In our newest Self Storage State of the Industry report, we talked a lot about softening markets. Demand for self storage units has not kept up with the significant increase in supply over the last several years. And with 9.6 percent of existing self storage inventory units under construction or in planning phases, it’s not likely to catch up soon.

What can you do as a marketer to overcome these softening markets? Here’s three tips.

1. Invest in Online Leasing

There are a lot of soft costs associated with running a self storage facility – front office staff, maintenance, security, etc. But what if we told you that you could save money by investing in online leasing?

Rather than paying a call center to answer the phone round the clock, online leasing is available 24/7. G5’s Uber Leasing allows your prospects to lease in three clicks. We remove many of the barriers to renting so qualified prospects have no excuse not to lease.

2. Don’t Pay to Compete with Yourself

A lot of self storage marketers pay lead aggregators to bring them more leads. Little do they realize, they are really just paying to compete with themselves. We get it. It’s easy and lead aggregators tend to own the first page of search engines results, and you want to be there too. As markets soften though, you need to be aware of the costs associated with their service and the ways it detracts from your long-term business goals.  

Lead aggregators determine spend based on a first-click or last-click attribution model, but this is no longer representative of the buyer’s journey. Instead, you need to use a variety of channels to market your property. According to a survey by Entrata, Google Organic, Google Ads, and Google My Business listings are the top three most influential channels for self storage searchers. Lead aggregators only ranked sixth.

The key takeaway from this is that you can earn a better return on invest with a coordinated local SEO and digital advertising strategy than with a lead aggregator.

3. Spend Smarter on Digital Advertising

Advertising clicks for self storage are up 8 percent year-over-year and users are clicking on paid ads with intent, aka when they are ready to purchase. While the predominant line of thinking has always been more clicks are better, we want to shift your perspective and say that it is actually better to have fewer clicks that are more qualified.

Crazy, right? Not really. You pay every time someone clicks on one of your digital ads. But if you don’t have inventory to meet their needs, they’re going to bounce without making a purchase. And that means you can say goodbye to the money you spent on their click.

The best way to attract the right renters is by pre-qualifying your ads with ad text. G5’s Dynamic Ads pull in real-time pricing and availability information from your property management system (PMS), automatically turning on and off in accordance with supply. That means when a searcher clicks on your ad, they know you have what they want and it is a price they can afford.

Learn More at the Closing Session of SSA Spring 2019

Want know more about how to overcome softening self storage markets? G5’s VP of Business Development Mike Wolber and our Google partner Luke Garske will be presenting the closing session at SSA Spring this year. This is one speaking engagement you don’t want to miss!

Can’t make it? Sign up to receive the presentation materials here.