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Storage facilities' owners are running a business that deals with a service that is always in demand. People will always need a place to store their things in. Still, this doesn't mean that there's no need to promote a storage facility. On the contrary, good marketing is very important if you want the customers to choose your services over the services of some other company. Many storage owners focus on their daily routines. They're simply trying to provide the best service they can, hoping that doing so will attract enough customers. Unfortunately, without proper marketing, that is usually not enough.

The importance of SEO

Nowadays, the most important part of any marketing strategy involves the internet. And if you want to learn how to promote a storage facility online, you'll first need to learn the ways of SEO. This acronym stands for "search engine optimization". Basically, you'll need to learn how to optimize your online presence so that it has good visibility on Google.

"Optimizing your website in terms of search engine optimization is essential when it comes to marketing."

In a nutshell, there are two kinds of SEO - on-site and off-site SEO. On-site SEO involves creating content on your website that prominently features a previously identified keyword. This keyword is a phrase that someone would type into Google to find whatever is that they're interested in. So, prior to creating content, think what would your potential customers search for. For example, a good keyword for our article How to prevent mold in a self-storage unit would be "prevent mold in a self-storage".

Off-site SEO involves links leading to your website. Basically, the more so-called backlinks you receive from respected sources, the better your SEO. Backlinks and keywords, however, are only the tip of the iceberg. Luckily, the internet is full of guides and e-books on SEO, so you can easily educate yourself if you put some effort into it. On the other hand, you can also hire a qualified self storage marketing service if you don't want to bother with learning about SEO.

"Both on-site and off-site SEO is important for attracting new customers."

PPC can be very helpful

The next part of your online marketing campaign should involve PPC - pay-per-click ads. Good places to use PPC are Google and Facebook. Through its AdWords program, Google lets you "cheat" by placing your website at the top of its rankings. It promotes your ads, at the cost of you having to pay every time someone clicks on your ad. Fair enough, right?

"Google will place your ads around the internet, and then you'll pay for every click you get."

On the other hand, Facebook could be even more effective, but only if you know your customers well. That is because Facebook lets you choose on what kind of audience it will focus on. Your potential customers' age, interests, gender, location, and so on, are just some of the factors that you'll need to be aware of if you want to use Facebook PPC program in the best possible way.

"Facebook PPC program is great, but you'll need to know how to use it."

Generally speaking, doing proper research before beginning your PPC campaign is very important or it could end up losing you money, instead of making you a profit. If you were a tenant who is renting a self storage unit and you were looking to buy , packing materials that are affordable yet of a high-quality, you'd first do thorough research. The same goes for PPC marketing - it may seem like an affordable way to promote a storage facility, but it won't be so profitable unless you adequately prepare.

Good-old tried and tested methods

On the other hand, old-school advertisement methods can still be used as well. Flyers, for example, can still bring you plenty of customers. Think of a catchy, informative, and elegant design, make a lot of flyers and spend a day or two distributing them across the neighborhoods in the vicinity of your storage facility. Doing so is bound to bring you some new customers.

And while we're talking about old-school methods, billboards can still be a great choice. However, some conditions must first be met. Firstly, you'll have to find a place for a billboard that's in the vicinity of your storage facility. There should be instructions written on the billboard explaining in a simple way how can someone reach your facility, as well as a link to your, hopefully, professionally made self storage website. Secondly, the billboard should be placed in a high-traffic area. Placing it in area that's close to your facility won't mean much if there's hardly any traffic there.

"Flyers and billboards are old fashioned, but they still work."

Get involved in the community and offer referral incentives

Apart from that, there are also other ways you can reach potential customers offline. For example, you can become involved with the community surrounding your self storage facility. Sponsor a cause that is close to your heart or that is respected in the community.

That could be a local football team, or maybe a green non-profit organization, sponsoring healthy, vegetarian or eco-friendly products. More and more people are, for example, buying eco storage bins at companies such as Capital City Bins. Being green is not only good for the planet Earth, but is respected in the community as well. And if you support such causes, you'll get the respect of your neighbors, who'll later think of you when they're in need of a self storage facility

"Becoming more respected in the community is not only nice, but it is also good for business."

Other than that, you can also offer referral incentives. You can, for example, reward a customer that has attracted another customer to your store by offering him or her one month of free storage. Of course, first make sure that your new customer is loyal and serious enough (that customer should be renting for no longer than six months and no less than one month when you decide it's time to reward the person who made the referral).

Referral incentives can be tricky, as you'll need to strike a good balance between offering good rewards and making enough money in the process. If the rewards are too generous, you will promote a storage facility, but you might earn little (or no) money while doing so.

"Referral incentives can be a great marketing tool, but you'll need to be careful about how you use them."

Other useful marketing methods

Some other things to consider include:

  • E-mail marketing. After finding out your potential customers' e-mail addresses (you can ask them for contact information on your website), it's easy to occasionally send them promotional material that way.
  • Include online rentals on your website. People have gotten used to conducting most of their business online. Offering online rentals is a good way to promote a self storage facility, as it will get you many new customers.
  • Focus on the information when you're designing your outdoor signage. People don't really care about the name of your business, so instead of stressing the name, stress that you're providing high-quality self-storage facilities.
  • Set up a storage hotline with an appealing name, such as "Five ways that a storage unit can make your life easier". Record an appropriate message and play it to anyone who calls the hotline. Use a caller-id system to obtain the callers' numbers, which can then be used for further marketing purposes.

6Storage provides marketing services to promote your self storage facility. We have clients from 7+ countries including the USA, Australia, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, Norway etc. If you want to know more about the pricing and services offered, please get in touch with us!

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