Guest Post - Self-Storage Marketing
Oliver Meyer
Co-founder
Switzerland
Tips and measures to efficiently and effectively promote self-storage units
The successful marketing of storage units involves, as a first step, informing potential renters that your self-storage location exists, and as a second step, convincing them why your business is better. Often, potential renters still need to be informed about the general benefits of self-storage, as, according to the FEDESSA study from 2024, currently 46% in Germany have never heard of the self-storage concept. In this article, we will discuss the marketing measures that can be taken to efficiently rent out storage units.
Who Rents Storage Units: Understanding the Target Group
It is not sensible to pursue the goal of informing all people across the entire country that they can rent storage units from you. To use the marketing budget efficiently, marketing measures should be focused as much as possible on your own target group. You want to reach the people who will effectively rent your storage units in the end. The better you know your target group, the more precisely you can address them.
Geographical proximity plays a big role. The majority of your tenants will live relatively close to your self-storage location. Your target group should therefore definitely include the people in the vicinity of your location.
Surveys and interviews with existing and former tenants can help you understand which audience, and in what context, are motivated to rent a storage unit from you. When collecting data, make sure you comply with the applicable data protection regulations.
Presence on Google Maps: Optimise Your Google Business Profile
A strong Google Business Profile is crucial for the success of your self-storage business. It is often the first point of contact for potential customers. Start by claiming your profile – make sure it belongs to you and you can edit it. Follow these steps to increase your visibility and generate more bookings:
- Fill out the profile completely: Accurate information about name, address, phone, website, and opening hours is important.
- Use keywords: Describe your offer with search terms like “self-storage” and your city.
- Encourage reviews: Ask satisfied customers for positive feedback and respond to all comments.
- Answer questions: Respond to customer questions quickly and precisely in the Q&A section.
- Stay current: Post regular updates and offers.
- Visually appealing: Show attractive photos and videos of your storage spaces.
By implementing these tips, you make your self-storage business more visible online and attract more customers. A well-maintained business profile is your digital showcase – keep it clean and appealing.
Presence in Search Results on Google (and Other Search Engines): Search Engine Optimised Website
Your website is more than just a business card – it’s your online sales room and your most important advertising tool. To use it as an effective sales room, enable the online completion of rental agreements. This simplifies the process for your customers and reduces your administrative effort. Ensure that the path to signing a contract is simple and understandable, as complexity will deter people.
As an advertising tool, your webpages must be seen and convey the right message. Highlight what sets you apart from the competition, and show what benefits your customers enjoy when they rent a storage unit from you. You achieve visibility through marketing and a search engine-friendly structure. Ensure that Google finds your page and rates it as relevant. Use SEO techniques, write informative articles, and build a network with relevant websites. This can be achieved through partnerships or mentions in newspapers. For search engine optimisation, building internal know-how or purchasing external expertise can make sense.
Once visitors are on your website, present your value proposition clearly and quickly. To build trust, you can show that you are a member of the official Self-Storage Association in your country or have your storage units certified by a third party. For example, the platform storabble.com checks the quality of your storage units for free and issues a complimentary certificate for your storage units upon successful inspection.
Specialised platforms for storage spaces: how to reach potential tenants at the right time
In most countries, there are specialised platforms for advertising storage spaces. This allows potential tenants to find available storage spaces near them at a glance, and by listing on these platforms, you can ensure that potential customers who are in the process of renting a storage space know that they can rent suitable storage units from you.
Advantages of specialised platforms:
- Targeting the right audience shortly before the purchase decision is made.
- No fixed costs for marketing measures. Listing can be created in just a few minutes.
- Leads from niche platforms have a higher quality than leads generated through other marketing channels, as platform leads have already compared the entire offering. No window shoppers.
Disadvantages of specialised platforms:
- Without an API integration to the platform, resulting conversions can be poorly measured. ¾ of the generated rental contracts are usually attributed to other sources in the analytics tools
- Tend to have higher click prices compared to alternative marketing channels
In the USA, specialised platforms like Sparefoot are a central component of self-storage marketing. In Europe, the niche platform Storabble is gaining more and more importance. In Germany and Switzerland, Storabble has already established itself as a comparison platform for storage spaces, and from mid-2025, the platform should also be available to Austrian self-storage providers. In the UK, there are various self-storage directories (e.g., CompareTheStorage), and in France, Costockage is well-known, although they also offer their own self-storage solutions.
If there is no specialised platform in the country where you are active, it may be worthwhile to buy listings on traditional real estate portals. For example, Immobilienscout24 in Germany or Homegate in Switzerland. Listings on these are usually very expensive, and many inquiries are not relevant, as there are often requests for rehearsal rooms for music or hobby and craft spaces.
Using platforms also makes sense in combination with other marketing measures. In addition to units that can be rented, brand awareness can also be increased. Users of the platform who find your location nearby will already know about your offering for potential future bookings.
Search engine advertising (Google Ads) for Self-Storage
If you have the internal expertise or financial means to create a Google Ads campaign yourself or to entrust an agency with it, search engine advertising is one of the most important marketing tools available to you.
The search for storage options usually begins with a query on Google, with paid ads often being the first result shown to users. Especially when interested parties are explicitly searching for self-storage at your location, you should be in the
Reviews and Referrals
Motivate your customers to review your business and write testimonials. You can then place testimonials on your website to build trust, and reviews on your Google My Business profile and platforms like Trustpilot are extremely important when potential customers use these to get an impression of the offerings.
Personal recommendations convert better than any advertising measure. The most important prerequisite is that customers are satisfied with your service. Further measures you can take are to make it easy to recommend you, with provided links and appropriate promotional materials. You can also use certain financial or material incentives to motivate existing customers to recommend you to their acquaintances.
Additional measures: online and offline
This article has summarised the most important marketing measures so far. Of course, there are numerous alternatives. If your budget is large enough, it may also make sense to increase your general brand awareness through pure brand advertising. It’s expensive to make people aware of your brand and offer when they currently don’t have a need for it. If you manage to do so, it certainly gives you a clear advantage over your competitors. On social media, you can reach many people at a relatively low cost, but usually you don’t reach them at the right time.
With offline marketing measures, you reach fewer people for more money. What makes sense is to display your location prominently. Alternative measures you can try are flyers, posters, newspaper ads, or sponsoring local events.
Self-Storage Marketing Summary
Successful self-storage marketing informs potential tenants about your offer and convinces them. Since many are not familiar with the concept, education is important.
- Understand target group: Focus your marketing on people near your location. Survey current and former tenants.
- Google Business Profile: Optimise your profile with correct information, keywords, reviews, and current content.
- Search engine optimization: Ensure a search engine-friendly website with online rental agreements.
- Specialised platforms: Use platforms like Storabble so you can rent storage spaces without fixed costs and reach customers in the buying process.
- Google Ads: Advertise in search engines to be present for relevant search queries.
- Reviews and recommendations: Collect positive reviews and encourage referrals.
- Additional measures: Depending on your budget, you can use brand advertising, social media, offline marketing, and sponsorship.
A strong profile, an optimised website, presence on storage space platforms, and targeted advertising are keys to success.
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