October 1, 2004

6 Min Read
Open Road to Success: Reaching Your RV Market

Moving Toward Profit With Boat/RV Marketing

By Fred Gleeck

Whether you offer spaces as part of a self-storage, marina orRV operation, this article will show you ways to rent more spaces at higherprices. There is only one way to calculate your success: Compare how manydollars you spend on getting people to rent from you vs. how much money youmake. Track your numbers carefully so you can continue doing those things thatwork and cease those that dont. First, remember you are a niche marketer. Not everyone owns aboat or RV, so you have to properly target these groupsseparately.

Open Road to Success: Reaching Your RV Market

If youre still in the construction phase of your storageproject, look at your competition before building. Try and differentiateyourself from competitors by providing features otherwise absent in the market.For example, in some markets, youll want to offer covered spaces. Althoughmore expensive to build, they can rent for a premium of 25 percent or more. Somefacilities set up dump stations for RVs.

Visit any RV dealers in your area and talk to salespeople andgeneral managers. This will not only help you discover what RV owners arelooking for in a facility, it will give you an opportunity to win referrals. When I bought my own RV, one of the first questions I askedwas, Where can I store this vehicle after I buy it? A smart storageoperator will visit dealers and leave them with his promotional literature andsome discount coupons.

RV owners are also likely to check with fellow owners beforemaking a decision on where to rent, so give everyone you rent to excellentservicethe word will get around. Consider providing current renters referralcoupons to encourage them to tell people about you. You could even offer anincentive such as rental credit. Once you get going, repeat customers will beyour bread and butter. Your goal will be to keep these customers until they selltheir RVs. That means giving everyone great service and bending over backwardfor regulars.

Finally, you may want to advertise, particularly in the YellowPages. In your ads, dont only say you offer RV storage, buthighlight the features that will make owners want to consider renting from you.Before you can sell prospects on your storage site, you need to get them to calland then visit you. This will only be possible if you entice them with thebenefits they crave.

First and foremost, address the issue of security in all ofyour advertising. Customers will want to be sure your facility is safe, as an RVis a major investment. Youll want your site to be well-lit and perhaps offerother amenities, such as computerized gate access and video surveillance. Yourad will read, Yes, we offer RV storage. Underneath, it should state, Safeand well-lighted.

Location is another important factor RV owners consider whendeciding on a facility. They want one close to where they live as well as near amajor highway for convenience when they travel.

Smooth Sailing: Targeting Your Boat Market

To win new customers in this market, youll want to focus ontwo groups: boaters or potential boaters, and those who sell boats and boatingsupplies. To target storage prospects themselves, its good to have a friendlyconnection with those who own, operate or manage boating facilities.

When contacting sellers or marina professionals, explain yourfacilitys features and benefits and provide an incentive for referrals.Chances are some of them own boats themselves. Give them a preferred rateoreven a free spaceto get them to store with you personally. When they make sales presentations to potential boat buyers,one of the common concerns they address is storage. Its a great marketingtechnique if they tell prospects they rent from you.

Also, provide suppliers and marina operators preprintedreferral sheets they can distribute to their customers. These should be coded tolet you know who is sending business your way. At the end of each month, takecare of the folks who took care of you. This might mean doing something assimple as sending a pizza to their office, courtesy of your facility.

Making Waves in Both Markets

An effective marketing technique that works for both marketsis a hotline. Set up a separate phone line that plays a dedicated outgoingmessage for your boat and RV prospects. All you need is voicemail, which willcost peanuts from your local phone provider.

First, personalize the name of your hotline. For example, ifyour facility is in Osh Kosh, call it The Osh Kosh RV (or Boat) StorageHotline. Include its name and number in all of your advertising, andemphasize it is available 24/7. People will often prefer to call a hotlinenumber for information because they know there wont be a salesperson on theother end of the line.

When people call the hotline, the corresponding message willlist your facilitys features and benefits. It should highlight what makesyour facility different from competitors in the area. Dont worry about howlong the message isit can never be too long, only too boring.

If youre interested in potential press coverage, set up thehotline as a public-service message that gives out valuable tips about boat orRV storage. In this case, any references to your facility willhave to be subtle. Send outpress releases about your hotline to local media. If you are in an area whereboating or RVing is seasonal, send just before the season begins.

Another effective way to drum up publicity is to join onlineforums and discussion groups in the marina and RV industries. To fi nd them,visit websites such as www.google.com orwww.yahoo.com, which feature links to search fordifferent online organizations. When participating in discussions, you can provide adetailed signature file that explains who you are and what you do, and evenincludes your hotline number.

Some final things to consider are advertising on the web orin industry publications. The RV and boat industries have trade publications in whichyou can consider classified or display advertising. Always direct people toyour hotline in your ads!

The Rental-Rate Debate

To determine your rental rates, start by finding out whatyour competition is charging. Set your prices comparatively at first, then increase thembased on demand. You never want to be out of spaces when someone calls to rent,so when youre 90 percent occupied, bump up your rates. This way youllalways have something to rent and can maximize your profitability.

The RV and boat markets are great niches for storageoperators. The key is to target them with your marketing. First concentrate onthe least expensive methods for driving traffic to your site. Monitor theresults of your marketing to make sure youre not spending foolishly. Followthese suggestions, and youll rent more spaces at higher prices.

Fred Gleeck is a profit-maximization consultant who helpsself-storage owners/operators during all phases of the business, from thefeasibility study to the creation of an ongoing marketing plan. He is the authorof

Secrets of Self Storage Marketing SuccessRevealed!,available for purchase at www.selfstoragesuccess.com, as well as the producer of professional training videoson self-storage marketing. To receive a copy of his Seven-Day Self-StorageMarketing Course and storage marketing tips, send an e-mail to[email protected]. For more information, call 800.FGLEECK; e-mail [email protected].

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