Aggregators: A place in Self Storage?

Over the last month there has been an attack on Self Storage Aggregators. They have been attacked on how they have dominated front page listings on Internet services, fees charged, maps claimed and how they are competing against the same industry that they are claiming to be helping. There are a variety of business plans out there that are lumped into this one category. There are those that list on a closest distance from center of zip codes, radiating out, for a set monthly amount. Some pay per lead sites are managed by REIT's that have found independent facilities to join their network in  a market area that they do not have Corporate facilities to cover, but know the value of assisting a customer. There are affiliate programs that are focused on being able to give 1st or 2nd  page presence to small operators that are driven from the those pages by the dominance of the REIT's in major markets. There are also the pay per reservation or rental sites, that offer various buy up opportunities.
   These aggregators are being compared to those in the hotel and airline industry. The hotel industry can sometimes be compared to the Self Storage industry due to the number of individual property owners seeking to drive traffic through their front doors. There is a fine line owners and managers must balance when it comes to marketing, discounts and promotions in either industry to fill space. At the same time you must take various local factors into consideration along with management of street rates.
   Aggregators gained their foothold in our industry during a time when growth of facilities was at it's highest point and the economy threw a curve to the nation with the worst recession we have seen since the 1930's. These vendors offered advice in a growing technology and the fastest growing marketing medium in history, known as the Internet. They have the strongest presence in the larger market areas where small and middle size operators with limited budgets are battling the REIT's who are spending millions of dollars monthly on Internet advertisement along with Internet marketing and SEO research. It is difficult for the small operator to battle the advertisement dollar of a REIT that buys ad space with their web link under an independent's name and address on the independent's facility map flag on Google Maps.

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  The first thing I will say is that the large and the small facility owners should have a web presence if they want to continue to increase the value of their investment. With that said, you must also be willing to invest the time and money required to manage it's success. Right now you should already have a Facebook page, Twitter account, LinkedIn page and Google+ account. Use these sights to help stay current on your industry and research others that operate in a similar manner. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the key to the game. "How do you make the most of it?" is the million dollar question, as Google continually changes the way it looks at relevance. As an example in late 2011 there was a large push on getting reviews on various sites that offered postings as Google was extracting reviews from various 3rd party review sites. Google has since stopped extracting reviews from other sites for relevance... which encourages the smart owner to be educating his team on how to send their clients to the Google review pages, sign in, and leave that desired review and rating... Realize that just building a web page "Does Not" guarantee they will come. It takes continual updating to keep your site relevant through various strategies including link building, bounce rates, relevance ratings on Google analytics, to the proper key words for SEO. It is a lot of work and then only the beginning.

   Some of the operators trying to compete in major market places, have a limited number of units and a limited budget for Marketing and Internet optimization. The cost and effectiveness of web hosting varies immensely from flat rates to build the site starting anywhere from $1000 and up, plus a monthly maintenance and optimization fee that can start at $100 and up. That is where one form or another of the aggregators are helpful. Some aggregators offer flat fee services that offer a landing or place page for a facility and some even offer administration rights to edit rates, units and various descriptions.
   If you are looking at a number of units that are vacant and want to use the technology of showing your street rate and a special Internet rate, there are those aggregators that charge a fee per reservation and can help with placement through a varying rate scale, along with charges for various unit sizes. You have to look at the average ROI per customer and the related costs to determine if this is an option for you.
   There are basically two types of customers that you obtain using the aggregators. The first is the lazy Internet user that is looking for several quick choices in his general vicinity. The second is the customer that is looking for that Deal.
   The bottom line is that the operator is still setting what they will accept for an empty space. An operator's success or failure on any Internet site is whether they keep the information current as well as being open to publicly publishing prices. Make that "Call To Action" easy with a telephone number that will be answered by a manager that professionally obtains and disseminates the proper and necessary information.
   I have used aggregators in the past for travel and have learned that dealing with hotels directly will usually give me the same if not a better price.  When there is a problem it is easier to deal directly with the organization you are having a problem with, than with a 3rd party. I personally book direct to earn the vendor points as well as an escalated amount of customer service.
   There are several sides to every issue and I guarantee there is not one answer that is 100% correct. The best answer is get educated, learn as much as you can and everything about the Internet you can, and then continue soaking it in. Secondly, you must consider the marketing dollar, advertising dollar and Internet investment dollar you have to spend, and then use what you have to be the most beneficial to your organization. What you do Today will be different from what works Tomorrow... be versatile and open to change. Our customer's renting habits along with the way they find us, changes daily...
Aggregators: A place in Self Storage ?
Maybe you should be asking; Is my web site Smart Phone friendly?