If you’re just here for some new marketing ideas for storage facilities, here they are! Click the ones that sound interesting and we’ll take you right to them.
Self storage marketing doesn't work like marketing in other industries. We can't make people hungry for our product. We can't create demand by making our product look cool. Most people don't know anything about our industry at all!
That means you can't just read generic marketing advice and hope it works for your self storage business.
Social media won't make your climate-controlled 10x10 go viral. Billboards by the interstate won't convince road-trippers to stop by. TV ads won't make your money back.
In this self storage marketing guide, we'll show you how to find your target audience and how to convince them to rent!
Why? Your GBP is the single biggest source of online rentals for self storage businesses!
97% of people use a search engine to find local businesses. Without a GBP, Google may not show your business as an option even if the searcher is standing across the street.
Even better, fixing up your GBP is super easy to do - and it's free!
When you’re making your profile, be as thorough as you can! Fill out all your hours, contact information, products, categories, etc. While you can always go back and edit it, it’s better to get it right the first time so Google has time to rank your business appropriately.
Google will show your business profile as a result when you’re one of the matching businesses closest to the searcher, but there are a lot of other factors that go into the ranking beyond proximity - we’ll cover several of them below.
Ranking well organically is great, but if you’re showing up in the Local Pack in a local search, that’s the best spot to be in. The Local Pack gets twice the clicks of the top organic search spot and more than three times the clicks of paid ads! Clicks are almost the same between Local Pack #1, #2, and #3, so it’s better to focus on conversion than ranking higher if you’re showing up here.
Check out our GBP resources for a deeper dive on mastering this vital marketing tool:
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Half your tenants (or more) are coming from online sources. You can't turn them into renters without a website with online rentals.
After all, even if your GBP shows up in the #1 spot, it can't rent storage units directly. If you're expecting people to call, you're adding a barrier between lead and tenant – one that will lose you revenue.
A website is also a fantastic marketing tool. You can curate every aspect of your website, so your users get the exact experience you want them to.
Your website highlights your best features, answers your tenants' questions, and gives them plenty of reasons to choose your business rather than the competition.
A good website can help you understand customer behavior, so you can adapt your business to give your tenants what they’re looking for. You can track your search performance, website visitors, what pages they visit, conversions, and even where a potential customer fell out of the conversion funnel!
A good self storage website needs to do three things:
1. Build trust – Ever looked at a restaurant and thought no thanks, I don't want food poisoning? That's what we're trying to avoid here. Your website sets the first impression. Choose good photos, make sure everything is clean and straightened, and showcase your security features (like bright lighting at night).
2. Educate visitors – Leads have questions. How much will this cost? Do you have climate control? Where are you located? How can I get in touch? Your website needs to answer these questions. Leads might call to ask if you don't, or they might not. Once you get them on your website, you shouldn't be leaving it up to chance.
3. Convert leads into renters – Once your website has completed steps 1 and 2, all that's left is to close the deal. The best way to convert leads into renters is to make it easy. The rent button must be clear, the units should be obvious, and your rental flow needs to be as short as possible. The longer it takes to rent, the more folks you'll lose.
Learn more about self storage websites here:
Your customers care about reviews. If you don’t have good reviews, new leads will go somewhere else.
Your online review rating is basically your business's online score.
If you're not working to increase your score, your competitors will pass you and eventually beat you.
Everyone checks reviews. Over 90% of shoppers say they are influenced by positive reviews - as in, they read a positive review and decide to make a purchase.
Google takes these reviews as evidence that your business would be a good answer to new searches! Reviews are the most powerful ranking signal for local search, so you can’t skip this step.
Of course, potential customers also see good reviews as a reason to do business with you, but even negative reviews can be helpful. Research shows that customers trust businesses rated 4-4.7 stars more than they trust businesses with exclusively 5-star reviews.
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Getting and responding to reviews:
Respond to every review! This shows you’re engaged and paying attention. Something as simple as a "Thank you for choosing [X]!" is often enough - but we’ve also got free Review Response Templates that you can customize and use too!
Check out all our review resources here:
Why? Most renters only interact with one or two facilities. They don't shop around much, and they're not going to come back if you turn them off. This means you only get one chance!
Most self storage customers aren't shopping for a luxury product. They have a problem and they want someone to solve it. They don't know much about smart locks, humidity control, or coded gates.
But they do know whether a facility looks clean or not.
