You really love your storage business’s branding.
You SHOULD really love your branding. It should bring you a sense of pride. Otherwise, why are you using it?
Because you love it, you want to make your logo the centerpiece of your self storage facility’s website and marketing. Put it right up top and as large as possible to show it off! You want to drown your site in your main brand colors. Right?
Wrong.
Branding is important, but MORE branding doesn’t make your business more attractive. Your brand might be awesome, but I want to talk about what its value is and where to really make use of it. It may not be what and where you think.
Let’s talk about branding for self storage websites!
Let’s just rip the bandage off with this one.
The short answer: Not very important. Read on for the long answer.
Ultimately, from a customer’s perspective, it doesn’t matter what brand a self storage facility has. It’s not what motivates customers to rent.
Self storage isn't the same as, say, the automotive industry. Customers usually don’t develop brand loyalty in storage. They aren’t going to be convinced to rent when they don’t need a unit, and they aren’t going to collect storage units.
Even if customers recognize a brand, it doesn’t mean they’re more likely to rent from it.
And if it does, it's usually because they recognize it as a national chain and associate it with trustworthiness as a result. This means that the vast majority of storage facilities don’t really benefit much from brand recognition.
According to the Self Storage Association’s 2023 Demand Study, branding is among the least important factors for customers.
Here are some data points from the study:
These generations likely make up the vast majority of your customers.
It’s worth repeating that those data points are about the LEAST important factors. Make no mistake, this paints the picture that customers do not care about branding when making the decision to rent.
On the list of important factors, this one is right down near the bottom.
So, when DOES branding matter?
Just because your customers don’t (usually) care about branding doesn’t mean you shouldn’t care.
Here are four times your branding can make a real difference:
Perhaps the most important way branding makes a difference is in finding (and satisfying) investors. If you plan to find investors to help you expand your facility or even acquire (or build) other storage facilities, those investors will probably want you to have a good-looking brand.
Just because customers don’t make their decisions based on branding doesn’t mean you want poor branding that looks like every other facility.
Setting yourself apart allows any other marketing you do to solely benefit your business. If customers confuse you for another facility, then any marketing dollars you spend might end up sending them to that facility.
If you’re in an area with strong local mascots, sporting teams, colleges, or other similar entities, you may get some mileage out of using that in your branding.
For example, if you’re in Knoxville, “Big Orange Self Storage” or “Volunteer Storage” might make sense.
This doesn’t mean you should make it the most important part of your website. But if a local customer is on the fence about two options, you may just sway them based on your branding’s ties to the community!
Additionally, if you plan to support local charities, organizations, and sports teams, it’s a good idea to have strong branding to represent you where they display their sponsors and partners.
Finally, a national operator might see some benefit to a strong brand identity. Keep in mind that even for large players, your brand isn’t usually going to convince someone to rent. Other factors far outweigh branding, so you should never make choices that impact SEO, conversions, or other important aspects of your business in favor of pushing your brand.
Now, it’s time we talk about how to use your brand on your facility’s website.
Specifically, I want to talk about logo placement, brand messaging, colors, and taglines that you use on your website.
This is the really big one. And by that, I mean many people want a really big one.
Let’s talk a bit more about logos. They are definitely the part that gets the most attention from self storage owners when it comes to branding.
Here are some pointers on how to use your self storage logo on your website:
Don’t take up too much real estate
Your logo shouldn’t occupy a large part of the page. This is especially important on the home page and any pages associated with renting a unit. It’s more acceptable on an About Us page (although there are better images to use there, too).
For the best results, make your logo small. Large enough to recognize, small enough to not be in the way.
Large logos aren’t important to customers; they appear gaudy and often create a worse customer experience.
Showcase your logo in photos
If you want your logo in more places or to be a bit larger because you’re proud of it, there’s actually a way to do that: In photography.
Instead of having that massive logo right up at the top of the page taking up important space, take a photo of your facility that includes the logo in a prime location. Or, if you have your logo on the side of a moving truck or van, take a photo of the vehicle with the logo as a centerpiece in the photo!
This method accomplishes two things at once: Showing off the logo you’re proud of and also showcasing your storage facility in photos.
Here are some examples of logo use
All of these are massive national brands that customers recognize. But notice how they aren’t trying to stick their logo large, front, and center on the website? Also, notice how they lean on the white for the bulk of the page rather than their brand colors.
With the images small like this, you can see what these companies really want to showcase to customers. "Hop to it." "SAVE ONLINE." "Easy Online Rental."
Not their logos.
There are some other ways to use your storage facility’s branding, too.
Note: If you’re going to use other visual marketing materials that might include your logo (or even marketing that incorporates your brand messaging and taglines), it’s important to keep your branding consistent.
Here are some examples of where your self storage branding can be utilized:
None of this means your branding is bad or that it has zero use!
What I AM telling you is that you should make your storage website focus on customers and their wants and needs. It just so happens that branding isn’t one of those two things.
Your website should connect to customers and showcase that you’re reliable, trustworthy, and can solve their storage problems.
Here are some of my other favorite posts to check out!
At StoragePug, we build self storage websites that make it easy for new customers to find you and easy for them to rent from you.
