ve been seeing at Store Bill that helps us tell this story And this topic of shift to digital has been discussed before, and it really is an important topic.

00:03:51:12 – 00:04:08:22
Unknown
And we are looking at the self-storage industry as a whole. So I want to look at some data that helps illustrate this shift to digital that we’ll be discussing today. So the next two slides I’m going to share with you have some internal data from here at Straubel. And I think they both do a great job of illustrating this shift.

00:04:10:04 – 00:04:38:08
Unknown
So what we’re looking at here is a visual representation of the increase in digital adoption from a tenant perspective. So this was pulled from our Sparefoot marketplace. And for those of you who are not familiar with Spotify, it’s essentially an online marketplace that connects tenants who need storage with operators who have available units. So what we’re seeing here is a breakdown of the usage on the Sparefoot marketplace by age demographic.

00:04:38:17 – 00:05:07:21
Unknown
So this is starting in 2019 pre-pandemic and goes to 2020. So for that first year of the pandemic and there’s probably a few things that stand out to here and one is the usage for 18 to 24 year olds. But this is actually pretty common and expected this would be that college age crowd. And when the pandemic and colleges start to shut down or they switch to an online format many students had to pack up their dorms or move home.

00:05:08:03 – 00:05:35:08
Unknown
So we definitely saw an increase in demand there. But the age groups that there is a bit more interesting here is that 55 plus. So we really do expect the younger generations to be consuming almost everything digitally. But we don’t necessarily consider some of our older demographics to be quite as tech savvy. But based on these data points, that assumption is not necessarily true.

00:05:36:01 – 00:06:01:06
Unknown
And the growth in this digital adoption can be credited to the pandemic and just pure necessity. But what we’re continuing to see is that usage among the 55 plus is staying flat. So we’re not seeing any significant decreases in usage now that things are kind of starting to return to normal. So it just proves that people are becoming more and more comfortable with technology and digital forms of engagement.

00:06:03:06 – 00:06:38:11
Unknown
The next set of data here was pulled from a facility management software, so our site link and store edge. And it shows where traffic and weeds are coming from. So I specifically like to focus on the walk in traffic at the top and green and then the website traffic in orange And as you can see in 2019 pre-pandemic the majority of traffic was generated by walk ins but in early 2020 we can see that shift and walk in traffic starts to decrease and is essentially replaced with website traffic.

00:06:38:21 – 00:07:07:19
Unknown
And we’ve also seen this trend stayed pretty consistent over the past two years showing us that people are looking to interact digitally Now the process of owning and operating a successful business has a wider range of needs and many operators are turning to technology to simplify their daily operations and just run their businesses more efficiently. And this has been a driving force behind some of the great innovations that we are seeing in the industry.

00:07:08:13 – 00:07:32:16
Unknown
So today, as we take a deeper look into the shift to digital, we are going to focus on websites and how the right website can help you get acclimated to a more digital format and simplify the tenant experience and help simplify and grow your business as well. Now, especially with the supply crunch that I mentioned, many of you may be thinking, do I even need a website?

00:07:33:11 – 00:08:12:17
Unknown
And the short answer is yes. Websites help legitimize your business in the mind of the consumer. With about 87% of Americans owning a computer and 85% of Americans owning a smartphone, tenants have grown to expect not only digital forms of engagement, but also contactless price processes. So in 20, 21 the use of generic keywords like storage near me was up year over year, meaning more and more people are searching for their next storage unit online And 76% of consumers admit to visiting a company’s website before visiting in-person.

00:08:13:08 – 00:08:33:23
Unknown
I mean, your customers are researching you online before they decide to do business with you. So it’s critical that you are able to keep up with the needs of your tenants. So I’d like to take a look at the tenant rental process and lifecycle and how that can be simplified with the adoption of a well built facility website.

00:08:35:10 – 00:09:02:13
Unknown
So as we discussed earlier, when we’ve reviewed building sourcing data, tenants are rapidly shifting towards digital formats when shopping for a unit. And it’s critical that you think through their journey to ensure a seamless end to end digital experience. So I’d like to walk you through how we got store all. Think about that tenant journey starting with how they discover your facility online, their experience on your site or your online storefront.

