Not all marketing channels are created equal. And when you’re working with a marketing budget, you need to be selective about where you allocate your resources.
SpareFoot and Google Ads are two of the biggest customer acquisition channels available to operators and owners. But which is more effective?
It all comes down to customer acquisition cost (CAC) and the competition in your local market.
In this post, we’ll compare SpareFoot vs Google Ads, and explain how you can decide between the two.
SpareFoot aggregates storage properties and helps people seeking storage find the best options in their area. Basically, it’s a search engine for self storage. With over 20,000 facilities listed, they have one of the most comprehensive databases of self storage properties on the internet.
SpareFoot functions like Expedia for hotels by offering price comparisons, availability information, and customer reviews. Users are able to book units directly from the site.
Owners and operators pay when someone reserves storage space from SpareFoot. Think of it as a pay-per-rental model. This is great because it means you only spend money for actual bookings.
Just like Google or any other search engine, SpareFoot uses an algorithm to determine where facilities rank in search results. The four major factors are your property’s
SpareFoot also uses a bidding system to determine how much you pay for each customer that books through the site. Your bid also impacts where your facility ranks in the results page.
Advertising on SpareFoot’s platform is also an excellent way to increase the visibility of your facility and reach new customers who are searching for self storage in your market.
The bidding system is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it allows facilities to control how much they spend on customers acquired through SpareFoot. But on the other hand, it favors companies who can outspend their competition.
If you’re in an area without a lot of big competitors, then you’ll be fine. But if REITs have set up shop in your market, these national chains will pour resources into SpareFoot and bid higher than independent operators can afford.
Each REIT facility falls under the umbrella of the national organization, meaning they share resources. Consequently, they can spend exorbitant amounts of money to acquire customers—even if they lose money in the short term.
In this scenario, SpareFoot isn’t a viable option from a paid perspective. It’s still a good idea to list your property there, but don’t get into a bidding war you can’t win.
Students can be a consistent source of new rentals because they need storage during the middle of a move or when they return home for the summer.
However, using SpareFoot as an acquisition channel for this customer type isn’t ideal. Yes, students often utilize self storage, but they also only rent for short periods of time.
In marketing terms, that means their lifetime value (LTV) as a customer isn’t very high. And since SpareFoot can be expensive, it also means your customer acquisition costs can be high.
In this scenario, you’re paying a lot to get customers who don’t make your business that much money over the long term. Not a great strategy.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads are text advertisements that appear at the top of search results pages in Google (although they can also appear on other parts of the page). These ads are triggered by specific keywords that people type into search engines.
So when someone types “self storage marketing” they’ll see our ad at White Label Storage. Similarly, when someone searches for “self storage {city name}” you can set up campaigns that advertise your facility.
These ads are called pay-per-click, because that’s how Google charges for this type of advertising. You set up ads, create a budget with a bid amount, and push the campaign live.
Every time there’s a search that would trigger your ads, an automated auction occurs that determines which ads are displayed (yours or others who are bidding on that keyword) and where on the page it displays.
Although the process is called an auction, your bid price is only one of the factors that determines whether your ad wins. Google calls the criteria Ad Rank and it considers:
There are other more technical factors in Ad Rank, but it’s important to know that the quality of your ad makes a big difference. Google provides a quality score for every ad, so you can optimize your campaigns based on feedback in the ads platform.
There are several reasons why running PPC ads on Google could be a better play than advertising on SpareFoot.
1. Full Control Over Ad Spend and Budget
The Google Ads platform affords you more control over how you spend your budget. You can set daily spending limits and adjust based on performance.
2. Target high-intent customers
People searching for self storage are on the hunt for a facility to store their belongings. In marketing, this is called “high-intent traffic” because the searchers are likely to convert into customers.
PPC ads give you the ability to direct these customers to your website and turn them into customers.
3. Flexible Bidding Strategies
Google Ads gives you the freedom to dynamically adjust your bids based on the competition and demand.
If demand rises during the busy season, you can increase your bid to gain more customers. Similarly, you can reduce budget during the slow season to save resources.
4. Becomes More Cost Effective Over Time
PPC ads can work harmoniously with your organic search rankings. As you optimize your website and rankings start to rise, you can spend less on advertising because more traffic is being captured through organic search.
Like many things in marketing, the answer is “it depends.”
In an ideal scenario, you can use a hybrid approach. Both SpareFoot and PPC ads can be powerful acquisition channels, so if the market conditions are right and your budget allows, advertising on both can maximize your lead generation.
However, we rarely encounter ideal scenarios, so it comes down to customer acquisition cost. If REITs have already raised the bidding prices for SpareFoot in your market, it’s probably not worth it. The business economics just don’t make sense for independent operators.
In that case, Google Ads offers a more flexible, more direct channel for reaching people who are in the midst of buying motion. In addition, the ability to optimize ads gives you the ability to win through better marketing, rather than spending more money.
That alone makes Google Ads a more attractive option in most circumstances.
But you need marketing expertise to really make PPC ads work. If you’re looking for a partner to turn your marketing into a customer acquisition machine, schedule a free demo with our team. We’re a certified Google Partner, and we know how to bring in more tenants for your facility.
