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9 Fundamentals For Self Storage Marketing Success

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Published: 18Nov2006
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Recently, I had the opportunity to accompany Jeff Greenberger of Self Storage Legal.com on the Inside Self Storage "Legal Learning" Webinar.

I don't know a whole lot about Jeff, but my sense is that the guy is extremely good at what he does. And, the feedback from the webinar indicated that those who attended thought so too!

During my presentation I shared 9 fundamentals to self-storage marketing success. I've had so many requests for those 9 fundamentals that I decided to share them to everybody.

But, before I share these fundamentals, I'd like to tell you about what inspired me to break self-storage marketing down to it's core fundamentals.

I don't know if you're a baseball fan or not, but recently St Louis won the World Series against the Detroit Lions. Just prior to that game, one of the players from Detroit was being interviewed by ESPN and made a very interesting comment that I think you should make note of. He said that winning in baseball was about executing the fundamentals better than your opponent. He added that there is a lot of hype about flashy gear, home run records, steroid abuse, and other exciting events, but that the game remained about hitting the ball and getting across home plate more times than your competitor.

The same is true for marketing your self-storage facility...the owner operator that sticks to the fundamentals more often than their competitor will win. So, here are the 9 fundamentals:

1. When creating marketing materials, don't focus on you. Focus on your customers needs and wants and how you solve them. Try to find areas of their life that have emotion since emotion is the fuel of action. Emotions like fear of loss, embarrassment about clutter, the relief of saving money, and so on are prevalent in this industry.

2. Precisely define your target market. Focus your advertising dollars only on people who can say "yes" to your offer and who have a good reason for doing so. These people typically live or work within the closest 30,000 households. The 1% rule of thumb works best for most facilities. In other words, if 1% of those receiving your marketing message responded, you should be 100% occupied. For a facility with 300 units, focus on the closest 30,000 households and businesses.

3. Use your location to your advantage. Rather than focusing on your logo and phone number, interrupt those passing by your facility with an intriguing and persuasive message. If your city regulations allow you to use 84" X 36" over sized banners, create 12 and change them monthly.

4. Differentiate. Unless you're the only facility in town, you absolutely must separate yourself from your competition through hard or soft innovation. Then, communicate the differences in all of your marketing materials. This is especially important in advertising mediums like the yellow pages where you're placed right next to all of your competitors. This will not only increase rentals but will also cut back price shoppers so you can rent space at higher prices and increase your economic occupancy.

5. Create a proactive referral program. Your customers are your biggest asset and should be raving fans of your service and facility. Make it easy for them to give you referrals by structuring a program that gives incentive to the referrer and the referee. Your customers don't remember your phone number or exact address. If you use referral cards, they can easily hand one to a friend in need of some extra space.

6. If you don't have a clean, professional website, get one. Our society is rapidly becoming accustomed to searching for stuff online.

7. If you have a website, make sure it is optimized on all major search engines so when prospects search for storage in your city, you are there. Your fancy website is no good if nobody can find it.

8. Form alliances. There are many local businesses in your area that have credibility with your prospects and see them at least once per week. Businesses like coffee shops, dry cleaners, salons, restaurants, R.V. & boat dealers, apartment complexes, etc. are all willing to help you if you help them in some way. Forming mutual-beneficial alliances with them is one of the least expensive and most effective ways to increase your occupancy.

9. Be consistent. Your prospect's life is changing daily. You never know when something will set them off to look for storage. Your consistent message and presence to the right crowd will make them choose you when the time is right.

I guarantee you this...

If you focus on, and execute these 9 fundamentals, you will have a more profitable and easier year ahead of you. Make sure that the fundamentals are taken care of FIRST, then worry about tricks and techniques that are interesting to you.

Derek M. Naylor is the President of Storage Marketing Solutions (SMS). SMS has created, and proven many turn-key marketing solutions for the self-storage industry. For a complimentary marketing strategy session, call SMS at 800.941.4805 or visit http://www.storagemarketingsolutions.com/resources.html to subscribe to their newsletter.

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