Build Your Self-Storage Business with These 3 Local Marketing Tips
Today’s self-storage customers are not so different from the customers of a generation ago. They still want products and services that solve their problems, and they still want outstanding customer service. They like to run basic errands and eat close to home, and they like to develop relationships with the small businesses in their community.
You’re probably thinking, “Yes, but what about internet sales?” Well, internet sales are booming. According to CNBC the total market share of “non-store,” or online U.S. retail sales were higher than general merchandise sales for the first time historically in February of this year.
However, the self-storage industry is in a unique position because people can’t store their belongings online. Just as people still have to leave their homes to fill their gas tanks, go to the car wash, and make emergency runs to grocery stores, they have to leave their homes to go to their storage units. They want all of these facilities to be local because they’re busy, and they don’t want to spend excess much time in the car.
Local self-storage owners and operators need to take advantage of this potential in their local market. Marketing to your locality is about knowing and interacting with your neighbors. It’s not just about the money; it’s about building relationships.
Let’s take a look at the three most important tips to help you build your self-storage business.
Know Your Audience
It’s critical that you understand your demographic. This means understanding your locality and the people who live there. As Daymond John, who built a lifestyle brand (FUBU) from the ground into a $6 billion business states, “OPM isn’t just other people’s money; it’s other people’s mindsets, marketing and their mistakes. You need to do your homework and learn from these things.”
Understanding the behaviors of your neighbors as potential customers will help you to determine the best marketing mix and where to focus your efforts.
Select the Right Market Strategies to Target Your List of Potential Customers
Build your list of potential customers and add to it monthly. Develop this list from local small businesses, local organizations, schools, and large local employers.
Target your audience with online and offline strategies in one complete package. For example, use well-designed, printed marketing materials as well as an email marketing campaign. Keep yourself top of mind and in your customer’s mental maps.
Be Visible
Make your presence known. Increase your visible presence in the community and the prominence of your facility in people’s mental maps. It’s easy to put your name on the back of a t-shirt or a hat, but these are passive efforts that don’t forge long-lasting relationships. Showing a personal interest in your community by building relationships raises your business reputation, making people more likely to want to do business with you and to consider referring their friends and family to you.
Remember, (1) Know Your Audience, (2) Select the Right Marketing Strategies, and (3) Be Visible. If you build relationships, the money will come.
Still have more questions about local marketing? For more information read our community marketing articles Why Implement a Community Marketing Strategy, What Type of Customer Responds Best to Community Marketing, and Kick Off Your Community Marketing Strategy.
