FineView Marketing

As a self storage owner, do you have a clear understanding of branding and the impact that a strong self storage brand has on your facility? Your brand is a true representation of your company and how you want to be perceived. Everything that identifies and defines you as a company is your brand identity. It’s your name, logo, mission, and message. Your brand is your company’s personality and should clearly communicate why your company exists.

In order to properly promote your facility, you need a brand and professional help to build and promote your brand. FineView Marketing can guide you in defining a clear brand identity that will give your potential customers a clear impression of who you are and the values that make your company unique.

Building a self storage brand can be tricky, so we’ve gathered a few ideas to help you understand what it takes to create a strong self storage brand.

Self Storage Brand: Know Who You Are

Aside from the main objective of making money, strong brands have a deeper motivation. According to Templafy, 64% of consumers trust a brand more if they share its values. It’s vital that your brand position, values, and mission are clear and communicated coherently.

You’ll want to promote features that make your customers’ lives easier with common-sense solutions. Consider why you started a self storage company in the first place and why it continues to exist. Do you want to promote climate-controlled storage, commercial storage, student storage, or RV and boat storage? This will depend on your area and demographic.

These are just a few of the options that you can use to promote your company. Revisit your mission statement to help you capture the essence of your facility and gain some insight into your purpose.

Define Your Brand Personality

Now that you know who your company is, think of your brand in terms of the traits that you want to convey to your target audience. Your tone, your message, your logo, your color palette, and even the way your employees engage with customers should align with your brand’s personality. Images and designs should support your brand and bring it to life.

It’s important to realize, however, that brand personality is more than the promises in your mission statement. It’s the actions you take to keep those promises. If you find that anything from the color of your logo, to the actions of your employees, does not support your brand personality, modify it or change it entirely.

Know Who Your Customers Are

You may think you know your target audience, but really understanding them is digging deeper than merely demographic information. Think about prospects as real people, not walk-ins or website traffic. What problems do they want to solve, and what do they need from your company?

Ideally, you want to cater your self storage services to your neighbors. Identify people who have a high potential of using your services, and develop your brand around the emotional benefits that appeal to them. For example, if your business is in a college town, it doesn’t make sense to offer commercial storage as your basic service. At the same time, if you’re located near a lake, specials on student storage won’t attract many customers.

Establish Your Value Proposition

Your value proposition is a compelling reason as to why a customer should use your facility rather than the one down the street. It should convince prospects that you have solutions to their self storage problems that your competitors don’t. Think about your amenities, security, and customer service. Do you offer keyless entry through an app on any mobile device or concierge service to guide your customers through the self storage process from move-in to move-out? In other words, what is your unique service that your competitors lack?

Manage Your Reputation

Reviews are a critical piece of your branding strategy. They provide current and prospective customers with a snapshot of your business practices. It stands to reason that reviews matter when it comes to attracting customers and helping them choose between your company and your competition. Responding to reviews and engaging with someone about their experience helps people to gain trust in you and builds your online identity.

Keep Your Brand Consistent Yet Flexible

Once you’ve established the foundation of your brand, it’s critical to be flexible enough to remain fresh and relevant. Challenge yourself with new ideas and creative campaigns that will differentiate you from your competitors. Staying flexible means that you will be open to adapting visuals, strategies, and tactics to reflect the evolution of your core values in a changing market.

Takeaway

Your brand should clearly convey who you are as a business. Every aspect of your company should align to create your brand identity, and clearly communicate why your business exists.