The 3 P's of Self Storage Marketing | Self Storage Virtual Workshop

White Label Storage & StoragePug | The 3 P's of Self Storage Marketing

There are 5 P's of marketing, but three stand out in self storage: price, promotion, and place. Most customers make their purchasing decision based on 1 or more of these factors. To stay competitive, you must excel in at least one of these areas - and ideally dominate in all three!

In this session, White Label Storage and StoragePug shared how to achieve success into the 3 most important factors influencing customer decisions. These elements form the foundation of a successful marketing strategy. We discussed practical ways to use these factors to earn customer trust, attract new tenants, and drive sustainable growth.

Featured Speakers: Peter Smyth & Alex Keller

Category: Marketing & Operations
Focus: Owners & Operators
Aired: April 30, 2025
Duration: 1:14:07

Overview

If you don't have time to watch the whole session, here are some of our favorite parts:

At 3:50, our experts discussed how to create a fair pricing structure that customers respect.
10:00, Peter & Alex talked about how to communicate the benefits of your premium product if you don't have the cheapest rates in town.
Starting at 13:55, they discussed how often you should be checking your competitors' rates.
At 22:40, our pros highlighted how transparent you should be with your pricing strategy, especially when competing against REITs.
29:40, our experts shared whether or not you should call out the rate practices of other operators.
Around 31:40, the speakers discussed how you can use your pricing to build trust with customers.
At 39:00, Peter & Alex covered whether or not promotions attract long-term customers.
46:00, the experts touched on when and when not to use discounts.
At 48:40, our experts discussed how to promote your price discounts.
50:50, Peter & Alex talked about promotions you can offer that aren't price discounts.
Starting at 54:00, they discussed grassroots promotions that can bring in more leads.
At 57:30, our speakers highlighted how geographical area affects your target market.
1:03:30, Peter & Alex shared the different strategies you should use to be successful in primary, secondary, and tertiary markets.
Starting at 1:08:50, they discussed how to deal with increased competition.

Questions Answered in this Session

How do you create a fair pricing structure that customers respect?
If you aren't the cheapest option in town, how do you communicate the benefits of a more premium product?
How often should you check competitors' prices?
How transparent should you be about your pricing strategy when competing with a REIT?
Can you call out the rate practices other operators use? Should you?
How can pricing build trust with your customers?
When should you use discounts? And when should you not use them?
How do you promote these price discounts?
What other promotions can you offer that aren't rate discounts?
What grassroots promotions can leverage results in your local market?
How does geographical area affect your target market?
What are strategies needed to be successful in primary, secondary, and tertiary markets? Is there a difference?
How do you deal with increased competition?

Peter Smyth

White Label Storage

Website: https://www.whitelabelstorage.com/
Email: peter@whitelabelstorage.com

Alex Keller

StoragePug

Website: https://www.storagepug.com/
Email: alex@storagepug.com

Resources from this session

Awesome Quotes

“Once your operation is in place, you can become more dynamic with your pricing, but that requires data. You need some method of being able to record the data that you need to know whether your price is in the right place - whether you need to move it up or start giving some concessions.” - Warren Lieberman

“I never want to downplay to what someone else is doing. I'm better than they are, then I'm going to be worth a higher price. That's what value is. If you go out to a restaurant and get really good service, would you go back? Yes! What if it was pricier? You'd still go back because you got better service and a better product.” - Jim Mooney

"It's good to be informed on your competition. I don't want to ignore them, but I don't want to respond too strongly to them either." - Warren Lieberman

"We did a survey of 10,000 facilities on their pricing. We found out that two-thirds of those operators didn't change the price of a single unit of the course of a month." - Warren Lieberman

“Rate increases and value pricing are the number one ways to grow your revenue.” - Jim Mooney

"Tenants in more convenient units tend to be less price sensitive." - Warren Lieberman

"The size of the unit is only one aspect of what people are willing to pay for." - Warren Lieberman

Highlights

Foundational marketing strategies to have in place - whether leasing up or stabilized:

Website
Set up listings (Yelp, Google My Business, Apple Maps)
Social Media
Establish Local Partnerships

Lease up marketing strategies:

Lead Generating Strategies (like digital ads)
Aggregators (Sparefoot, Storagefront, etc.)
Awareness Campaigns (like billboards, flyers, and sponsorships)

Your average customer value
Find the average stay length of all tenants. Next take your economic occupancy and divide by how many units you have. That will tell you what the average customer pays.

Multiply the average length of stay by what the average customer pays, and that's the average value of a customer.

For example, if a customer stays for 12 months and pays $100 per month, then their value is $1,200.

Your average lead value

Figure out your closing rate (or conversion rate) i.e. how many leads do you turn into tenants? Multiply that by your average customer lifetime value to figure out what your leads are worth.

Pro Tip: see which lead sources are converting the best. It may be that certain sources have a higher conversion rate, so those leads are worth more to you than a source that barely converts.

Typical Lease-up timeline

According to our panelists, it's typical to see a 3-4% increase each month, putting your facility at 36% after the first year, and 72% after the second.

Alternately, you can look at your lease up goals through the lens of your units, aiming for 20 units rented per month.

For Nick and StorageMax, they pro forma their economic occupancy at 85% with their sweet spot at 92%.