Almost one third of everyone who uses the Internet looks at YouTube every single day. That translates to billions of viewers around the world, many of whom are in the same community as your self storage facility.

Creating a YouTube channel for your storage facility is a great way to visually demonstrate what makes your facility special while showcasing the personality you’d like customers to associate with your brand. It can also show viewers that you’re an authority on storage units by imparting information, which will result in them trusting you with their self storage needs. When done correctly, a YouTube account for your storage facility will engage visitors to your channel and convert viewers into customers. And no, you don’t need a degree from film school to do it.

Let’s explore in further detail what you can expect to get out of a YouTube channel for your self storage business and how to go about creating your first video.

What to Aim For

Brand Recognition

One of the main goals of creating a YouTube channel for your storage facility is to create brand awareness. You want people in your area in need of self storage to associate you with that need. Basically, once a person has decided to rent a storage unit, you want the name of your storage facility to be the words they type into Google.

You can do this by creating a jingle or slogan that sticks in viewer’s heads, showing your logo several times in your video, using name repetition or even by incorporating a signature spokesperson, character or memorable gimmick into your videos.

Information

YouTube is a great way to show potential tenants that you are the expert on self storage. You can create videos that show renters what different sizes of units look like, how to store common items and what different amenities are available at your facility. You can use videos to explain a new feature you’ve added to your facility or to give seasonal storage tips.

In addition to positioning yourself as an authority on self storage, don’t forget to have fun with your channel. Include videos that relate to YouTube trends (like the infamous Harlem Shake trend of 2013) and visual content that’s funny and topical.

Synergy

If you’re already advertising your storage facility on TV, make those commercials available on your YouTube channel. This is a great way for you to use content you already have. TV commercials often serve as an excellent introduction to your YouTube channel, and you can actually set these to autoplay when someone visits your channel’s page.

Getting Started

Creating Your YouTube Account

The first thing you’ll need to do before creating YouTube videos for your storage facility is create an account. One option is to do this through your business’s Google+ account (if you don’t have one, here’s how to create one). You can also use an email address.

Your username should be the name of your storage facility and your logo should be your existing logo. In other words, everything should be consistent with your existing branding.

Making Your First Video

The phrase “quality over quantity” is often used to describe friendship, but if you ask us, it’s actually a pretty fitting term for YouTube videos. Keep your videos short. Around one or two minutes is ideal. After the two minute mark, viewers tend to drop off. This is why it’s important to get the important information out at the beginning of the video.

Let’s say your storage facility is called Pine Street Self Storage and you’d like to make a video explaining your recently added RV storage. You’ll want to include your business name, location and the fast facts about your new RV storage before the one minute mark.

Video Title

When creating videos, you’ll also want to exercise the “quality over quantity” philosophy by keeping titles short. Titles should be under 50 characters and should use SEO-friendly language that conveys that content of the video in simple terms. Add in your business name if possible, but keep the topic at the beginning of the title. For example, for the previously mentioned RV storage video for the fictitious Pine Street Self Storage, a good title would be something like “New RV Storage at Pine Street Self Storage.”

Video Description

You can use your description to elaborate. YouTube allows 5,000 words in the description, but try to keep yours in the 300-500 range. In the case of the RV video, your description might include a few details on what type of RV storage is offered, any specials for new RV tenants and any RV specific amenities like a wash or dump station. You should also include information about your business, so that before even watching your video, viewers have the link to your storage facility’s website and know how to contact you.

Video Cards

YouTube allows you to create calls to action by using cards. These are clickable boxes that can appear at any point in your videos. You can use them to direct viewers to your website, to link to another one of your videos or even to conduct polls. In the case of the RV video, you might use cards to encourage viewers to book online or you might create a poll asking what self storage amenity might be most useful to RV owners.

You can check to see how your cards are performing via YouTube’s analytics, which will be a good indicator of whether or not you should invest more time and money into your channel.

Social Media

Be sure to share your storage facility’s YouTube videos on your Facebook and Twitter pages. You can encourage colleagues to share them as well and include them in emails. Short, visual content tends to perform well on social media, so sharing one of your funnier or more unique videos to Facebook can help draw more traffic to your YouTube channel.

Most Important Takeaway

While the idea of creating a YouTube channel might seem intimidating to novices, it doesn’t take much to look like a total pro (even if you don’t feel like one). Always stress the importance of good lighting, a steady camera and clear audio. If you have money in your budget to direct into the venture of creating a YouTube channel for your self storage business, use it to hire professionals who can make quality videos.

Perhaps even more importantly, make sure that whoever appears on camera—whether it’s you, another employee or an actor—looks relaxed and natural. This will indicate to viewers that should they become tenants at your storage facility, they can expect this same level of friendliness in person.