Opening a New Self-Storage Facility? Here’s How to Get a Jump on Your Launch Marketing

If you’re building a new self-storage facility, you’ve got a lot on your plate. There are critical steps and considerations at every phase of development, from planning and design to construction and operation. As the walls go up, the roof goes on and the roll-up doors are installed, your grand opening will shimmer on the horizon. With your Certificate of Occupancy in sight, how will you begin promoting your new business and attracting customers? Let’s take a look at the new-launch process and timeline for online visibility, so you can begin filling units on opening day.

Steps to Success

First and foremost, you can’t succeed without acknowledging that Google is the digital gatekeeper. The search-engine behemoth accounts for 87% of all search traffic in the United States. Internationally, it has an even bigger slice of the pie. So, even though there are other pieces to the online-marketing puzzle, you’re going to get the most bang for your buck if you position your new self-storage facility to be well-received by Google. Let’s go through the steps.

Thirty to 60 days before opening your doors, you want to establish an online presence and make sure Google sees that your new facility exists and is coming soon. If you do this right, you'll start getting inquiries before opening, even without a website. In fact, once you’ve created a Google Business Profile (GBP), you’ll begin getting reports that show how many searchers clicked for directions to your new facility.

To begin establishing your brand identity, you’ll want to have a few marketing assets ready to go. They are:

Website. Register your domain and launch your website at least 30 days prior to opening. If choosing a property-management platform, it’ll most likely offer a website front end, or you can “roll your own” with a general-use platform like WordPress. Just consider the functionality required to allow online reservations and rentals.

GBP. Create your free profile at least 30 days before opening. Input what information you can, but you’ll likely need to flesh this out later. Most important is to communicate your NAP (name, address and phone number). Under “edit profile,” set your opening date. If this gets delayed, update GBP immediately.

Local search engine optimization (SEO). This is the process of improving business visibility in local online searches. Get this in place at the same time as your GBP, about 30 days in advance of opening. Your NAP can be distributed to dozens of websites and directories. Clean, consistent data across all your business listings (aka citations) helps give Google good context about who you are, what you do and when you’re open for business. This would also be a good time to fire up a Facebook page for your new facility, too.

Google Ads. Allocate a reasonable budget that can help you hit the ground running with an acceptable lead-acquisition cost. Typically, smaller operators will budget $30 to $70 a day toward pay-per-click. Advertising for self-storage can start on opening day, while ads for boat and RV storage might begin one to two weeks before if you’re set up to take reservations.

Business Reviews

You’ve invested all this time in creating a great-looking self-storage facility, so be ready to ask for and receive reviews on day one. Your GBP will even include an “Ask for Reviews” link. If your site has a property manager, they should request feedback from each customer right after they rent a unit. It’s when your new tenant feels like they’re in great hands and before they spend hours sweating their buns off moving boxes into the space! For unattended facilities, consider posting a QR code on site, and following up the move-in with a phone call or email.

Marketing a new self-storage facility involves a strategic timeline that begins at least two months before opening. Focus on establishing a digital presence to ensure Google and potential customers are aware of your new business. Essential steps for building visibility and attracting potential renters include setting up a website, creating a GBP, engaging in local SEO, planning Google Ads and preparing for customer reviews. With the right online strategy and a commitment to excellence, your facility's lease-up success story isn’t just possible, it’s inevitable!

Tyler Suchman is the founder of The Storage Agency, a web-marketing agency exclusively focused on serving self-storage owners and operators with unbeatable performance and pricing. The Storage Agency is powered by Tribal Core, a boutique agency Suchman founded in 2002. To reach him, email [email protected].