In the self storage industry, customers travel no more than 3 to 5 miles, on average. We are lucky to work in such a local industry, because it makes our jobs as marketers more fun, impactful, and rewarding. Today, I’m excited to share my top three strategies on how one can go hyper-local with their self storage marketing strategies. It’s time to embrace our local communities while delivering superior marketing.
Strategy 1: Craft Locally Inspired Infographics
The main graphic in this very post is our “Top 10 Fun Things To Do In Roseville, California”. When we launched Roseville Self Storage, our newest self storage facility, we wanted to go “all in” on our hyper-local marketing. In fact, our managers at Roseville Self Storage literally live in the community (they live at our facility).
During the construction of our facility, we really started exploring our new community. We drove around. We researched fun activities online. We networked with other business owners. Most importantly, we surveyed local employees, asking their opinion on the best things to do in Roseville.
All of our research yielded our “Top 10 List”. Partnering with our creative agency and digital marketing partner (G5), we crafted the artistic masterpiece that is our Roseville infographic. Aside from looking really neat, our infographic furthers our hyper-local marketing in several ways.
- It’s an impressive piece of local content that is featured prominently on our Roseville Self Storage homepage. What an amazing way to differentiate our website with this fun piece of local content. (I especially like infographics because they combine the helpful value of a text blog post with graphical interest that is sure to engage customers.)
- It provides a reason, an excuse if you will, to reach out to other local business owners. Some of the best local marketing is done on a human level, person to person. After producing our infographic, we had the perfect reason to start reaching out to others in our community, alerting them that they made the list!
- Infographics are really visible online. Not only do they improve one’s website, but they can be shared off-site in social media. Infographics are pillar pieces of content that can be leveraged for years to come.
While hyper-local infographics carry a great number of benefits, it is also prudent to point out the con as well (the cost). Producing custom graphics can take both time and money to perfect. That said, I believe that the pros far outweigh the con.
Strategy 2: Support Local Charities (Embrace Your Customers and Your Community)
The best local marketing leverages feedback from one’s community, employees, and customers. The best local marketing adds true value to one’s community. During the 2017 Holiday Season, one of our favorite customers at our Los Angeles Self Storage facility shared her involvement with a local charity, ARME Animal Rescue Media Education. It just so happens that our manager at Los Angeles Self Storage is also an animal enthusiast. His cockapoo, in fact, is an Instagram celebrity!
When an opportunity like this presents itself, we feel a deep sense of purpose. We embraced this charity drive during the 2017 Holiday season in a number of different ways:
- We set up a collection zone for ARME at our facility.
- We shared a YouTube video, featuring yours truly, describing our passion for animals and our involvement with ARME.
- We leveraged social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Google+) to raise awareness and drive donations.
- We invested our own time money to do good in our community.
- While doing good for our community, we embraced the passions and interests of our customers and employees.
- We culminated the entire experience with a hyper-local blog post about Our Passion For ARME Animal Rescue Media Education.
The key takeaway here is that your self storage facility is a member of the community. When a local charity needs your help, especially one that is embraced by your customers and employees, this is a higher purpose calling and opportunity to do good! Of course, all of this also helps differentiate one’s business as a community leader.
Strategy 3: Leverage Facility-Specific Blogs With Locally Relevant Posts
While it’s quite the management responsibility and time commitment, Smart Self Storage maintains local blogs for each and every facility. That’s right! We don’t just have one blog for our corporate brand, but we also have unique blogs for each facility. And, the posts on each blog are topically relevant for the community in question.
For example, Roseville is a brand new community, one with many new homes and young, growing families. As such, you’ll often find us blogging there about self storage for new parents and new homeowners.
Scotts Valley is a community filled with outdoor enthusiasts. Just a stone’s throw from Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley is home to hikers, mountain bikers, runners, and (of course) surfers. At our Mt. Hermon Road Self Storage facility, you’ll find us blogging about self storage for outdoor enthusiasts.
Each community has its own identity, and our blogs reflect those personas, adding locally relevant value. We write content that inspires and helps our local customers.
A Level Playing Field
Whether you are a large operator with many facilities or a small “mom and pop” operation, all of us have the opportunity to further embrace and support our communities. In fact, the local nature of our industry levels the playing field, in my opinion. In some instances, it’s easier for smaller operators to really double down on their communities due to the power of focus and concentration. By contrast, the hyper-local strategy can sometimes be more difficult for larger operators who manage a portfolio of facilities across vast geographies.
At the end of the day, hyper-local marketing adds value. Hyper-local marketing differentiates. Hyper-local marketing is my favorite type of marketing for the self storage industry.