Promoting a self-storage company can be tough. It's a highly competitive industry which relies as much upon ongoing and repeat business as it does on new customers. Most self-storage owners focus solely on the day-to-day operation and investing in improvements. Marketing is put on the back burner, and coming up with marketing ideas can easily slip down the priority list.
Marketing strategies are essential because word of mouth alone won’t keep your storage units full. You need to continuously attract new customers.
In this blog, we'll explore 16 essential storage marketing techniques to help you attract more customers, fill more units, and increase profits for your self-storage facility.
Before we get into the nuts and bolts of self-storage marketing ideas, here's one tip that applies to whatever marketing approach you take. This tip is to locally target your marketing.
Self-storage is a matter of necessity and convenience. When using a self-storage facility, most customers have to visit their storage unit a number of times. This means they'll want self-storage facilities that are nearby.
In fact, research from the Self Storage Association found that 77% of self-storage customers travelled less than 20 minutes to their storage unit. This makes local targeting the most effective marketing strategy that self-storage businesses can follow.
For more information on the importance of targeting audiences in your local area, read through our guide on local targeting.
These improvements can range from web design and development factors, like making your website responsive, quick to load and easy for search engines to index, through to the written content you have on the site.
Off-site SEO is also important, though harder to control. This involves making sure that reliable, relevant websites are linking back to you - this signals to search engines that your site is also reliable and useful for their users.
For the self-storage industry, local SEO in particular can deliver excellent results. This will help ensure you show up on 'near me' searches, catching that all-important local audience. Use your town name or city in your website copy such as, “self-storage in Milton Keynes.’ Ensure that your business is also listed on Google My Business and other local directories.
As mentioned above content is an important factor for your website’s SEO therefore create a blog on your website and start writing content for your audience. Downloadable guides are also effective for attracting visitors. By providing valuable information on topics such as moving home, storage solutions, and organising belongings, you can drive traffic to your site and establish yourself as an industry expert.
SEO is a great way to increase organic traffic to your self-storage website and will deliver strong long-term results. But it rarely rewards you with quick wins.
If you want digital marketing ideas that can deliver an almost instant increase in traffic to your website, then Pay-Per-Click ads (PPC) are a great alternative. With PPC you do have to pay for this visibility increase but you will be seen whenever people search for your chosen search terms.
Building any marketing strategy around PPC will always cost more than an organic campaign like SEO. Unfortunately, the moment you stop paying, all the benefits to your storage marketing will also be lost.
Still, if it's done correctly, it will deliver guaranteed results making it a great option for a self-storage business in need of short-term gains. You can also limit your PPC cost using local targeting to limit the geographic area of your ads.
While PPC search ads are effective, they only appear when someone is actively searching for a specific term you've paid to target. That means the person is already considering your service. Mobile advertising, on the other hand, reaches individuals who may not yet be aware of your service or haven’t shown intent to purchase. This broadens your marketing reach and potential customer base.
The key to a successful social media marketing strategy is talking specifically to your target audience.
Think about who your potential customers are. What age are they? What is their income bracket? What other services might they need? You need to create social media content that speaks to them and shows them why your self-storage business is better suited to them than any of your competitors.
You also need to make sure you're finding them on the channels they use. Be it Facebook, YouTube, Instagram or any other social media platform, you need to make sure that you pick sites your potential customers use.
Although nearly every demographic these days uses social media, there are still strong generational and occupational divides across which sites people engage with.
Make sure your self-storage marketing is appearing on a platform where potential customers will see it.
These days, direct mail marketing is often overlooked when it comes to storage marketing ideas. This is a shame because it can have impressive results when handled correctly.
Unlike PPC or social media marketing which can easily be missed by scrolling fingers, direct mail will assuredly reach your audience. And unlike email marketing, where your message can be quickly drowned beneath a busy inbox, direct mail will be seen. People have to clear their doormats, and whether your direct mail is a postcard, pamphlet or letter, they will probably scan your headline in the process.
