Expect The Unexpected

H

ow do you plan for the unexpected? Think back to December 2019. Any plans that you made for 2020 went out the window just a few months later. Who knew that would happen? That’s the problem with planning in this day and age. We don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, let alone in a few months.

It’s challenging to keep up with the times when the times are constantly changing! Nevertheless, any astute business owner or manager needs to plan. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail! The key is to set long-term goals for the year, as well as month-to-month goals. Therefore, if something happens, you can easily pivot, make changes, and adapt to what’s going on and how it affects you. Plus, when it comes to marketing, keep track of your analytics monthly so you can adjust your plan based on seasons and what’s working and not working.

Setting SMART Goals

First, what are your main long-term goals? Compare your year-over-year income, sales vs. expenses, profit, and losses. Which were your good months? What was going on then? Analyze your financials carefully.

Next, set your income goals for the next year. Then, break that down into 12 months. They probably won’t be the same for each month, especially if your location is seasonal. Naturally, this will help you start thinking on that month-to-month basis.

When you create SMART goals, each one must be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. That way, you set them in small bites that you can handle. They’re doable and you know if you hit (or missed) the mark.

At the end of each month, when you look at your sales figures, marketing analytics, and insights, you’ll be able to tell if your efforts were effective. Consequently, set goals for the next month based on your data.

What’s New With Google?

Love it or hate it, Google is still the top search engine in the world. When someone enters a search term, Google brings up the freshest, most relevant, helpful, and quality content that matches that word or phrase.

Their August 2024 algorithm update demotes any website that is not 100 percent optimized for the search engine (that is, with poor search engine optimization [SEO]).

There are several things you can do to optimize your website. Make sure your page titles and meta descriptions are keyword centric and have the location/area that you serve. Your address and phone number should be the same everywhere you have a listing online, including your website and Google Business Profile. Add special amenities like air-conditioned units, mobile, RV or boat storage, etc.

You need to create fresh content on a regular basis. That means blogging or videos. Tell stories of the area, some of your stand-out customers, answer questions, solve problems, and/or alleviate your target market’s pain points. Make your videos personable with someone talking and explaining. YouTube is the second-largest search engine (after its parent, Google). Videos come up in Google searches and appear on your GBP.

How often are your competitors publishing content? Based on that, you can plan your content marketing. You need to create better content and more frequently.

Do keyword and competitor research and optimize your pages and blogs. That’s called On-Page SEO. Share your blog articles and videos on your social media. Doing that creates legitimate backlinks. If you’re still having trouble ranking for your local keywords or have a formidable competitor to contend with, visit my website (AZSocialMediaWiz.com) and schedule a Zoom call for a free SEO checkup.

Google added a new “E” to their criteria for ranking high in search results to make it EEAT. Those letters stand for experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness.

Google’s EEAT

Google added a new “E” to their criteria for ranking high in search results to make it EEAT. Those letters stand for experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness.

Experience – Here’s where you add your experience in the topic or field.
Expertise – Does the material showcase the writer’s expertise? Does the author have a high level of knowledge or skill?
Authority – Is this a topic that is often covered on this website? Is this the go-to person on this subject? Also, make sure the article has not appeared on another website. The first to publish has the authority.
Trustworthiness – Is the information provided correct? Can you trust it? Are they legitimate?

People buy from whom they know and trust.

Prepare For Emergencies

As I write this, there are folks recovering from the effects of two hurricanes in the Southeast United States. Unfortunately, some natural disasters are unexpected, like earthquakes, wildfires, tornadoes, and floods. You have some warning with hurricanes, but you never know how bad the damage will be or how your community will be affected. As a business, you should have a disaster preparedness manual.

In case of an emergency, deal with the critical issues first, but don’t forget your social media. Customers and potential customers will be looking for information to see if you’re open, how the facility faired, even how you can help them store their belongings while they rebuild or recover.

If your area is prone to natural disasters, become known as a community helper by working with the local agencies. In fact, that’s something to blog about! How have you helped during tough times in the past? What tips can you give people to prepare? Think about the lives of your customers and target audience and provide assistance.

For instance, write a blog about how wise it is to have renters insurance, which may cover the cost of storing your belongings if you are displaced. I wish I had known that before there was a fire in my apartment building.

If you’re part of a corporate chain or franchise, look to your headquarters for their emergency preparedness instructions and make sure they are up to date. If you’re an independent facility, you need to have an emergency policy. Work with your local first responders to determine what’s best for your area.

Follow your local police and fire departments on social media to be alerted in the event of an incident or emergency.

Keep Politically Neutral

I know it’s hard, especially in these volatile times. Undeniably, you cannot afford to offend any prospective customer. Refrain from political commenting on your company’s social media accounts. If you must voice your personal political views, do that on your personal accounts. Keep business and personal separate.

Ultimately, the steps for effective marketing don’t change.

Nine Ps Of Social Media Marketing

Perspective

Look at everything through your potential customer’s eyes, which means that you really need to get to know your target audience.

Purpose

What’s your business’ purpose? Is it to rent units? No! It’s to help the customer by solving their problems and alleviating their pain points. Think of all the possible reasons someone may need to store something in your facility.

Planning

Identifying your purpose will help you set those SMART goals. Once those are set, then plan out a strategy of how you are going meet those goals. The next step is to develop your tactical plan (your to-do list) of how you’re going to implement the strategy. Write it all out.

Preparation

Make sure you have quality graphics everywhere. Your branding should be consistent throughout; that means your website as well as your social media profiles. Do they look like they all belong to the same company? Plan out your marketing campaigns month to month. Put together an editorial calendar.

Participation

You can automate a lot of the content, but you still need to be social! It’s about building relationships with potential customers as well as referral sources.

Posting

People are not going to follow you if you’re not posting helpful, quality content!

Persistance

It’s a marathon, not a sprint. If you stop, people and Google will think you fell off the face of the earth.

Perserverance

Keep at it. You might not see results right away.

Patience

There is a common misconception that if you post something on social media, it will automatically go viral. It may take three to six months before you start seeing results, depending on your facility, the competition, the economy, the seasons, world news, even the weather. You must put in that sweat equity up front to build a following.