2025 Marketing Self Storage - The Predictions

I would have felt sad without leaving 2024 with a little look ahead to 2025. So much has happened this year and, yet, there is SO much to look out for in 2025. Also, I love a bit of Mystic Meg…

We’ve got exciting things already booked in for 2025 - Webinars with Stora , speaking events at the The Self Storage Association UK and Swedish Self Storage Association (SSA Sweden) conferences booked in and exciting partnerships with other self storage market experts.

But, here are some marketing predictions I think everyone should be keeping a weather eye on the horizon for in 2025.

1. Automation (no, not site automation)

I predict that next year’s word will be ‘ AI AUTOMATION’. It might feel like we’ve been hearing that for years but AI automation is going to replace AI generation next year. Instead of over-creating and generating unoriginal ideas, it’s going to help us to AUTOMATE ideation, leaving us to do the creative stuff.

Using AI to automate the boring stuff, figuring out the logic, we can generate creative solutions to questions we didn’t even know we could answer. Like Intellistorage by Timothy Brant-Coles and more tailored dynamic price modelling based on geographic range and customer base.

2. SearchGPT SEO

SEO is not dead. AND, it should definitely not be IGNORED. At the end of October 2024, OpenAI launched SearchGPT, a direct competitor to Google’s Gemini. We are now in the age LLM SEO.

The fundamental differences between ChatGPT and SearchGPT is that ChatGPT relies on ‘memorised’ data whereas SearchGPT acts similarly to an original search algorithm (crawling, indexing and associating). What makes SearchGPT more powerful than good old fashioned search algorithm is the number of data points it can consider before offering search results. In layman’s terms, the results are more personalised, more specific to your location and FRESH.

But is your SEO performing on SearchGPT? You can only know by testing. We’re still at the edges of this new frontier with little to know insight into what it is that actually ranks well for SearchGPT SEO. But it’s safe to say that continuing to build sites that are well structured (i.e. best practice in technical SEO and on page SEO), sites that lead with expertise, experience and trust will continue to dominate in SEO rankings.

Clearly structured content like lists, ‘how-to’ guides, graphs and instructive content that is well written, original and human will help in increasing your SearchGPT rankings.

3. Site Architecture and data structures.

Nicely segwaying from my previous prediction - site architecture and data structures might sound like some IT jargon waffle, but I’m deadly serious. If your website and data infrastructure is to withstand the next 5 - 10 years of IOT (internet of things) and other dramatic shifts in technology - you need to get your site architecture and data structure secured. How your website is built, managed and maintained; how your data flows, is used, managed and maintained? The answer to these questions will be critical to how easily your business will be able to pivot and embrace new technologies, new customer touch points and data inputs.

In the last year, I’ve been really aware of ‘make do and mend’ website jobs and data structures that are around. This is mostly due to legacy but also due to the lack of investment in critical pieces of business infrastructure. Websites are gateways to businesses and brands. We need to start treating them like the vital utilities they are.

4. Marketing Budgets

Another nice segway! Like investing in our critical business infrastructure… we need to be investing in our marketing. 2025 is predicted to be a much tougher year for the self storage industry with the housing market freezing (especially in the UK), customers taking care of their purse strings and business costs continuing to rise. You’re probably considering cutting spending across the board in 2025 and most often it’s the marketing budget that goes first.

I urge you to NOT cut the marketing budget. Brand awareness, being top of mind, taking up space in your local market and share of voice are crucial in times of low demand. You need to be seen and you need to remind your ideal customer profile of what you can offer them that others cannot.

It doesn’t matter what size of marketing budget you have (shoe-string to mega-bucks), keep it afloat.

5. Brand Management

Self storage is officially commoditised. It’s time to start differentiating. The self storage brands that start setting themselves apart from their class are the brands that are going to come out on top.

It may always come down to price for some people but more increasingly, with the shift in generational spending power, brand momentum and values alignment will play an important role in why your customer chooses to use you.

Your brand is not just your name, your logo and your colour palette. It’s your businesses personality type, behavioural characteristics, values systems and mindset. Who are you in business for and why should they care?

6. Local Service Marketing

Again, with the commoditisation of self storage, I predict geographic market range is going to narrow. Self storage marketing is going to become even more local. And, the local community is going to play an even more important role in building brand awareness, word of mouth and customer loyalty. Building partnerships with local businesses, being present at local events and supporting local community organisations will become even more crucial for independent operators. In fact, it will probably give local, independent operators the edge over larger, multi-store brands.

Using local knowledge, local expertise and a local face to promote and build communities around your local business will serve as a life long investment in business sustainability for the future.

And, with that, the 2024 season of Marketing Self Storage comes to an end. Thank you to ALL my subscribers for starting out with me on this little journey. 2024 has been a fast-paced, head-on year. I’ve loved it.