Better Branding Maximizes Truck Driver Recruiting

April 11, 2013

branding_iron

A compelling brand strategy is the most cost-effective weapon you can have in your driver recruiting arsenal.

Ever ask yourself how Apple can charge $1500 for a $750 laptop? Because it’s worth it to the people who buy them. That’s the power of a great brand. Ever ask yourself why the typical self-respecting Southerner would sooner take a bullet than serve Pepsi at a party? Because it’s not Coke. That’s the power of a great brand.

So how can you ensure that your brand is as strong as it can be, and effectively supporting your company’s recruiting goals?

Start With A Thorough Brand Review.
A brand is a lot more than the slogan of the month. It’s who you are, from your people to your service processes. It’s what comes into people’s minds when they think of your company or product. So what comes to mind when people think about you? It’s a good question to start the ball rolling. And don’t just ask yourself that question. Ask others.

Develop A Positioning Statement And Brandline.
Your positioning statement (or elevator pitch) should reflect the central benefits your company offers a driver or team. And a memorable, strategically-sound brandline (IE, Apple: Think Different.) can serve as the foundation for all of your marketing communications.

Make The Necessary Internal Adjustments.
If your brand review indicates others perceive you differently from how you perceive yourself (or how you hope others perceive you), simply re-working you brand message is only the start. You’ll also need to make changes in the company itself.

Be Consistent.
Once you’ve identified all the necessary changes, you’ll need to deploy your new brand strategy through all your communications channels. Driver recruiting ads are important. But they’re only part of a truly effective plan—which should encompass everything from your Social Media strategy to the way your recruiters handle incoming calls.

Stick With It.
Study after study has demonstrated that businesses who maintain a consistent advertising investment average significantly higher sales growth than those who don’t. The same applies to driver recruitment. Particularly during recessions. After all, if your competitors are cutting their ad budgets, what better time to reach-out to their drivers and prospects?

Think of it this way: If you’re in a room with 20 people talking at once, all you hear is noise. But if 19 go silent, suddenly the one person who’s still talking can be heard loud and clear. Now that’s taking advantage of opportunity.

FOR FURTHER READING:

3 Tips For Making Your Driver Recruiters’ Calls More Effective

Recruiters: Is your company keeping the promises you’re making?

Three Lessons From MATS For Truck Driver Recruiting

Leave a Comment » | Advertising, Branding, Communications, Driver Recruitment, Social Media, Trade Shows | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by francishare

How NOT To Recruit Owner Operator Drivers (Part 2)

April 4, 2013

Truck Driver in Semi TruckSix More Tips From Three More Experts

If there’s one thing I heard at MATS this year, it’s that recruiting Owner Operators is tough as it’s ever been. Which shouldn’t surprise anyone. After all, as I noted in my first post on the topic, the total number of Owner Operators in the market is (by some estimates) 1/3 what it was just before the recession began in 2008.

Which is why, more than ever, it’s important to avoid the mistakes that can make or break an Owner Operator’s decision to join your company. And why I received enough responses to one simple question (“What are the common mistakes you’ve either made yourself, or seen others make?”) to fill two posts.

Which leads to our second six tips:

CAROL GIBSON CareersInGear.com

1)  Don’t ask for Social Security Numbers online. In this age of Identity Theft, Gibson notes, people are constantly being warned not to give-out their Social Security numbers—particularly online. “Asking for that information on your job app will automatically run-off a significant percentage of prospects.”

2)  Don’t make your only application a long one. Owner Operators know they’re in great demand. And, Gibson notes, they’re typically pressed for time. “Think about it: If a driver’s looking to make a switch, how likely is he to take the time to fill-out a 10 to 15 page app (much less several), when he can answer a few key questions in a short form?” The point is to facilitate contact, because what you really want to do is get a driver on the phone.

JAMIE ADCOCK Target Media Partners

3)  Don’t focus on pre-qualifying drivers. Too many recruiters, Adcock notes, are pressured to fill seats—rather than focusing on driver-prospect needs. “Retention is just as important to your numbers as recruiting. So by focusing on making quality hires, you’re ultimately building quantity.”

4)  Don’t overlook “the little things”. Again, Owner Operators are busy. So anything you can do to make it easier to switch from their current company—from helping fill-out their paperwork to buying their plates—increases your chances of success. And, it goes without saying, doing the so-called “little things” (like offering annual hire-date recognition and rewards) can make all the difference in retention.

ERIN WHALEY Hare Communications

5)  Don’t rush the hiring process. The hiring Life Cycle for an Owner Operator is a relationship-building process that usually takes weeks, even months. Good recruiters understand that, and avoid pushing drivers to make on-the-spot decisions during initial conversations. That tactic scares-off a lot more Owner Operators than it attracts.