Think about stopping at a new restaurant. If it looks like they don't clean the floors, are you going to trust them to keep the kitchen clean?
Your customers are making that same check, but for your facility and your website.
They will take in everything on your website in a couple of seconds and decide whether they're willing to do business with you.
So, when they land on your site or drive by your facility, what do they see? The photos and videos you have on your website have a huge influence on conversion, but not as much as what your facility actually looks like!
Jane Sauls goes over everything you need to know about curb appeal in this video:
Any facility a renter drives by on their daily commute is going to be incredibly convenient, and this is why so many people choose that option. However, if you drive by a storage facility that looks dirty and unsafe… you’ll keep driving.
Here are a few ways to ensure your facility looks like a good choice:
Having a great location is one of the best marketing traits your business can have - it’s just hard to fix if you don’t!
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Then for digital traffic, use your photos to highlight the best parts of your facility. Most modern smartphones have a camera suitable for the challenge. Take pictures of:
If you can swing it, get a drone flyover video of your facility. This shows off your facility AND makes your business look modern.
Remember the question you're trying to answer:
Does your facility look like a good place for their stuff? That doesn't mean "fancy," but it does mean "clean and well-kept." Once you've got your facility in shape, you've got to show it off.
Learn how to make a good first impression with these:
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Why? Renters are trying to solve their problem as quickly and easily as they can. Storage is not a fun purchase. People want to get in, get out, and get on with their lives.
First off, if you have a website, you must have online rentals. Anyone searching for a storage unit online wants to rent a storage unit online.
Make that online rental as easy as possible. That means:
You may want to get ID from new tenants or have them sign up for insurance, and that's all fine; BUT, you should let them rent first. Then get them to sign everything, make a copy of their drivers license, etc., in the office.
If you don't get all the info you want, you can always refund the rental!
Once the lead has paid for the unit, they're much more likely to put up with the hassle of giving you their ID, bringing proof of insurance, and all of the stuff you need.
Every additional step in the checkout process will lose renters. Imagine your potential customer sitting on the couch after work, watching TV and trying to rent a unit. They find you, they like you, they choose you - then you force them to go get their drivers license, take a photo of it, and upload it.
They wanted this chore done with in 30 seconds, and you just made it take four times as long. Two minutes is still fast! But they're not in the mood to fill out paperwork or jump through hurdles.
When they're in the office to sign the lease, they're ready to do that sort of thing. They'll already have their license in their pocket and any insurance proof they want to share.
Do it when they're ready - not when they're tired after work and trying to get the unit rented.
Read more about online rentals here:
40% of your customers find you by driving past. Most of the rest find you online!
SEO (search engine optimization) is shorthand for the tactics used to show up higher in search engine results. If someone searches "storage units near me," do you show up?
Local SEO is your best digital source of renters. We see operators getting 3x more renters from their GBP than from organic search, but your organic positioning still matters. All of these signals feed into each other, so good overall SEO is vital.
What does good SEO look like?
Google tracks what users do on your website. If your website makes searchers happy, you'll rank higher! That means your visitors can find what they need, they like what they see, and they don't go back to Google to look again.
There is no SEO wizardry that can outmuscle "Users like this site." Focus on that first, and as long as your site works, you'll see improvements.
Of course, there's a lot more to it than that, but without those, your website doesn't have a chance. Read more about self storage SEO here:
Pay-per-click ads are almost always cheaper than SpareFoot. They’re a good option for most facilities, especially if you're leasing up.
Running a Google Ad campaign is an active marketing campaign because you have to pay a certain amount every month for it to work.
Google Ads are those sponsored links you see at the top of a Google search. They show up even before the Local Pack and can get you in front of customers even if you don’t rank there naturally.
You will have to pay Google a certain amount of money for every click your ad gets. This amount varies depending on the search term and how much competition there is in the market.
These can get pretty expensive if you’re faced with a lot of competition from the REITs or other big competitors. The more people bidding on certain keywords, the more each click will cost.
Before you run a Google Ad campaign, be sure your website can convert the clicks at a good rate, because you pay the click fee whether they rent or not.
You also need to know how much each rental is worth to you, on average. The goal of Google Ads is to generate extra demand - if you’re already getting plenty of clicks, don’t waste your money.
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Be sure your ads target only the area around your facility. The vast majority of your renters will come from within 20 minutes of your business.
Google Ads are a great way to create demand for your business out of nothing but money. They’re fast and effective, provided you have a strong website to send people to.