Of course, there are costs involved with printing and postage but it’s a highly effective marketing technique that works. When it comes to the self-storage industry, direct mail definitely pays off. You just need to keep costs down and engagement high by targeting your self-storage marketing to people who need your services.
Community involvement is a fantastic way for local businesses to attract new customers. Morally, it is a brilliant thing to give back to the local community, and it is also a positive way to boost brand awareness.
It can even have a beneficial knock-on effect for other areas of your self-storage marketing too. For example, if high-profile, reputable websites post coverage of your actions, you can earn valuable links that will impress search engines.
There are a number of ways self-storage owners can support their local community, including sponsorship (for local sports teams, causes or local events) or holding charity events.
But for self-storage companies, perhaps the best way to support your community is to offer free storage services for local charities, community groups or start-ups. Speak to local organisations such as food banks or other charity drives and offer up free storage space.
This is a great way of using otherwise empty units and will reflect well on your business. Beyond this, you will also be drawing more people into your storage facility who may go on to engage your storage space on a personal basis or recommend it to others.
When it comes to local targeting, referrals can be a brilliant way of finding new customers for your storage company. People trust the opinions of their community and with local self-storage marketing, this can be valuable. You could offer a referral scheme for customers to incentivise them to shout your brand from the rooftops.
Ask satisfied customers to leave reviews on Google, Yelp and other review sites. You can then display these prominently on your website and promote them on social media. Positive reviews are a great way to build trust and influence potential customers’ decisions.
Another way to gain access to referrals is by partnering up with other small businesses. Partnering with estate agents and other home mover services such as a removal company is a great way to find people who are likely in the market for your storage services without having to sink a lot of time or money into seeking out your target audience. Joining industry associations such as the self-storage association is a great way to meet other like-minded services.
Offering referral incentives to existing customers can be a great way to get new customers and repeat business. Introductory offers will attract new customers to try out your store. You could offer a discount for those planning to use your unit for a long period. Create a sense of urgency by making the discount a limited-time offer.
Create a list of your current and past customers’ email addresses. Make some of your content gated so you can retrieve the email addresses of those wishing to view your blogs or guides. This will help you to build up an email list of prospective customers. You can send out regular newsletters, special offers or links to your content.
Create informative videos, such as a tour of your self-storage facility or an explanation of the benefits of self-storage. Share these videos on your website, social media, and YouTube to reach a wider audience. An introduction to your business featuring yourself and your staff can humanise your business and build trust with your audience. You could also include customer testimonials by interviewing satisfied customers. During the facility tour, highlight the benefits, features, and security measures you use.
Invest in a clear sign that is visible from the road. It will serve as a constant advertisement for passing traffic and nearby residents. The signage will reinforce your brand identity. A professional sign will give you a professional image. What other advertisement is promoting you 24/7?
The key to effective marketing for self-storage companies is always going to be targeting relevant leads. Those leads could be relevant due to their location or due to their current circumstances. What matters is to not waste your time talking to people who have no need or interest in your storage space.
Marketing your services to the local community is one way to target your marketing. Another demographic that makes a fantastic target audience for self-storage marketing is home movers.
Whether they are looking to ease the burden of moving day or find a home for longer-term downsizing, a lot of people in the process of moving home need storage units. Marketing your self-storage facility to them is likely to lead to a much higher uptake percentage than it would across a much broader cross-section.
Partner with an address lead subscription service like ours to gain access to a valuable audience of home movers, allowing you to target your marketing efforts effectively.
Here at MoverAlerts, we can equip you with home mover lead addresses, covering 99.6% of moves in the UK. Our subscription service allows for geographical targeting, so you can set the postcodes or areas you want to target.
With our direct mail service, we will even create and send your direct mail marketing or home movers service locally. Contact us today to find out more about how we can help your self-storage business generate enquiries.