6)  Don’t make vague promises. Owner Operators are reflexively skeptical of companies—because nearly every driver will tell you he’s been burned in the past. So be upfront with the details—starting with your advertising. Make your ads and job postings specific—particularly where pay, home time and miles are concerned. And don’t be afraid to admit, during conversation, that your company isn’t perfect. Nobody is. The best Owner Operators know that. They’ll respect you for being honest. And earning a driver’s respect is the first big step toward a successful hire.


FOR FURTHER READING:

How NOT To Recruit Owner Operator Drivers (Part 1)

Five Steps For Recruiting Owner Operator Truck Drivers

Better Branding Maximizes Truck Driver Recruiting Effectiveness

4 Ways Oakley Maximizes Driver Recruiting And Retention

Leave a Comment » | Advertising, Communications, Digital Marketing, Driver Retention, Media Advertising, Owner Operators, Recruiters | Permalink
Posted by francishare

How NOT To Recruit Owner Operator Drivers (Part 1)

March 19, 2013

Truck Driver in Semi Truck

Six Tips From Three Experts

It’s no secret that recruiting Owner Operators is harder than ever. By some industry estimates, the total number of Owner Operators in the market is 1/3 what it was just before the recession began in 2008.

Not only that, says CareersInGear.com’s Carol Gibson, Owner Operators are less likely to switch companies now than they were just last year. “Freight’s good for Owner Operators now, so why would they leave—particularly if they’re with companies who took care of them when freight was down?”

Which made me think that now might be a good time to ask a few experts (including yours truly) for specific lessons they’ve learned—either from others, or from experience—in recruiting Owner Operators over the years.


FRANCIS HARE - TalkingTruckers.com

1)  Don’t underestimate the challenge. You have to invest more to attract Owner Operators than you do to recruit Company Drivers. Particularly if you’re just now entering the Owner Operator market. That starts with developing a powerful brand message that sets you apart from the competition. A message that’s communicated consistently, from your print and online ads to the “talking points” your recruiters use during telephone interviews.

If your brand isn’t well-established, the only way to overcome that disadvantage in the short term is with a truly superior offer, IE: Significantly higher pay or sign-on bonuses; or maybe an especially competitive Lease Purchase program. And don’t even think about recruiting Owner Operators without a solid referral program.

2)  Don’t change your message in mid-stream. One of the most important reasons to think through your messaging strategy is because it takes time to establish that message in the market.

Common ad-world wisdom holds that someone has to see your message three times before it sinks in—so if you change your message, it’s like starting over from scratch. Particularly with online job boards—where every content change drops you down the queue in maximizing your job posts’ prominence on the web, and frequent changes will pretty much keep you stuck at the back of the line.

Bottom line: Develop a strong selling message and offer. Then give it enough time to start working. And don’t panic if it doesn’t generate immediate results. You’ll only make the situation worse.


JEFF GRAY - Randall Reilly

3)  Don’t limit your advertising to one medium. Different generations access information differently. While there’s been a decided movement in spending toward online job boards, Gray notes that the truck driving population is aging. “The youngest Boomers will be 50 by the end of 2004, and studies clearly indicate that older drivers (who are typically not computer savvy) are much more apt to seek job info from print sources.”

4)  Don’t under-spend on your ad budget. Gray notes that when Randall launched the Owner Operator Network in 2011, the company committed a huge investment in search advertising to reach Owner Operators. “And remember,” Gray says, “that was two years ago, when the pool of Owner Operators was larger than it is now.”


JEREMY KELLETT - Oakley Trucking

5)  Don’t “sell”. More importantly, don’t over-sell. No company is right for every driver, says Kellett—so it’s important to determine first if there’s a good match between a prospect and your company. “If you try to make an opportunity sound better than it really is, or if you try to place a driver in a position he won’t like, you’ll end-up losing that driver. And you’ll probably hurt your reputation in the process.”

6)  Don’t expect to hire drivers on the first call. Hiring Owner Operators is like any business sales cycle, Kellet notes: It takes multiple contacts. “It’s a process of building a relationship, and mutual trust—and that takes time.” Conversely, Kellett cautions against hiring drivers who are ready to start work with you immediately. “Whenever we hear from a caller like that, a red flag goes up. And we almost always find-out there’s a good reason we were suspicious in the first place.” 