If you pay for people to see your site but your site isn’t converting them into renters, you’re just flushing money away.
Read more about running PPC ads for self storage here:
A quality referral program costs less per tenant than ads or aggregators.
Self storage referral programs are a fantastic way to encourage your customers to advocate for you, and it’s relatively cheap compared to other marketing efforts because you only pay when you get a rental!
Referral programs might be the most efficient way to spend your marketing dollars.
Your referral bonus needs to be big enough that people will care. We've talked to operators who offer $100 per referral! That number gets people motivated, and is still cheaper than any other marketing channel.
Some operators offer discounts for the person being referred as well, so both parties feel like they’ve gotten a good deal (and it gives your referrer some ammunition when they make the pitch!).
Here’s how to implement a successful referral program:
Referrals can bring you a lot of business, and while the price tag may seem high, it’s almost always cheaper per rental than other marketing channels.
Pug Pro Tip - Keep in touch with previous customers! You may need help later on. You can ask your favorite customers for advice on your pricing or services, or you can ask them to leave a good review to help bury a nasty one.
If your customers happen to have local businesses, you can set up a business card swap and get them in on the referral program, too.
Read more about referral programs here:
AI is still relatively new in self storage (and everywhere else), but there are a few ways that tech-savvy operators can take advantage of it.
Freely available AI models can provide analysis, generate copy and content, and research competitors.
Chatbots, security AI, and rate optimization functions all require more specific tools, but they could be worth the money if your business can take advantage of them!
AI isn't necessary to run a storage business (yet). Small, independent businesses don't need a whole lot of marketing copy or help responding to a ton of emails.
AI is great for saving time. You or your manager can lean on AI to write professional emails, respond to Google reviews, and even write copy for your website or GBP.
You'll need to practice with prompting the AI to get a response that you like. If you're not sure where to start, check out our Self Storage AI Prompts!
AI recommendations, especially from the freely available models like ChatGPT and Gemini, are not going to be as good as a professional human. If you paid someone to build you a good website and take care of your SEO, AI recommendations aren't going to be very helpful.
Check out our Comprehensive Guide to Self Storage AI here!
Other Self Storage Marketing IdeasYes, but don't pour too much time or effort into it. Self storage social media, especially Facebook, is a good way to keep in touch with your tenants and promote your community marketing efforts. Just don't waste time trying to go viral. Your audience comes from the 20-minute radius around your facility. Focus there.
Yes, if you're in a small, close-knit community and you think it'll help. No, if you're in a big city or not connected to a community. Basically, if you want to sponsor your neighbors' kids' sports team, that can help build your brand in the community, but it's not the most cost-effective way of bringing in renters.
Yes, you should have some incentive to get hesitant leads to commit to renting. That being said, you can't race the REITs to the bottom on price. Put your value forward, then offer a discount to get renters over the line.
Yes! This is a relatively easy way to increase your brand recognition. If that sports team you sponsor needs to do a car wash, or someone wants to host a Toys for Tots drive, lend them your facility. Learn more about community marketing here.
Yes, if you need to increase awareness. Flyers and mailers are great for targeting the exact people who might rent from you. Just be careful not to overdo it. Target the areas within 10 minutes of your facility. Most people aren't going to drive further than that.
No. Buying backlinks could give you a short boost, but it's against Google's guidelines and could end up with your site being de-indexed (removed from Google). You can and should have profiles on every relevant listing site, such as Yelp, Facebook, Bing, Apple Maps, etc.
Only if you're not prominent from the road. Billboards cost too much to be worthwhile for most storage operators. But if people don't know where you are, a billboard can help.
No. With TV and radio, you're paying to reach people who don't need storage. PPC ads are much more efficient, because they only show up to people who are already looking for a storage unit.
Self storage marketing is an effort to get more people to rent self storage units from your business. Self storage marketing involves both:
Yes, self storage is a growing industry. According to the SSA demand study, the storage industry did very well during the pandemic and large investors have been pouring money into storage. The growth has slowed since 2022, but the industry is still growing.
Leasing up a new facility is hard! You don’t have the same goodwill (and good reviews) that an older facility has. You can’t rely on word of mouth or referral programs because you need customers for that - and to top it off, you’ve got to get renters fast enough to meet your proposed timeline.
Of course, you should start with The Basics. You need a good website, a good GBP, and a good facility, or marketing won’t be able to help.
