Operators across the country are struggling to fill up storage units.
After the boom of 2021 and 2022, we’re starting to see storage use go back down to where it was before - not bad, but not great.
On top of that, competition is increasing greatly. Businesses that were coasting by before are struggling now. You don’t have the resources to compete with the big brands - but there are still some tricks you can try to find new renters!
The best way to compete with the big brands is not to try and outspend them on Google Ads or beat them in site strength (though if you can do that, fantastic!).
The best way for small facilities to get new renters is to go where the big brands aren’t!
Maybe you can’t uproot your facility and find a new market, but you can market your facility in niches that most people aren’t considering. People use storage for all sorts of things - sports equipment, furniture, commercial inventory - but there are hundreds more reasons people could need the space we haven’t thought of.
In this article, we’ll go over the best ways to find the niche communities that could use your self storage services - even if they don’t know it yet.
Check out more self storage marketing tips here!
Our culture is full of wild, weird, wonderful little hobbies that most people have never heard of but that other people couldn’t live without. People collect everything from bottle caps to hubcaps, old books to stuffed animals.
People play games on old arcade machines, or on tables that won’t fit in their houses. Skiing, snowboarding, kayaking, and canoeing equipment all take up a ton of space and are only used during specific seasons.
Stargazing, kilt-sewing, lute-carving, 3D printers, antique car restoration, model trains, soap-carving, calligraphy, ghost hunting, the list goes on and on - and these are just the tip of the iceberg! I’m sure there’s even an iceberg-tip collecting club out there too.
Now imagine - for about 87% of those people, there’s also someone else getting real sick of tripping over their iceberg-hunting binoculars. (Those binoculars being much larger than our pedestrian binoculars, of course).
That’s where you come in.
Space can be a limiting factor for hobbyists. Even if the hobby doesn’t require a canoe, your neighborhood candlemaker needs somewhere to put a few hundred empty jars while she whips up new scents at home.
Often, people want to expand their hobbies, but can’t convince their spouse to give up the guest room. We’ve all been in garages where the hobby has pushed the cars into the driveway. This is a perfect opportunity for storage operators!
These folks may not have ever considered a storage unit. You can change that.
Pug Pro Tip: The better you know your community, the better you can find new renters. Small businesses can benefit in lots of ways by engaging with the communities surrounding their location!
If they don’t know they could use a storage unit, how can you find them?
Our normal approach to marketing is to let the people in need of storage find us and then capitalizing. SEO, Google Ads, billboards, and signage are all relying on people who need storage seeking it out.
That won’t work for our hobbyists.
Instead, you could try something like our Local Business Outreach plan.
Set some time aside to look into the groups in your town that might need your service. We listed several above, but there will be dozens more. Facebook is a great place to start, as it is localized enough that the people you find will actually be able to store with you.
You could also stop by businesses that cater to your targeted hobbyists; for example, sporting goods stores that sell kayaks.
Now, your goal is not to just chat with people buying kayaks - you want to establish a relationship with the business owner and maybe leave some business cards on the counter.
If you’re working with another small business, this can be easy. You send people their way, they send people yours. Do a business card exchange, that sort of thing.
For non-business groups, the key is to offer them something of value. For a lot of these small groups, a few hundred dollars would be a huge boost! And in exchange, you’re an official sponsor, which could mean you put up a poster, or your services get mentioned at every meeting, or whatever you think would be most useful. We recommend starting a referral program which you can then pitch - make the amount high enough that people remember it.
You don’t want to irritate people by taking up their precious free time. Just like with business outreach: get in, provide value, smile, and get out.
Why Referrals?
Referrals are one of the best ways for small businesses to compete with the big brands. If you can get your referral program circulating amongst specific communities, you’ll do even better!
These hobby groups are defined by their shared interest - these folks have a lot in common with each other. Whatever problem you solve for one of them, you can bet that their comrades will have similar problems, which they’ll talk about at get-togethers and on forums.
Provide an excellent experience, and your business will be the first solution mentioned whenever folks are running out of space. The referral program only adds some juice to that conversation.
Here are a few more things to think about as you look for new customers:
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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.
