MAKE THE GRADE MAKE THE GRADE Dos and Don’ts Of Marketing To Students By Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell S


ummer means backyard barbe- ques, swimming pools, and vacations. For self-storage facili-


ties located in college towns, or within the three- to five-mile radius of a col- lege or university, it could also mean marketing to a specific demographic and selling those smaller units. However, there is a key to mar-


keting to college students. “First of all, it’s important if you’re really full and stable, there’s really no need to market to students,” says Carol Mixon, president of SkilCheck Services in Tucson, Ariz. “But if you’re in lease-up, or if you’re marketing mid-school year in the winter, when business fluctuates during the winter, it can help you fill those empty units.” If your facility is in lease-up, in an


area where the market is softening, or you’re wanting to fill smaller units during the short term in the winter, conventional marketing tricks probably won’t work as well on students. Nevertheless, you first must decide if the short-term rental is worth it.


Does It Make Sense? Most facilities will only market to stu- dents if they want to fill space that can’t be filled by long-term renters. Beau Agnello, senior vice president at Pogoda Companies, based in Farmington Hills, Mich., says his com- pany has several properties in college towns or within a short distance of a college or university. “We have two


FIRST QUARTER 2023


facilities near the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor,” says Agnello. “Students are typically good renters, but they’re not worth all the work. Someone once told me renting to stu- dents is like eating pistachios; they’re good but a lot of work for little return.”


number of customers, which will give you the average stay in days. Divide that number by 12, which will give you the average number in months. Next, you want to find your average


“Students are


typically good renters, but they’re not worth all the work.” - BEAU AGNELLO


Agnello explains that is because


students typically only stay for short durations, either one to two months during the winter break or, at the most, three to four months over summer break. “They have the lowest lifetime value of any customer,” he says. “We’re happy to get students, but we don’t actively pursue them.” Lifetime value is typically calculated


by taking the average length of stay per customer. Your software can calcu- late this, or you can count every cus- tomer who has rented for the past year and note the length of stay in days. Divide the days they stayed by the


unit price, which is calculated dividing the gross potential of your facility by the number of units. Finally, multiply the average price by average stay, which gives you the lifetime value of the customer. Agnello uses an example of a typi-


cal customer having a lifetime value of $15,000. He says that can drop to around $2,000 for students. “Really, if your facility isn’t in lease-up, once you rent to a student, you’ve lost the opportunity to have someone who may have stayed longer in the unit,” says Agnello. “From a labor standpoint, it costs the same to rent to a short-term customer as it does to a long-term customer. Our goal is to have a more stable tenant base.” Agnello adds that even if they have


vacant smaller units, they always know the key dates for college, such as semester endings, graduation, and when school lets out for summer. “We will discount those units before the college students come, as we would rather have longer-term renters,” says Agnello. “We try to fill up by the time school is out.” This strategy helps Pogoda’s facili-


ties not be as volatile or dependent on student rentals to achieve income goals for the year.


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