00:09:03:07 – 00:09:32:10
Unknown
The rental process converting them to tenant and ending with their ongoing account management. So naturally, we are going to start at the beginning with Facility Discovery So like many Internet searches, the start of the process for your tenants is probably going to begin on Google in 2019. Google accounted for 92% of overall organic search engine visits in the United States.

00:09:33:04 – 00:09:54:20
Unknown
So there is a very good chance that their journey will begin here. And as I previously mentioned, searches for storage near me are increasing. So when they conduct that search, Google generates a list of possible matches for them. Pretty sure we’re all pretty familiar with that process. But what you might not be familiar with is how these rankings and that list is calculated.

00:09:55:11 – 00:10:20:03
Unknown
And this is done through something called the called search engine optimization. And search engine optimization is the process of increasing the number of visitors to your website by ensuring the site appears high on that list of results returned by a search engine. So I’m actually going to dove into search engine optimization or SEO and what that means for you as an operator a little later in the presentation.

00:10:20:12 – 00:10:48:23
Unknown
But for now, I’d like to focus solely on the tenant experience. And a recent study also found that the first five website results received almost 68% of clicks. So we can make a pretty solid assumption that your tenants are selecting a site that appears high on that list of search engine results. Another important thing to note here is not only where your tenants are searching, but how they are conducting these searches.

00:10:49:19 – 00:11:06:03
Unknown
I mentioned earlier that 85% of Americans own smartphones, so they are essentially walking around with a mini computer attached to them all day. So it is no surprise that mobile devices account for more than 63% of all organic search engine visits in the United States.

00:11:08:22 – 00:11:34:06
Unknown
Excuse me. That means that more than half of all searches are done on a mobile device versus a desktop or laptop computer. So what does this mean for you and how can you use this to your benefit? Well, without a mobile friendly site, your prospective tenants won’t have easy access to your information. People have grown accustomed to instant access, and they expect to be able to find anything on their mobile device that they would on their desktop computer.

00:11:35:05 – 00:12:11:18
Unknown
So we’re making sure that your site adjusts to user’s screen size. Platform device orientation is key and ensures that the experience is consistent regardless of the device type And a mobile friendly site allows your tenants to connect with you from just about anywhere. Essentially, you need to make sure that your website is built for both desktop and mobile to ensure that consistent experience So let’s assume that the tenant has selected the first site listed in Google and due to some great SEO, that is your Web site.

00:12:12:00 – 00:12:38:03
Unknown
And so now they’re on your site or your online storefront. What type of experience are you providing and what do you want them to see and focus in on the overall look and feel of your site is something that can not only affect your SEO, but overall customer experience and your ability to generate and convert leads So the main goal of your website should really be to encourage interaction between you and your teammates.

00:12:38:15 – 00:13:01:22
Unknown
And there are a few key factors that will define that tenant experience. And the first is content. So keeping your site up to date with relevant news information as well as images can create kind of a sticky experience and keep them on your site. Long term, is your website user friendly or things like location and contact information easily accessible?

00:13:02:14 – 00:13:32:08
Unknown
A clear and concise design with easy and straightforward navigation allows your tenants to find what they’re looking for quickly. Remember, great usability will probably go unnoticed, but bad usability will instantly stand out. So you should try to anticipate the needs of your tenants and where they are going to fulfill their needs with very little effort. Does your site look good and is your brand represented appropriately?

00:13:32:18 – 00:14:03:17
Unknown
You want to make sure that your tenants know that they are on your site. So making sure that your brand is clearly represented and reflects who you are as a company not only helps build brand awareness, but also increases credibility. And what is your call to action? How would you want them to interact with you? A good layout keeps users on the site because important information is easily accessible, where a bad layout can frustrate users and they’ll leave quickly because they can’t find what they’re looking for.

00:14:04:10 – 00:14:34:18
Unknown
And this is incredibly important because this is usually a split second decision, and they will most likely only be giving you a few seconds of their time. And it can really be the difference between a visitor to your site and a tenant Okay. So they’re on your site. They are able to see your location, contact information, facility amenities, and they are ready to start shopping and looking for an available unit, but they’re not quite sure what size they need for maybe their one bedroom apartment.

