As occupancy and prices decline, competition for self-storage leads heats up. So, how can you ensure your facility catches the attention of prospective tenants in your area?
One answer: target marketing your storage services to the right audience.
Who Needs Self-Storage Right Now?
The housing market stands still as interest rates remain elevated. This means fewer people are moving, resulting in reduced demand for storage.
A new Storable report indicates that nearly 40% of storage renters require space for a move—the largest single reason for needing self-storage.
However, only about 25% of consumers surveyed by Storable reported plans to move to a new home in the next six to 12 months, with just over 7% stating their plans depended on interest rates falling. More than 56% are definitely not planning to move anytime soon, and 18% are uncertain about their moving plans.
While movers remain the largest segment of storage users, their numbers have dwindled. This suggests that savvy self-storage operators might consider focusing their marketing efforts on other use cases to boost their occupancy.
Developing Personas for Self-Storage Tenants
Besides moving, downsizing emerges as the next most popular reason for needing storage, constituting 18% of rentals. Lifestyle changes such as divorce or retirement account for 13% of rentals, while end-of-life situations represent about 7% of rentals. Additionally, more than 15% of tenants cite some other reason.
The array of reasons for needing storage varies in your market and depends on the demographics and economy in your area. Understanding your target audience is essential for effective marketing in the self-storage industry.
Developing personas—fictional representations of your ideal customers—can help storage facility operators tailor their marketing strategies to meet the specific needs and preferences of their clientele. Crafting ads for social media or online platforms with these personas in mind ensures your campaign is designed to appeal to and address the needs of your intended audience.
Here’s an overview of the process a storage facility operator might go through to develop personas:
1. Initial research
Begin by gathering data on your current customers and the broader market. Look for information that speaks to demographics and behavioral patterns at work in your area. Relevant demographic data includes age, gender, income, household size, occupation and residential location. Behavioral patterns, including frequency of storage use, duration of rentals, and preferred storage unit size, can be gleaned from transaction records and facility access logs. Analyze customer feedback, conduct surveys, and review industry reports to gain insights into the different types of self-storage users.
2. Identify patterns
Identify common traits, motivations, and pain points among your customers by analyzing the data collected during the research phase. Look for patterns in demographics, psychographics, and behavioral data to uncover shared characteristics and preferences. For example, you may find that a significant portion of your customers are young professionals living in urban areas who seek storage solutions for temporary relocation or seasonal items.
Group these customers into segments based on similarities in their storage needs, such as short-term versus long-term storage requirements, or life stages, such as individuals going through major life transitions like moving, downsizing, or renovating their homes.
3. Create personas
Use the data collected to create detailed personas that represent different segments of your target audience. Give each persona a name, age, occupation, and background story to make them relatable and memorable.
4. Define goals and challenges
Determine the goals and challenges each persona faces when it comes to self-storage. For example, a business owner might need access to a storage unit 24 hours a day so they can access their inventory at a moment’s notice. So, highlighting your state of the art access control system and around the clock operating hours in ads aimed at business clients would be a worthy approach. Understand what motivates your audience to seek storage solutions and the barriers they may encounter in the process. Your job is to explain to them how your storage facility is uniquely suited to help them fulfill that need, completely and with ease.
5. Tailor marketing messages
With personas in hand, tailor your marketing messages to address the specific needs and preferences of each segment. Craft content and promotions that resonate with their goals and address their pain points.
6. Test and iterate
Continuously monitor the effectiveness of your marketing efforts and adjust your personas as needed. Stay open to feedback and be willing to refine your personas based on new insights or changes in the market.
Example Storage Customers Personas
There is no fixed format for creating your personas, but you can follow the basic template examples below to get you started.
Busy Urban Professional
- Name: Claude
- Age: 32
- Occupation: Marketing Manager
- Background: Claude lives in a small apartment in the city and works long hours. He needs storage for seasonal items and personal belongings that don’t fit in her limited space.
- Goals: Convenient access to storage, flexible rental options
- Challenges: Limited time for moving and organizing belongings
Adult Caretaker
- Name: Gabriela
- Age: 60+
- Occupation: Retired school administrator
- Background: Gabriela is caring for her ailing mother who can no longer live independently, and has to store and sort through a lifetime of belongings.
- Goals: Safe and secure storage for treasured belongings, affordable rates
- Challenges: Emotional attachment to belongings, concerns about security, personal stress.
New Parent Couple
- Name: Alex and Emily
- Age: 28
- Occupation: Sales manager and hair stylist
- Background: Alex and Emily recently welcomed their first child and are transitioning to a larger home. They need short-term storage for baby gear, furniture, and household items during the move.
- Goals: Clean and climate-controlled storage, easy access for frequent visits
- Challenges: Limited budget, uncertainty about storage needs
Small Business Owner
- Name: Amir
- Age: 35
- Occupation: Entrepreneur
- Background: Amir is the proud owner of a local boutique in the bustling city center. With limited space in his shop, Amir seeks a storage solution that offers climate-controlled units to preserve delicate fabrics and secure access for retrieving inventory quickly during peak hours.
- Goals: Access to climate-controlled storage units to protect delicate inventory items from fluctuating temperatures and humidity. Additionally, he seeks convenient access to his stored items during business hours to maintain efficient operations.
- Challenges: Amir faces the challenge of finding a storage facility that offers flexible rental terms and convenient access to his stored inventory amidst his busy schedule as a small business owner.
As you can imagine, different marketing messages will resonate differently with each of these personas. By making your marketing assets more personal and timely for each of your intended audiences, you can attract more click throughs than you would with a general all-size-fits-all campaign.
Launch Your Campaign with Confidence
Increased marketing efforts this spring should drive more rentals during the current period of weak demand. With personas guiding your marketing campaigns, you can more effectively target and engage with consumers and their self-storage needs. By leveraging these tools, you can maximize the efficiency and impact of your marketing efforts, reaching potential customers who are most likely to be interested in your storage services.
