Marketing Strategies that Withstand the Test of Time
Marketing Strategies
that Withstand the Test of Time
Five essentials for applying traditional
marketing principles to an online world
By John Jordan
The media world has evolved
substantially over the last two
decades. This fact is undeniable.
Consumers have access to more
information than ever before in
making their purchase decisions.
Technology has made shopping an
experience we never would have
dreamed possible 20 years ago.
Despite these changes, traditional
marketing principles are still valuable
and possibly even more relevant
in a technology driven world.
Imagine yourself in 1995 again.
You are standing in the local Sears
department store in need of a new
washer and dryer. You have, in
your hand, a device that provides
you with instant access to product
comparison information, consumer
reviews from all over the world, tools
to search for coupons/deals and
access to competitors carrying the
same line of products with best price
guarantees. How different would that
shopping experience have been? You
would have no longer been reliant
on the biased information being
fed to you by the commissioned
sales representative. You would
have known that you were getting
a good price on a quality product.
You could have walked out of that
store with confidence that the same
product, or a better one, could be
purchased and shipped for free to
your doorstep. Welcome to 2015.
Essential #1: Think local.
Consumers have always shown
a preference for shopping locally.
For consumers, “local” can often
mean convenience, relationships,
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supporting your community, purchase
accountability, trust and many
other things. It cannot be denied
that rapidly developing technology
has changed the game for many
businesses. Local storefronts and
location-based strategies took the
back seat as commoditization and
more convenient options started
to drive their respective industries.
However, for many industries like
storage, technology has made “local”
more critical than ever to consumers.
The relevance of once monopolistic
media such as Yellow Pages has
rapidly declined. Its replacement,
simply stated, is the Internet.
But is local no longer relevant?
The exact opposite is actually true.
Yellow Pages became less relevant
to the self-storage industry because
the Internet offered a hyper-local
experience. Consumers who once
thumbed through more than one
hundred pages in a telephone
directory were given the option to
narrow their choices to a few select
facilities in close proximity to their
location via the Internet. Add to
that the ability to compare pricing,
features and real-time availability,
and Yellow Pages could not compete.
So where are all of these local selfstorage seeking consumers online?
For starters, think search engines
(like Google, Yahoo!, Bing), local
review sites (like Yelp), social media
(like Facebook), mobile apps, and
lastly, think FindLocalStorage.com
(FLS). FLS is a site built specifically
to show consumers the facilities
closest to them, providing the
information they need to make
purchase decisions.
SBOA Magazine - Fall 2015
Essential #2: Your brand
should come first.
Brand is defined differently in the selfstorage industry. From a traditional
brand marketing perspective, there
are only a select few in the selfstorage industry that have consumer
recognized brands. That means
everyone else falls into the same
bucket, and despite any attempts that
have been made to create a traditional
brand, they will likely fail a test for
instant recall with most consumers.
Your storefronts are the best vehicle
for starting the instant recall process.
Location placement, signage and
other local strategies can be used
to gain recall. Many restaurants,
churches and other businesses use
clever message boards, social media
and hosted events to drive awareness
within the local communities they
serve. Be creative in making people
aware and consistently noticing your
facility. Make sure your logo is always
prominent in anything you do. This
awareness is the first step in creating
instant recall at the critical time.
The next step will involve ensuring
your brand displays online when
customers search the local market.
You have to be visible at the time
consumers have a need (and search)
for instant recall to happen. Lastly,
partner with companies like Find
Local Storage that deliberately avoid
trying to display prominently when
people are searching for you by name.
Search your brand on Google today
(example “ Self
Storage, Houston, TX) and you might
be surprised which of your media
“partners” is displaying almost as
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