They Facebook. They Tweet. They post on online forums. They carry around iPhones and Droids, meaning they're always online. And most importantly, they tend to live in one place for nine months of the year and another place for three, which makes them consistent self-storage customers. They're college students, and as semesters and quarters at U.S. universities wind down and summer begins, facilities in college markets are looking to reel them in. But how does one best reach a college student? That's a very good question for Self-Storage Talk.
SST, the largest online forum in the industry and the official forum of Inside Self-Storage, often hosts many great marketing discussions, the latest being "Marketing to College Students." According to the thread so far, here are the most important tools in reaching college students:
- Good website and web presence
- Student specials in the 15 percent range, with an incentive for them to pay for all three or four months upfront.
- Craigslist ad
- Using social media (i.e. Facebook and Twitter)
- Partnerships with restaurants and "hangout" businesses
- Posting fliers in residence halls or campus centers
- Events
Are college students a part of your customer based? What do you do to reach out to them specifically? Do you have any other ideas? Share and read responses on the thread. If you're going to organize a student-focused marketing blitz this year, though, you'd better get to it soon. Many major campuses are giving exams this week.
To post on SST and join the community of 4,100+ members, you must be have a registered username, but joining is free, easy and can be done at http://www.selfstoragetalk.com/register.php.