When the self storage industry was in its infancy,
marketing was not a big concern. Since there were very few
facilities in existence, an owner merely needed to provide
a fairly safe and clean environment for the small number of
people looking to store their belongings. Over the years
the number of available units has grown, as well as the
number of people needing storage. Today, there are nearly
50,000 self storage facilities in the U.S. alone.
Therefore, the savvy customers have developed much higher
expectations, making marketing in the self storage industry
a vital tool.
Self storage marketing is the promotion of your self
storage business. Self storage marketing is usually always
centered on the customer. A recent industry study showed
that the reasons people need self storage are that, 44% are
moving, 34% don't have enough space and 15% are people with
business needs. Self storage businesses determine what the
customers needs are, and implements them into their self
storage properties.
A well-known analyst and marketer has divided marketing
into four general sets of activities that are common in any
business. These activities have become universally
recognized as the "Four P's", and are often referred to as
the Marketing Mix.
.Product: The product aspects of self storage marketing
deal with the specifications of the actual features,
benefits or services that the self storage properties
offer, and how it relates to the self storage renter needs
and wants.
.Pricing: This refers to the process of setting a price for
the unit, including discounts.
.Promotion: This includes advertising, sales promotion,
publicity, and personal selling, and refers to the various
methods of promoting the product, brand, or self storage
company.
.Placement or Place: refers to how the property gets
recognized by the customer.
As well as the standard Four P's (Product, Pricing,
Promotion, and Placement), marketing for a service industry
such as self storage calls upon an extra three activities,
totaling seven and known collectively as the Extended
Marketing Mix. These are:
.People: Any person coming into contact with customers can
have an impact on customer service. They must be
appropriately trained in the ways of self storage, well
motivated and the right type of person.
.Process: This is the process involved in providing a
service and the behavior of people, which can be crucial to
customer satisfaction and service.
.Physical evidence: Unlike a product, a service cannot be
experienced before it is delivered, which makes it
intangible. This means that potential self storage
customers could perceive greater risk when deciding whether
to rent. To reduce the feeling of buyers' remorse, and
improving the chance for a rental or reservation, it is
often vital to offer potential customers the chance to see
what a service would be like. (Site visit)
For a self storage marketing plan to be successful, the mix
of the four "P's" must reflect the wants and desires of the
self storage consumers in the target market. Trying to
convince a market segment to rent something they don't want
is extremely expensive and seldom successful. Marketers
depend on marketing research, both formal and informal, to
determine what consumers want and what they are willing to
pay for it. Marketers hope that this process will give them
a sustainable competitive advantage. Marketing management
is the practical application of this process. The offer is
also an important addition to the 4P's theory. As in any
business, the idea of marketing is to promote the business
- both as a whole and on an individual level.
In the past, self storage as a whole has sometimes had a
bad reputation. Oftentimes when people think of the
industry they think of the horror stories that are shown on
the evening news - the meth lab found in a unit, a
soldier's items being auctioned by mistake, the hurricane
damaged storage property, the car used in a homicide being
stored in a space. Unfortunately for the storage industry
the every day good things that occur are just too mundane
to draw attention. This is one reason why positive
marketing on a national level is extremely important. Self
storage organizations, private, statewide and nationwide
have all become very important in the positive marketing
for all self storage owners and managers. Many of the
larger private self storage organizations put on large
conventions to increase the awareness of the self storage
industry. This allows owners and managers to meet, exchange
ideas and learn some new techniques. Positive feedback
nationally will always help locations on the local level.
Most self storage companies today have a customer focus.
This implies that the company focuses its activities and
products on consumer demands. Generally there are three
ways of doing this:
.The customer-driven approach consumer wants are the
drivers of all strategic marketing decisions. Every aspect
of a market offering, including the nature of the product
itself, is driven by the needs of potential consumers. The
starting point is always the consumer
.The sense of identifying market changes—being one
step ahead of the competition will enable you self storage
business to succeed.
.The product innovation approach—using that crystal
ball to be able to take into account customer needs vs.
what will be profitable for your business.
In the field of business, self storage marketing is a broad
term used to describe marketing in the self storage
industry. Don't confuse self storage marketing with self
storage advertising. Self storage advertising is only one
function of self storage marketing. Besides self storage
advertising, there are other functions in self storage
marketing like, sales of self storage, communications,
pricing, market research and more.
The market will bear what research has been done to meet
the customer needs. Figuring out which site should have
climate controlled units, RV parking, drive up or stacked
units will show in your occupancy rate. Being able to
provide the customer and the local market with what will
sell is the goal.
Direct self storage marketing is a function and type of
marketing. Two main definitional characteristics
distinguish direct self storage marketing from other types
of self storage marketing or self storage advertising. The
first is that it attempts to send its messages directly to
self storage consumers without the use of intervening
media. This involves unsolicited commercial communication
with consumers or self storage businesses. The second
characteristic is that it is focused on driving purchases
that can be attributed to a specific "call to action." This
aspect of direct self storage marketing involves an
emphasis on trackable, measurable results regardless of
medium.
"Bulk mail" is the most common form of direct self storage
marketing. Bulk mail is sent at a reduced rate specified by
the post office. Different areas or lists are used to
decide where the mail will be sent. Telemarketing is the
second most common form of direct self storage marketing.
Marketers use random or selected telephone numbers to try
and reach potential self storage customers. The third type
of direct self storage marketing is, email marketing
(including spam). This type of self storage marketing will
soon pass telemarketing as the second most common form.
While annoying, many people are drawn into the spam email
by offering a promise, a discounted item or other "too good
to be true" item. It's very inexpensive and only takes a
few people to fall for it to make a profit.
Prospecting customers through direct marketing and
advertising can prove to be very beneficial to new self
storage companies that might have a new site open. It has
been shown to be highly effective to make yourself known in
an affirmative way to the surrounding area and
neighborhoods. By presenting yourself and your company in a
positive way, the good deed will come back to you in
rentals. You want to make sure that the area that your
property is in knows that you are proud to be a part of the
neighborhood.
Direct self storage marketers use other media such as;
.Package inserts- commonly referred to as "stuffing",
package inserts can be as diverse as cereal boxes to
cigarettes to diapers to instant mashed potatoes. Recipes,
mail away promotional items and offers are some of the
things that might go in a package insert.
.Magazines- glossy ads that catch the readers
eye—There is a magazine out there for any type of
hobby, hairstyle, fitness, glamour, gossip, travel, sports,
boats, cars, families, babies, women, men, weddings, teen
life, gay life, muscles, cooking, lifestyles, storage,
consumer goods, decorating, seasons, clothing, shoes,
lingerie, non profit organizations, gentleman's, dogs,
cats, pets and more.
.Door hangers- relatively inexpensive and used to target
specific areas of your town or city. Whether you have a
large student, elderly, retired, middle class, young
families, etc. the inserts can be tuned to fit the type of
market you are trying to reach. A door hanger can be one
piece of paper or many sheets put into a plastic bag hung
on the door.
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Self Storage Marketing
http://directory.selfstorageowner.com/articles/article-9.htm
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