Marketing Tips on How to Acquire Customers for Your Self Storage Business

Nowadays, the need for self-storage increases by the minute. Why is that? Well, for one, people tend to buy more and more commodities and, logically, they need more spacious places to store them. And sometimes the family garage/attic/basement turns out to be not as large as you wish it were.

That is when self storage proves to be the best solution for one’s storing needs.

Luckily, people have realized that, and have been renting more and more storage units throughout the past years. This, of course, is no exception to the economic model of “supply and demand”. The bigger the need for self storage units, the more facilities there are. This all leads to competitive pricing, which, respectively, brings more customers.

This is a simple explanation why getting into self storage should be a profitable business.

However, one should not forget that in order to succeed in business, one needs to learn how to master the marketing of it. No business can flourish without the help and many methods of marketing. And if your self storage business is on a local level, you need to get informed on how to target the proper audience in order to attract more potential customers.

Local marketing

Before embarking on a “hunt” for customers, to oil and set your “storage machinery” in motion, you need to gear up in terms of local marketing – mostly research, and thinking of effective advertising methods. First of all, what you are trying to do is to build a brand, increase sales and create a consistent customer base.

In order to do this, you need to know who actually uses the services of a self storage facility. These are mainly the people going through an important event in their lives:

• A move: the tenant is selling his/her home or has just moved into town.

• Apartment or campus living: due to limited space in an apartment or student accommodation, occupants often need extra room.

• Divorce or inheritance: people going through one of these events need to store extra belongings while they sort out where to put them.

• Military service: military personnel often need a safe place to store belongings while they’re abroad.

Marketing can feed into one of the three classic ways to expand any business, including self storage:

1. Acquire new customers (increase occupancy)
2. Increase the value of each customer
3. Lower operating expenses

Addressing needs and appealing to demand

In order to acquire more customers, you need to know what your potential customers need and want. What are their motives for renting a storage unit? After all, they are the ones paying your salary, in a way, so getting into their heads is crucial. And the best method to find that out is actually the simplest – by asking them.

Conduct many surveys using a variety of methods – direct mail, over the phone, face to face etc. This will help you build a winning strategy on how to smoothly operate your business and establish a firm and loyal customer base.

Once you have a deeper insight into what people want, undertake the next simple, yet winning, step: make them an offer they can’t refuse. In order to do so, make sure you are well familiar with what the competition offers. This way your offer will not only definitely meet your potential customers’ requirements, but it will also be the best one around.

Advertising to your core market

Once you are well-informed about what people want and you are ready and willing to give it to them, it is time to deliver the powerful message you have created.  And the way to do it is through advertising mediums.

As most the facilities’ owners know, spending on something other than direct mail, Internet, yellow pages or local press is a total waste of money. If you own a storage facility that operates on a local level, rather than a big corporation with units all over the country, it’s pointless to advertise on TV or radio to people who live miles away from the actual facility. People need convenience. They want their self storage to be close to their homes or workplace. It is as simple as that.

It makes no sense to advertise to people who wouldn’t accept the offer even if they want to. Focus on the 30-60 thousand households which are closest to your facility. Even if one to five per cent of them become your customers, the facility will be fully occupied. And before you condemn the direct mail method, you should know that it is still considered to be the most efficient and effective way to advertise by the Direct Marketing Association. It is true that most people will dispose of the mail right away, but remember that you only need the response of one to five per cent, and you will get the ball rolling.

In conclusion, don’t forget that it is relatively easy to run a successful business. What’s hard is finding the right method of doing it.

For more details: handymoves.co.uk, a West London-based house removal and office moving company, with comprehensive links to self storage services.

 

One Response to “Marketing Tips on How to Acquire Customers for Your Self Storage Business”

1. Ender Berett says:

   October 10, 2012 at 11:48 pm

   Marketing is important in anything from storage in collingwood to lawyers in Bangkok! It is essential for a good business, and many people will benefit from these tips, not just self storage owners! Great work!