For self storage facilities currently leasing up, we recommend a Google ad campaign, with as big a budget as you can afford. You can also start with a high-value referral program. Try $50 at first, but if you’re not getting any traction after a month or two, up it to $100.
Reach out to other businesses to get your referral program going. Community relationships can help you get your foot in the door in your new area. Once you’ve got a few customers, make sure you’re treating them as well as you can. Be the best storage facility in the city, and encourage your clients to tell their friends.
Self storage is a need-based industry. That means we can’t really go out and create demand for our products the way a fast food restaurant or a car company might be able to. Instead of creating demand, we need to capture the demand we have.
Our friends at Universal Storage Group shared their data for how customers find them:
This is across more than a hundred stores, and matches up well with the data we’ve gotten from the 2023 SSA Demand Study too.
If you don’t have a self storage referral program, your numbers will of course look different.
The vast majority of your customers will find you by driving past or by seeing you online. Other avenues, like social media, billboards, flyers, etc., account for less than 3% of total rentals for USG stores.
In the Demand Study, Internet, Driving By, and Word of Mouth dominated as well, with all other categories totalling less than 10% of rentals. This article will be focusing on those three routes, because they’re the ones your customers are using.
One of the best ways to look at what’s working in self storage marketing is to pay attention to what the big players do.
They’ve got massive amounts of data and huge teams to analyze it all. They know what shoppers are looking for and where they’re looking.
We’ve put together an analysis of self storage REIT marketing data if you want to learn more about it!
Small operators don’t have the resources that the REITs do, but you can follow them to see what they think is working.
We recommend smaller operators try to find renters where the REITs aren’t. Referral programs are one great way to do this! Local business outreach helps too.
You’re not going to outmuscle the REITs - they’ve just got too much money and manpower. But you can outmaneuver them.
The first step in marketing your storage facility is making sure that people can find you. It’s hard to convince people who don’t think they need a storage unit to rent one. Our industry isn’t sexy or cool - there’s no status involved in renting a big, fancy storage unit.
Instead, we solve a problem people have. Someone inherits furniture they’ve got no room for, buys a kayak that doesn’t fit in their garage, or watches an organization show on Netflix and needs space for a whole bunch of important clutter.
This guide is going to go over the ways people find your facility and what you can do to convince them to rent with you. We’ll go over the steps for both new facilities and established businesses.
Whether you’re looking to get a new facility off the ground in time to meet your goals or you’re trying to take your existing business to new heights, we’ve got you covered. Even if your goal is to simply survive this dip in demand, you’ll find the tools you need here.
Before you start using any of the advice on this page, though, you need to know how your customers look for you and what makes them decide to rent.
If you’re only going to do one thing for your self storage marketing, make sure you have a terrific Google Business Profile. Make sure everything on it is accurate, that you have a ton of good photos, and that you have a lot of good reviews.
Most of your online discovery traffic is going to come from your GBP, and if you have a really strong GBP you can plaster over a whole lot of other problems.
No! At least, not unless you just think it’s a ton of fun and you’ve got a relative that needs a job. Social media has some value for self storage, but it’s small compared to the other items on this list. Social media should be at the bottom of your priorities list.
Customers prioritize convenience and security over anything else. 24/7 access is at the top of the list, but pest control, a security gate, and climate control are just behind. Customers also prioritize online features like automatic bill pay and online rentals.
Remember that your customers are looking for a solution to a problem more than anything else. The easier you can make that solution, the better.
Check out our Top 9 Self Storage Amenities for more info on this topic!
The best way to get reviews is to ask for them. Make sure you or your manager ask for a review after every successful customer interaction.
Incentivize your manager to get reviews! Some operators will give bonuses to managers who get enough good reviews over a certain time period. However you do it, be sure you’re getting new reviews regularly. Google wants to see good reviews, lots of reviews, and recent reviews.
Google and potential customers prefer it if you respond to every review. For good reviews, this is easy - thank the customer for leaving a review, add a personal touch, and hit send. Keep those quick, casual, and pleasant.
Negative reviews are harder, but it’s important to put your voice out there with the unhappy customer’s voice. Don’t try to refute the negative review, unless it’s to say “We have no record of you ever being a customer.” (And only say that if it’s true). Try to take the conversation offline, and offer recompense if your team really did screw up.
Check out our Review Response Templates if you want some premade responses to throw out!
StoragePug is a modern marketing company for self storage. We create intelligent marketing websites that allow you to rent units & take payments through your facility's website.
