Balancing marketing activities alongside your day-to-day operations can be daunting. However, with over 5,435 facilities across Europe, the self storage market is increasingly competitive. Whether you operate internal or external units, have one location or many, an effective marketing strategy must be implemented for long-term success.
In this blog, we explore the importance of marketing in self storage, outline its key areas and point you in the right direction for further assistance.
The Importance of Marketing in Self Storage
Why dedicate time, energy and financial resources to marketing? Why not stick to delivering safe, secure and reliable storage? Focusing on operational excellence is undoubtedly critical. However, this approach alone is unlikely to attract sufficient demand and create a lasting distinction within the industry – especially as a small operator or new entrant.
The Janus team have created these five fundamental steps to focus on, and help stand out in this competitive landscape:
1) Research
In its most basic form, marketing is about knowing your target markets, learning what they value most and building long-term profitable relationships with them.
Surveys, interviews and additional materials such as association reports are all extremely useful insights that you can utilise to achieve this.
2) Branding and Positioning
Developing a brand that is consistent with your target markets, aligns with your overall business goals and is positioned in an appropriate area of the self storage market is vital. Establishing assets such as a relevant logo and well-crafted tagline is crucial for successful brand-building.
3) Online Marketing
With the FEDESSA 2023 Annual Industry Report highlighting that 64% of customers originate from websites or digital advertising, online marketing has never been so important. It is now one of the best ways to accomplish a wide-reaching brand reputation and for generating inquiries.
The website experience, visibility of your social media presence and email campaigns are only a few factors to consider.
4) Offline Marketing
Traditional methods, however, should not be overlooked. Recent research by the Self Storage Association UK indicates that over 26% of self storage customers still use exclusively offline means when deciding whom to do business with, making an effective physical presence equally important.
Direct mail campaigns, advertising in local publications, customer referral schemes and word-of-mouth communication are just some aspects to think about when aiming to connect with local customers.
5) Analytics and Reporting
To nurture successful customer relationships, responsiveness to changing demands is fundamental. This makes the continuous monitoring and reporting of marketing activities extremely salient.
Simply put, the more data you have on past performance, the better you can know your customers, satisfy their needs and ensure they feel valued – what every happy relationship is built on!
Want to Learn More?
Get the in-depth version of everything discussed in this blog, and much more, in our latest eBook, titled: ‘How to Market your Self Storage Business’.
