This article was updated in December 2024.
In the self storage industry, your marketing is often driven by one person - your self storage manager.
Your manager is the person with boots on the ground almost every day. They're your salesperson and a major part of your facility's success.
When you're developing a new marketing goal for your facility, you need to have clear goals and objectives. What are your business's values and goals? What do you hope to achieve in the near future?
Once you have your mission statement ready, you and your manager can start reaching for your new goals.
So, how do you create a marketing plan that'll lead to results?
You have to first define your goals to understand who and what you are marketing for. One easy way to do that is to use the SMART system.
SMART goals are essential to helping your manager understand and execute the marketing campaign. With SMART goals, your manager can have a clear understanding of what you're aiming for so they'll know exactly what to do.
What does SMART stand for?
Let's break down each part of this system to create a well-defined marketing plan.
When you're developing your marketing plan, you need to be specific as to what you want to achieve so that your manager has clear expectations.
Take a look at this example. Let's say you're discussing this new marketing plan with your manager and they ask what your goal is. You answer with:
"I want to increase revenue."
Well, don't we all! This statement is too broad and leaves the door wide open for assumptions. We're going to have to get into the nitty gritty of this want to turn it into a definitive goal.
Instead, you could say something like:
"I want to increase my revenue by getting more referrals."
Now, that's better! The first one is open and vague, but the second has a specific direction to move in.
While every storage owner wants to increase revenue, you have to think about the specifics of how you're going to do that. After all, if you don't know how to do it, your manager certainly won't.
While there are some goals that may not be tangible, like making a positive impact on a customer, some goals need to be numerical.
These goals might include things like the number of units rented, the amount of revenue made, or the percentage of phone calls answered.
For example, if you want to get more referrals by starting a referral program, perhaps you want to get at least five new tenant referrals. This is now a goal with a number - or a goal that can be measured.
If you only get three new tenant referrals, then you haven't reached your goal and you might need to try something new.
Other measurable goals could include increasing your number of leads, getting a certain number of reviews, and so on. Using goals with numbers can help you better estimate whether you've reached those goals or not.
Although this may seem like an obvious one, it's not uncommon to set a goal that is unrealistic or unachievable.
As people, we do this all the time in our personal and professional lives. We get overly ambitious and end up setting goals that simply aren't realistic given the time frame, circumstances, and resources available.
I want to be clear that having big goals is not a bad thing! You just have to plan and prepare accordingly to make sure that they can be achieved.
For example, let's say you want to get those 5 tenant referrals before the end of the month. Sounds like a relatively simple goal, except for the fact that the market is down, and it's the month of December (the middle of the holiday season!).
Given the market and the time of year, there probably aren't many people looking to rent and move into a storage unit between Christmas and New Year's - making your goal a whole lot more difficult to achieve.
Your goals should align with your facility's overall values and objectives.
These goals should be relevant to how you want to grow and manage your business for months or years to come. They're not goals that only make an impact today or tomorrow, but goals that help your company leap into the future that you envision.
The goals you've set should also align with your manager and other employees. If what you want to achieve isn't relevant to what your manager wants to achieve, then your goals will be difficult to meet.
Take some time to really consider how your goal is impacting the future of your company, and if your employees and management partners are in the same boat.
Like most professional tasks and even home chores, your goals need a due date.
The time frame to achieve this goal should be realistic. You may need to consider your skills, resources, and several other factors to determine an appropriate time frame.
If this is a larger goal that requires multiple steps, you should give yourself a few weeks at minimum. However, there are smaller goals that could take just a few days.
For example, let's say you want to get those five referrals by the end of the year. Assuming you're starting this with several months until the new year, the market is up, and your property manager already knows how to talk to customers about referrals, then this should be an appropriate time frame.
Give yourself a time frame that allows you and your manager to get the job done without skipping over important details in a rush.
You need a due date, but you don't need to work carelessly in the name of time.
When you have the nitty-gritty details for the marketing goal that you want to achieve, set up a meeting with your manager to have a discussion about it.
Again, you'll rely heavily on this person to turn these goals into results, so you should collaborate with them and allow them to add their own creativity to the plan.
There's a good chance your manager has their own ideas and opinions, especially given that they're familiar with your facility and your customer base.
You can both work together to tailor the goal to your manager's abilities and get the most out of your marketing campaign.
With hard work should come rewards.
If your manager has been working hard to achieve whatever goals you had, they deserve more praise. After all, everyone wants to be recognized for their good work.
Studies show that feedback often leads to employees feeling more motivated and productive. It makes them feel like they're making real progress, instead of sitting in a stagnant position. So don't be afraid to give your manager a high five and a 'good job!'
Beyond verbal praise, you can offer your manager a reward in other ways. Some managers already get bonuses and commissions as part of their pay structure, but if your manager is salary-based, offering bonuses or commissions during this marketing campaign could give them a real boost. You could offer a bonus, a gift card, a day off, etc. It's up to you!
And don't forget to reward yourself, too. You and your manager worked together to have a positive impact on your business, and that's an accomplishment!
To read more about my favorite StoragePug features, take a look at:
