Almost every time you turn around, there is something in the news about social media – and Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are some of the big daddies on the playing field.

Facebook was founded in 2004 with over 1 billion users as of October 2012. YouTube was founded in 2005 and roughly 60 hours of video is uploaded to the site every single minute. Twitter was created in 2006 and has over 500 million registered users as of 2012. Many companies use these sites in their marketing campaigns. [More]

The main reason for marketing is to generate customers and revenue for your business. A company needs to build awareness so that customers and potential customers know and understand your company. Then, your company needs to develop leads that will get those people to rent a storage unit from you.

In today’s world, over 75 percent of all Internet users go online and do research before they buy something. In many cases, Google will place videos at the top of search results. That is why it is critical to have videos on YouTube about your company. [More]

A new year is just around the corner. This is the time of year when many people set New Year’s Resolutions to improve their lives and make changes for the better. For owners and managers of self storage businesses, this is also a great time to rethink and make improvements of your marketing activities – and a time to commit to trying new and inexpensive market tactics.

Here are 8 low cost ideas that you could try during 2013. [More]

QR codes (short for “quick response”) -- you’ve probably seen them around because they are popping up everywhere you look. They are those little squares with a funky black and white pattern inside. They are cousin to the bar code.

You use a QR code reader on your smart phone (and your phone needs to have a camera) to scan the square and read the information in the code. That information can contain a variety of information: a link to a video, webpage, document, picture, graphic, or just plain text. [More]

Whenever you visit your parents or grandparents house do you see them go to the cabinet and pull out this large, unattractive, cumbersome book whenever they want to find a phone number or address for something? Do you find yourself wondering what that thing is? [More]

There are many things that likely bother owners in the self storage industry. One of those things has to be how to figure out what marketing efforts are successful or not, and if so are they worth the money that is being paid for them. A new software package by a leading self storage software provider could go a long way to helping facilities figure that out. [More]

Marketing and branding are top business concerns for owners of self storage facilities. They are always looking for new and innovative ways to market their business and ways to create a business brand and get it in the public's awareness. LifeStorage in Chicago is using some marketing innovation by connecting with a local sports-talk radio station. [More]

Branding is a marketing term that creates distinctive features for a company or a product that makes it easily identifiable from its competition. Branding can include features such as logos, color combinations, fonts, symbols, or catch phrases. It establishes qualities or characteristics that make a company different or special and makes it stand out in the market place.

LifeStorage in Chicago understands the benefits of establishing strong branding and has enlisted Smbolic to develop their brand. Symbolic is a strategic design and innovation firm with offices in Chicago, Atlanta, and Vancouver. [More]

In this day and age there is one thing that every customer wants, no matter whether they are renting a unit from a self storage facility, buying a new car, or going grocery shopping and that is convenience. People don’t want to have to work hard at spending their money; they work hard enough to earn it. Many within the self storage industry are doing what they can to make their business as user-friendly as possible. [More]

Businesses use marketing campaigns to sell their company, their goods, or their services to prospective customers. When the business uses a marketing ad campaign that is controversial, the results of the ad can go one of two ways. It can either upset potential customers so much that they refuse to do any business whatsoever with that company. Or, it can flip regular customers into die-hard, loyal clients. Whether or not the ad is successful is due to the location of the storage unit and their target market. [More]