00:14:35:11 – 00:15:02:12
Unknown
So things like a unit size calculator or unit size guide are really great additions to your site. They can really help eliminate any guesswork or uncertainty a tenant might have regarding the size of these units. And in the eyes of the tenant, you have simply helped reduce the possibility of renting a unit that is too small or provides unnecessary space Personally, for me, the first time I had to rent a storage unit, I was pretty clueless.

00:15:02:12 – 00:15:21:01
Unknown
I had no idea what size I needed. So something like this with examples of what basic household items will fit in each size would have been super helpful. And due to this simplified and low friction process. They are ready to continue onto the next step of their tenant journey.

00:15:24:00 – 00:15:50:18
Unknown
And this next step for the tenants is all about simplicity and convenience. By providing a variety of self-service options on your site, you are able to enhance the experience and allow them to complete the rental process in real time on their own time. It is no secret that the pandemic really forced operators to adopt new processes and offer things like contactless experiences.

00:15:51:11 – 00:16:26:17
Unknown
When COVID hit the need for contactless experience significantly increased. But the thing is, many people may be under the assumption that these forms of technology were only being utilized within our industry due to COVID or for unmanned facilities. But that’s not necessarily true. The idea of a contactless experience was around long before COVID. However, the demand for these services grew exponentially throughout the pandemic, and we’ve seen a significant adoption of these practices by both operators and tenants.

00:16:27:03 – 00:17:11:00
Unknown
And we do not expect for the demand to decrease anytime soon. Contactless technology is essentially just a combination of tools and processes really intended to streamline cell storage operations, reduce unnecessary touchpoints, and elevate the tenant lifecycle. With tenants becoming more and more comfortable with technology and the streamlined experience it creates. Selecting a forward thinking website solution is critical to stay competitive in this new digital environment and meet tenant demands And probably one of the first things people think of when they hear contactless technology is online rentals.

00:17:11:09 – 00:17:41:20
Unknown
And for good reason, it’s very important. When we think about the overall overall tenant experience with a click of a button, the tenant can not only reserve a unit but complete their paperwork and rental transactions themselves any time, day or night on their own time. Regardless of your office hours, so now you have a new reservation and a new move in scheduled, and soon a tenant will be occupying one of your available units.

00:17:42:07 – 00:17:47:02
Unknown
So they have gone from lead to tenant in a matter of moments.

00:17:49:11 – 00:18:17:23
Unknown
But their journey in lifecycle doesn’t stop there. Sure, they have forgotten progress to tenant, but the relationship is really just getting started. So through the use of their tenant portal, your tenants can receive digital communications and updates from you and use the online tools to manage their actual including things like paying their bill. The outdated and typically traditional way of doing this would require either a phone call or a visit to your facility.

00:18:18:13 – 00:18:42:19
Unknown
But now we have things like online payments, and they are growing in popularity. Sure, some of the growth is definitely due to the pandemic, and many of you may have already offered online bill pay options. But as we know, COVID pushed not only facility owners but tenants to adopt new practices and they have become accustomed to these new advancements over the past few years.

00:18:42:19 – 00:19:13:23
Unknown
The amount of Americans choosing online bill pay options has risen significant So if they weren’t using online bill pay prior to 2020, there’s a very good chance that they are using it now. And in many ways online payments are more secure than some of the more traditional payments, like taking a credit card number over the phone. Not only are online payments safer from a health and security perspective, but they’re also fast, easy and convenient for your tenants.

00:19:15:07 – 00:19:42:22
Unknown
So all in all, providing these types of self-service and mobile options on your site, you are able to enhance the overall tenant experience and help to build brand loyalty In addition to all of these tenant benefits, a digitally focused website can also help you improve the way you run your daily operations. So I’d like to transition the conversation over to that we all know about the benefits for your tenants.

00:19:43:09 – 00:20:16:12
Unknown
So now I’d like to switch gears and take some time to review how a website can help reduce your operational complexities and grow your business. Now, it’s not uncommon to feel a bit uncertain about new tech technology and worry about the upkeep and maintenance of your site on top of everything else that goes into managing your facility. But through the use of automation, you can eliminate some of these concerns So as an operator, there are many ways that you can automate your daily tasks.

