Trucking Down the Social Media Lane
Recently, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research conducted a study on the implementation of social media within the Inc. 500 companies, the fastest-growing private companies in the United States. Interestingly, 56% of respondents reported that social media was “very important” to their business strategy, and these were also the companies that ranked higher in terms of profit.
According to consumer studies, over 70% of people expect businesses to have an online presence. Surprisingly, 40% of companies now draw more traffic to their Facebook page than their website. Recognizing the potential of social media, a growing number of trucking and logistics companies on Twitter and Facebook are adopting this new medium of communication. The use of social media is helping trucking companies by supplying an inexpensive yet effective way to reach out and interact with current and potential customers and their employees. As reported by the 60 Second Marketer, 40% of U.S. mobile users regularly browse the internet from smart phones. As you can see, mobile web browsing is a very important mode of communication, especially since it is predicted to surpass PC traffic by 2013.
So how does a company get involved with social media? First, a company should draft a social media policy that fits their organization’s needs and goals. Next, depending on the size of the business, the company should have at least one person who manages their social media. Lastly, the company’s social media content must be consistent, regulated, and interesting. Social media is not rocket science—its conversation, and every company should strive to achieve it.
Five uses of social media in the trucking industry are as follows:
1. Brand Recognition and Promotion
Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube allow companies to make users aware of their services, products, and various community and industry initiatives. These networks create transparency between the company and users which helps a company to build a stronger brand image. According to studies, businesses are spending 6 to 19 percent of their marketing budgets on social media.
2. Customer Service
Many trucking companies use social media websites to directly interact with their customers by seeking feedback via posts and forums. As a result, the companies are able to quickly and efficiently resolve any problems or issues.
3. Notifications
Facebook and Twitter provide the ability to update customers with real-time information on what regulatory changes and rate increases are in effect in the industry and company.
4. Load Board
Social media allows trucking companies to quickly communicate with other logistics companies by serving as a load board. For example, trucking companies will often “tweet” if they need additional resources to cover a certain load traveling to an area outside of their geographical capacity. Moreover, if a company is looking to fill half empty trailers to cut costly empty mileage, a special rate reduction can be instantly made to shippers who have freight heading the same way. An example of an effective user of social media is Trucking Planet, a free freight matching load board on Twitter that has over 1,750 followers.
5. Job Recruiting
From an organizational development perspective, many trucking companies are sharing job postings via Twitter and Facebook, which in turn, saves the company money on traditional ways of print and web-based job recruiting methods, and thus allows the company to pool talents from a broader area.
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