How to Make a Splash with Traditional Media

By Nick Bilava, Storage.com

At Storage.com, we’re dedicated to helping storage owners and operators excel in the digital sphere. But we’re also committed to seeing your facility succeed and grow overall. It’s in this vein that today’s post is focused on traditional advertising. You may think that involves only the phone book. Think again. There are multiple ways to use traditional media to make a big splash.

The overall sentiment regarding Yellow Pages for self storage promotion has gone sour in the last decade. Since finding a business phone number is so easy with the Internet now, the cost per lead generated by a phone book ad has skyrocketed to well above unprofitable. Newspapers, at least the large dailies, have also fallen out of favor for the same reason. Dropping readership has made the cost per lead of newspaper ads no longer profitable for most self storage operators.

However, there are still some avenues that fall into what can be considered traditional advertising. We’ll show you ways to use them to your best advantage.

Alternatives to Daily Papers

Don’t be so quick to bury newsprint. The major daily in your area may be priced out of your budget, but there are some other choices. And it’s more than just the weekly classifieds-only publication. Here’s a quick list of good alternatives to daily papers, which we’ll explain below:

  • Alternative weeklies
  • College newspapers
  • Local business journals
  • Women’s publications
  • Legal newspapers of record

The first are the alternative weeklies. These are free papers found in just about every coffeehouse, bar, and restaurant in your area. They typically focus on entertainment, dining, and the arts with a few local news and sports features thrown in. Readership typically skews younger, and it’s a good opportunity to exercise some creativity. Ads with snappy lines or humor go a long way with this audience.

Similar to the alternative weeklies are college newspapers. If your facility is within a few miles of a college campus, you’ve got a prime audience for self storage. Small to medium-sized colleges publish their papers every week or two. Schools with enrollments of 20,000 or more may publish daily during the week. Again, a more “creative” ad works best here rather than something too staid or typical.

Your area probably has a publication dedicated to covering local business. A typical business journal will publish at least once a month, if not weekly. Ad copy that caters to the specific needs of businesses would be a wise idea here. Often, local areas also have a publication directed at women, many times managed by the same publisher of the business journal. Ads in a local women’s magazine lets you target homeowners, families, and people who are moving. Additionally, your area will have a legal newspaper of record. Catering to law firms could be quite beneficial to your operation as well.

Good Ol’ Reliable Radio

As long as there’s weather, news, and sports happening, local radio isn’t going anywhere. And using radio may be easier than you think. You can often get a trade agreement for some spots, and you don’t have to go with a traditional 30 or 60-second spot. You can get remarkable name recognition with a one to two-line ad (five to ten seconds) that runs frequently. The line can be a reminder of some type (spring cleaning, moving season, holiday wishes, etc.) and its repetition will hammer home your name.

If you choose to do a traditional radio ad, make it count. Creativity rules. And it can get people talking. Most radio ads are terrible because the businesses who made them ignored the two previous sentences.

Here are a few things NOT to do for a radio ad:

Have the station producer voice your ad. They already voice 80 to 90% of the station’s local ads, so your ad won’t stand out. Think about who you know that has a great voice. Ask them to do it.

Voice the ad yourself. Folksy? Maybe. But typically, it’s annoying, as well as unprofessional. Unless you’ve been told you have a great radio voice, it’s best to leave the microphone to the pros.

Jam as many words as possible in the ad. Well-placed silence is like white space on a page; it draws people in. Too many words make people tune out.

Have the station write the ad. They probably can’t provide the creativity you’re shooting for. Look around your personal network or local area and see if you can find someone with experience writing truly creative ads. You may be surprised.

Don’t Rule Out TV

TV advertising that will fall within your budget will probably be with your local cable operator. They may be able to offer time slots that fit your budget. And again, a shorter ad built around a simple idea might be just the route to go. An alternative to a regular TV ad is sponsorship of some kind. Nearly every local station has between three and five hours of local newscasts every weekday. Sponsoring a certain portion of a news broadcast, such as weather or neighborhood news, works to get your name out over television.

Pamphlets and Packets

Two more traditional media avenues that can provide some good results are coupon books and boots-on-the-ground business outreach. Getting into a coupon book can boost your rentals with some attractive offers. But you could see some long-term results by reaching out to businesses directly by stopping by and dropping off a pamphlet and business cards.

Business customers tend to exhibit less turnover than the individual renter, making them an attractive client. Some facilities will actually close for a half-day during the week, usually Monday morning through lunch, and dispatch their management staff to distribute promotional materials to businesses.

In addition to excellence in digital marketing, your traditional media marketing efforts should also be of the highest quality. Dive in, look around, and think about ways to make a big splash with traditional media.