The Fifth Rule of Thumb – Managing Community Awareness!

I have said this before, and now I want to emphasize this, “if no one knows you exist, how can they rent with you?” Your marketing and your community awareness are crucial to getting tenants in your self-storage facility. If people do not know that you are open or do not know that you have improved a facility, how will they know that they want to rent from you?

Start by finding out what the culture is within 3-5 miles of your self-storage facility. If you are in a highly conservative area, make sure that your marketing is conservative. You don’t want to inadvertently offend all of your potential renters. Every self-storage facility that you own is going to have a different marketing base. The key is to make sure that you target the right one.

If you are near a military base, then you may be marketing to people who are being deployed. If you are in an urban area, people may not have enough space. If you are in an area near a lake or a lot of outdoor activities, people may need to store their toys. You need to know your audience before you can effectively advertise.

If you are actively involved in your community, they are going to know that you are open and ready to rent from them. If you are quiet as a mouse, no one will know that you are there and no one will rent from you. Another advertising source is community involvement. You need to identify who you want to target and then think about how you can reach them through the community. For example, you are already marketing on social media and these are helping you find people who are talking about storing. Now you want to find people who are thinking about storing.

Most people store close to home. Is there a coffee shop nearby? How many people stop by the coffee shop on their way to work? Can you advertise on their coffee cup sleeve? Can you sponsor them so that they don’t have to buy the sleeves and have your information printed on the sleeves? This is a way to let local people know that you exist.

Another way to let the community know that you exist is to sponsor a sports team. Whether this is a little league team or a high school team. By getting your name out there, you build brand awareness. In addition to everyone seeing your name on the uniforms, you can be on the mailers and their announcements. This is a way to expand your influence. Many of these people may need storage. The more teams that they play the more people you will reach. Not only will your teams’ families see your marketing, but other teams’ families will also see your marketing as well.

There are so many streams of advertising. Make sure that you are utilizing as many as possible. You don’t want to miss out on potential renters by not venturing out into as many markets as possible. Market any way that you can to get potential renters. As always, happy investing.