00:20:16:22 – 00:20:48:03
Unknown
And one of those is through an integration with your management software and your website. I really want you to think about your management software as a control center and integrating other technologies into that control center allows for a much more automated business model. But what do I mean by that? Well, when you have a website that talks to your management software and vice versa, the process of having to manually update inventory or pricing becomes much more streamlined.

00:20:48:23 – 00:21:24:23
Unknown
For example, if a tenant uses some of those self-service options we just discussed on your website, like making an online reservation, that information is automatically syncs back to your management software. Pulling that unit out of your available inventory and in turn pulling that unit off of your website. Simplifying your overall inventory management process. So this not only saves you a step in having to manually remove that unit from your available inventory, but also ensures that only available units are listed on your site.

00:21:25:22 – 00:21:53:07
Unknown
So when you and your staff no longer have to duplicate data from one system to another, you are free to spend time on other important tasks that can help your business grow. When all of your important data is stored in one place, It’s much easier for you when your staff to access the information you need and when you are able to to view all of your available units and inventory in one system, you’ll have far fewer things left to manage.

00:21:54:02 – 00:22:13:21
Unknown
So when you choose a website that allows for seamless integration into your management software, you are able to eliminate the need for manually moving leads. Reservations payments, account information from your website to your management system, and reduce potential errors that can occur during that process.

00:22:16:19 – 00:22:38:09
Unknown
So the timesaving and simplified processes are not the only ways a website can help you as an operator. There’s also the big benefit of increasing your revenue. Let’s be honest, probably one of the main reasons you guys all went into business was to try and make a little money and the way you make money in this industry is by renting out available units.

00:22:39:03 – 00:23:05:16
Unknown
Now, we are all aware that many parts of the country are experiencing high demand and high occupancy However, we also know that things can happen fast and the industry is constantly evolving. So some of these points might not necessarily ring true today. We really want you to think about the future and longevity of your business and be in a position where you are prepared for a shift and a position that puts you ahead of your competition.

00:23:07:19 – 00:23:33:12
Unknown
So I’d like to spend a little more time talking about SEO or search engine optimization. This is a topic that gets talked about a lot, and it is definitely a buzz word when we’re talking about websites, but I’m not sure everyone knows exactly what it means and why it’s important. So we did touch on this a bit from a tenant perspective, but I’d like to dove into what this means for you as an operator.

00:23:34:12 – 00:24:21:07
Unknown
So to recap, search engine optimization is the process of increasing the number of visitors to your website by ensuring that your site appears high on that list of search results returned by a search engine. So Google Search is the main one of the main ways that people discover content online. So ranking higher in a search engine like Google can lead to an increase in traffic to your site So you might be wondering how SEO can work to your advantage and how you can make sure that your site ranks and appears higher And the answer is it’s a little complicated, that it’s that search engines like Google use very complex processes and algorithms to organize and rank

00:24:21:07 – 00:24:51:02
Unknown
content and then take a wide range of factors into account when determining page ranks. When you publish your site, Google Bots Review your content. Next, Google will analyze what it discovered. So this can include things like content, images, media files, and it uses that information to try and determine what your site is about. Then it stores up this information in something called a Google Index.

00:24:51:12 – 00:25:20:14
Unknown
And then it serves up that information when it appears relevant to a user’s search. And it sounds simple enough, unfortunately, due to the complexity of SEO algorithms. It can be a daunting task to try and increase your rank. So it’s important to partner with the right website provider that has SEO at the forefront. With that said, there are a few things that we know about SEO, and I’d like to share those with you.

00:25:22:17 – 00:26:01:12
Unknown
So we’ve already discussed how mobile capabilities and solid content are key from both an overall content experience standpoint. But also for your SEO. But there are things like page optimization and page speed that can also play a major role in how your site ranks on Google We’ve been talking about SEO here, and what I’m really referring to is page optimization or on page SEO So these are things that you can essentially control things like your layout, your design content, mobile capabilities, things like that.

00:26:02:01 – 00:26:24:05
Unknown
But there’s also something called Off Page SEO, and I’m not going to go into too much detail about that, but that’s basically things that occur off your page, links from other sites, promotion methods even that. Like if you have a social media post that’s creating a lot of buzz that can generate additional traffic to your site, which can affect your SEO.

00:26:25:02 – 00:26:49:14
Unknown
But for the sake of today’s discussion, I’m going to keep the conversation around elements on your website that you can control But I did want to make you aware of the difference between the two. So on page optimization or on page SEO, is a practice of optimizing individual web pages to rank ranked higher. So what does this mean for you and your website?

00:26:51:00 – 00:27:21:11
Unknown
This is essentially making sure that your page is filled with keywords that a tenant might use in their search. So maybe things like storage, self-storage, climate-controlled, access control, other amenities that your facility may offer, but also includes high quality content with a level of expertize and trustworthiness that you are using. HTML tags, headlines and images that are all designed with SEO in mind.

00:27:22:09 – 00:27:45:23
Unknown
Now, I know things like headlines and HTML tags probably sound a bit intimidating. So utilizing a website that focus focuses on these details for you can really help simplify our process And the last thing that I want to touch on is page speed. I think we have all visited a website and the page just takes too long to load.

00:27:46:11 – 00:28:04:04
Unknown
So what do we do? We close it out and we go to another site to find the information that we’re looking for. But it’s important to remember that Google is built with the customer in mind. So if your page has a slow, low time and people are leaving quickly, this can have a major impact on where you appear in a Google search.

00:28:04:19 – 00:28:33:19
Unknown
Google won’t keep directing traffic to your site. If people are leaving quickly and this is especially important when we are talking about mobile sites and now we spent some time addressing the importance of a mobile compatible site. But what we didn’t address is the importance of your load time. Google indicates in one of their reports that more than half of mobile mobile visitors will leave your mobile site if it takes more than 3 seconds to load.

00:28:34:16 – 00:28:58:11
Unknown
So this is specifically why page speed is important. Overall, SEO can have a direct impact on your lead generation and your revenue, but it can also be very overwhelming. So it’s important to partner with a website provider that understands not only the self-storage industry, but also has a clear understanding of how to optimize your site for the best rankings.

00:29:00:09 – 00:29:32:10
Unknown
Many of the things that I have discussed here, especially in this last section, all really roll up to the broader topic of lead generation and lead conversion because at the end of the day, we all want a successful and sustainable business. There are a lot of website options out there that can get you a website but your website only works if it’s discoverable and people visit it by utilizing the latest SEO strategies alongside conversion automated optimize excuse me design techniques.

00:29:32:11 – 00:30:04:04
Unknown
The right website can drive traffic to reach consumers at their moment of need and turn them into leads. If we’ve learned anything over the past two years, it’s that things can change quickly and you need to acquire the tools necessary to adapt to the ever changing landscape. With that said, I hope you found today’s session valuable and learn something new about the best way to utilize websites to help streamline your tenant’s experience, reduce your operator burden, and grow your business.

00:30:05:00 – 00:30:30:03
Unknown
So whether you currently have a website or looking to build one it’s important to remember that technology is shaping a new path for this industry, and the traditional way of operating has been disrupted and change is happening The queens of your tenants are evolving, and to stay competitive you have to meet their needs. In this new digital era, so that about concludes today’s webinar.

00:30:30:13 – 00:31:02:08
Unknown
But before I let you go, I want to quickly go over what we will be discussing in the future. And the future installments of this series. So today we discussed the value our website can bring to both you and your tenants. And in April, we’d really love to continue this conversation with another operator roundtable. If you recall, last month we hosted an operator roundtable around the topic of Access Control for operators, discussed how access control is perceived as the face of their business and the benefits to their customer experience.

00:31:02:21 – 00:31:28:15
Unknown
So in April, we’ll be chatting with a few operators to discuss the role their website plays in the broader shift to digital. How are we on time? It looks like we are right at time. But I think we got some great questions for you all. But I do want to be respectful of everyone’s time. So I do have everyone’s contact information when you register register for the webinar.

00:31:29:00 – 00:31:54:15
Unknown
So I will be following up with those who submitted questions in the next day or two to make sure we get you answers to all of your questions. But I just want to thank you again so much for joining me today. I hope you have a great rest of your day. Thank you so much. Get the power to do more with storable websites, more marketing, more engagement, more customers moving into your facility.

00:31:55:04 – 00:32:03:01
Unknown
Storable helps operators do more with the most powerful technology in self-storage. Learn more at Storable E-commerce. Do more.