If there’s one common thread among shed companies, it’s that they all experience ebbs and flows in their sales cycles.
For most, business picks up in the spring as buyers begin sprucing up their outdoor spaces. This often happens again later in the year as customers scramble to purchase sheds before winter.
The right marketing mix could give a shed company owner an edge during those peak times. However, the best approach depends largely upon their size, geographic footprint, and buyer demographics.
DIGITAL DOMAIN
Marvin Raber, owner of builder/retailer Raber Storage Barns in Montgomery, Indiana, says about 95 percent of his marketing is online, either through website SEO (search engine optimization), messaging campaigns, or Facebook Marketplace.
He employs the help of a collaborative marketing team consisting of nine salespeople; Schweb Design of Lancaster, Pennsylvania; and Shed Geek Marketing in Paducah, Kentucky, to execute his strategy.
“They’re adept at finding areas that are good spots to drive sales and use Google ad spends,” he says.
The team also assists in researching potential new locations for Raber sales lots.
“When we put up a new location, we expect it’s going to sell at least $1 million in product,” he says, “so we’re very careful with the location, and we do a lot of research to see if the demand is there.”
It’s a marketing mix that seems to be working for his company, which has retail outlets scattered across Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois. In 2024, Raber had his most successful year yet.
And while the company’s marketing spend typically varies little throughout the year, that could soon change.
“We’re planning to increase our ad budget for the first quarter of 2025 to jumpstart the spring buying season,” he adds.
He’s also hoping to begin extracting more data from online marketing campaigns to gather more data about his customers, which could help identify potential new locations or increases in demand for certain products.
OLD-SCHOOL MARKETING
Alternatively, Chris Winter, owner of retailer Winterteam Enterprises, says he prefers old-school marketing techniques for his one-man retail outlet in Bastrop, Texas, situated about 45 minutes east of Austin.
As a seller of Derksen portable buildings, he simply doesn’t have the time to track down sales leads generated online.
“Obviously, online marketing is a big thing these days,” Winter says, “and if an owner has the time, it can pay off. But for me, marketing directly on Facebook ends up taking up significantly more resources than it pays in returns.
“I don’t generally get a lot of qualifying buyers out of it, and I waste a lot of time trying to track those leads down.”
Instead, Winter gets more bang for his buck using a strategy suited to his small footprint. It’s an approach not uncommon to the small business owner.
“You become a member of the local chamber of commerce and get involved in things like parades … just keep your name out there, especially within your marketing sphere is only about a 50-mile radius like mine,” he says.
Winter shares that the location of his retail lot and billboard are undoubtedly his biggest marketing tools.
“I’ve got a 5-acre lot on a busy highway that we purchased years ago … that is our biggest strength,” he adds. “There are tens of thousands of people that drive by us every day. We’re marketing ourselves simply through our location.”
Recently, he rented additional road frontage to provide him with a total of 600 feet of highway frontage. Winter rotates his inventory to grab a driver’s attention.
“Many of my customers pass by every day, so if I don’t change things up, I’ll be overlooked. We change up the colors and themes on things to keep it fresh.
“In the end, we’re looking for the most affordable type of impressions that have the biggest impact,” he adds.
However, Winter takes a decidedly different approach when marketing his two other businesses, both of which are based largely online—CarportME Carports, an online carport dealership, and Tiny House Texas, which converts sheds into tiny homes or offices.
In 2024, he used a significant amount of his discretionary marketing income to pay an SEO specialist to boost his online presence to generate more direct sales leads, principally through his CarportMe.com site.
And earlier this year, Derksen created a website for Tiny House Texas that maintains an updated list of his inventory available for purchase. In the process, they handle the SEO management to help drive traffic to the site.
“Derksen is more like a partner than a client,” Winter says. “If there are things they can do to strengthen my sales, they’ll do it.”
SIMPLE APPROACH
Wayne Troyer, who co-owns shed manufacturer Gold Star Buildings in Hadley, Pennsylvania, says he has an admittedly simple approach to marketing during peak seasons. Gold Star builds about 200 sheds a year in their 50-by-100-foot shop, most of which are sold through a network of six dealers scattered across Pennsylvania.
“There’s a local area shopper publication where we advertise every week,” Troyer says. “We do have a website and some Google and Facebook ads but not a lot.”
Once a month, they’ll also send an email blast to their customer database and include a link to their inventory page and 3D builder on their website. During the slower months, they’ll run ads for discounts ahead of the spring rush.
“If we’re sitting on a lot of inventory, we’ll run some discounts, but that hasn’t been a problem these last few years,” he adds.
Gold Star also strives to maintain a variety of sheds on its dealer lots to showcase its inventory as another old-school, but effective, marketing strategy for the family-run business. Troyer’s father, who also co-owns the business, takes most of the sales calls while their dealers handle those customers who come to the retail lots.
Nevertheless, Gold Star has begun to consider augmenting its marketing strategy in recent months. “Until the last year, we didn’t run Google ads at all, but in the last 12 months we started doing some of that to get a few more leads,” Troyer says. “It seems to be working.”
