Over the years, the industry for storage units has been experiencing steady growth in the US. Storage unit businesses rent storage space to their tenants, including individual customers and businesses alike. The need for storage units is expansive for many reasons- often summarized as the 4Ds of life by industry experts. The 4Ds of life refer to the group of life-changing events that may require one to move places: namely, downsizing, dislocation, divorce, and death.
Experiencing any 4D event makes one likely to need relocation for another place, and this is where storage units prove to be helpful and convenient. They offer you a space on rent where you can preserve all your belongings while you look for a permanent place to move them.
As the demand for storage unit facilities continues to grow, so does the competition in the industry. And with the market reaching saturation, businesses may need to adopt effective marketing strategies to remain competitive and attract more customers than their competitors. Following are our best marketing tips to help your storage business establish a long-term place in the market.
- Create a user-friendly website
In this internet-driven world, an online presence through an official website is one of the most basic requirements to remain competitive in the industry. However, having a website alone does not ensure the retention or attraction of your customers. Your website needs to be user-friendly to attract customers to your business.
To make your website user-friendly, consider adding only necessary pages to make navigation easy. Too many unnecessary pages can clutter your website and make it difficult for users to access the desired content. Furthermore, when including content on your website, be sure to add all the information you need your customers to know. For instance, when you open new storage units, add a special announcement tab on your website and include all the details regarding their location, storefront, and images of the interior. A well-made website could be a helpful tool to ensure the success of your current and future stores.
- Use SEO strategies
SEO can help rank your website higher on SERPs. Many business owners or managers do not use SEO strategies, for it requires some time to learn how to use and implement them effectively. However, you do not need to indulge in SEO research yourself to use it as a marketing strategy. You can always consider hiring SEO companies to create SEO-aligned content for you.
SEO includes two broad categories: on-Site SEO and off-Site SEO. To expand further, on-Site SEO involves using keywords that your target audience searches for by incorporating them on your website. Doing so helps your website appear higher on their search results. On the other hand, off-Site SEO involves spreading links to other websites on yours to help improve your Google algorithm.
- Remarketing
Remarketing involves advertising to customers who have previously visited your website or other websites like yours. Remarketing targets people across the web, delivering ads on their social media platforms according to their previously shown interests.
You can find the remarketing feature on Facebook and Google Ads. The remarketing feature will allow you to attract potential customers for your storage business and help your previous customers remember you. It will also help create awareness for your business and reinforce your brand image.
Many social media users come across remarketing adverts and save them for later need. Therefore, even if remarketing does not lead to immediate customers for your storage facility, it will still aid your branding and referrals.
- Distribute flyers
Use the traditional approach and distribute printed flyers of your storage business throughout the neighborhood. Even though marketing through the internet should be your primary marketing tool, not everyone knows how to use the internet efficiently. Hence, consider using the conventional method of distributing flyers to reach out to the people in your local area.
Printing and distributing flyers is a cost-effective marketing strategy that may help create awareness of your storage unit business in your neighborhood. Your business’ flyer must be creative and informative and include all the necessary details such as your prices, deals, address, phone number, etc.
- Sponsor events
You can market effectively for your business by collaborating with other companies and sponsoring at special events. If you are tight on budget, offer in-kind sponsorship by providing services such as free storage space to businesses in exchange for your business promotion throughout the event. Collaborations and sponsorships like these will create awareness for your storage unit business amongst the event attendees and help your branding.
However, you will have to think strategically about the kind of event you choose to sponsor. The marketing for your business can only be effective if the event has your target audience as its potential attendees.
- Provide incentives for referrals
Word-of-mouth is one of the most effective marketing tools. Many of your trusting and satisfied customers may have already referred your business to someone at some point. However, a push in the form of incentives could also be effective.
Offer your customers an incentive for successful word-of-mouth marketing. If your customer can get you another customer, provide them with storage space for half the price for the next time they require your services. You can be creative with the incentives you offer. The more creative and enticing your deals are, the more your existing customers will be willing to refer your business to others.
However, maximizing customer satisfaction is the only way referral incentives can work. Your customers will be inclined to promote your services only if they are loyal to your brand.
Conclusion
While you may have been aware of the marketing strategies we have listed, implementing them is not exactly easy. Many marketing experts can help you review and implement our suggested tips. Considering them may help your storage unit business to remain competitive in the industry and increase your revenues and profits. Our suggestions will allow you to get on the right track for marketing your business, and you can choose to capitalize on what works best for you.