COMING SOON: PART TWO

FOR FURTHER READING:
Five Steps For Recruiting Owner Operator Truck Drivers

Better Branding Maximizes Truck Driver Recruiting Effectiveness

4 Ways Oakley Maximizes Driver Recruiting And Retention

2 Comments | Advertising, Benefits, Branding, Communications, Driver Incentives, Driver Pay, Driver Recruitment, Driver Referrals, Driver Retention, Media Advertising, Owner Operators, Recruiters, SEO | Permalink
Posted by francishare

Three Lessons From MATS For Truck Driver Recruiting

January 24, 2013

Image courtesy truckingshow.com

Recruiting is still about establishing relationships, and the most effective recruiting combines new solutions with old truths.

My yearly experience at MATS always confirms something I’ve said about the trucking business for about two decades now: There’s no industry or profession where people are more consistently, and genuinely, friendly. Which leads to my first, and most important, point:

1. Being Friendly Is Not Enough.
I know that sounds obvious to folks who’ve seen longtime drivers switch companies for what amounts to a few extra bucks a week. But my point is this: When you’re competing against organizations whose people are every bit as friendly and persuasive as yours, your brand is all you have to differentiate yourself from the competition.

Let’s put it this way: If I’m being perfectly honest, there really is little difference between Coke and Pepsi. So why would the typical self-respecting Southerner (like myself) take a bullet before serving Pepsi at a party? Because it’s not Coke. That’s the power of branding. And from the look of most booth displays and marketing materials I see at MATS, very few trucking companies fully understand the power that a well-defined brand (and brand message) can have in recruiting.

2. Technology Is Not Always The Answer.
There’s a reason the leading publishing companies have embraced online marketing as an extension of their traditional print magazines: It works. And its effectiveness is only going to grow as time passes. The same goes for social media—which, if some pundits are to believed, could ultimately become the single most powerful medium for effective recruiting.

Yes, PPC search-marketing, job boards, click-through banners and social media can be extremely effective tactics for attracting good candidates. But those tactics rarely ever close a deal for you. That takes person-to-person contact. Somebody on the phone speaking the same language as a driver—and asking for the sale.

Again, that seems like a pretty obvious point. So how do you explain recruiting departments who deal with incoming calls by directing drivers to their online application forms. “Why in the world,” a longtime veteran once asked me, “would you send someone to a website, when you have them on the phone?”

3. Recruiters Need To Be Recruiting.
After all, recruiting is what recruiters do best. So why are so many recruiters spending large chunks of their valuable time creating and managing their ad campaigns? “It costs less.” A claim to which I would responded, “Yep, and it costs less to buy fabric and sew your own suits. But if you’re looking for a job on Wall Street, that ain’t gonna cut it .”

Not only that, when you consider the percentage of a recruiter’s salary that’s lost on those activities, some companies are actually spending more to produce pathetic creative work (and make terribly-inefficient media investments) than they’d pay to have professionals do it right.

To summarize:

  • Define what makes you different. Clearly, compellingly and professionally.
  • Never forget what’s really important.
  • Focus on what you do best.
  • Spend wisely.

And yes, keep being friendly. Outside of keeping our nation’s economy rolling, it’s the one thing no industry does better.


For Further Reading:

Leave a Comment » | Advertising, Branding, Digital Marketing, Driver Recruitment, Trade Shows | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by francishare

Build Your Facebook Following For Truck Driver Recruiting.

September 26, 2012

How One Small Company Made A Big Splash In Social Media.

(Photo from Baggett’s Facebook albums)

Now in its third generation, Birmingham’s Baggett Transportation is a family-owned company specializing in military transport. When Director of Recruiting Daniel Buckhannan joined Baggett in mid-2011, he knew he wanted to increase the company’s Facebook following; he just wasn’t quite sure how. That’s where his agency came in.

Where To Begin? Where Else?
“The agency had already done an exceptional job of re-establishing Baggett’s brand identity in the driver market, so their first piece of advice was: Whatever we do, it has to be true to the company brand.”

Why?

1) Your brand is, by definition, what comes into people’s minds when they think of your company. It’s the foundation on which you build loyalty, with everyone from drivers and customers to office employees.

2) Social is the place where your company should engage fans and drivers in open conversations—not tin-eared sales pitches.

3) Any conversations you initiate, or (much worse) tin-eared sales pitches you make that are inconsistent with your core brand will ultimately weaken loyalty to your brand—and, therefore, to your company.

In short, the most effective Facebook pages consistently speak with a voice that matches their company brand. Which is why (to use an extreme example) promoting a daily diet of Colt 45 and primo weed is perfectly consistent with your brand if you’re Snoop Dogg, not Justin Bieber.

Baggett’s Brand: Family Oriented, Military Pride.
“We knew we wanted a campaign that would boost our fan base and strengthen our brand identity,“ Buckhannan continues, “and our agency came-up with a perfect strategy: For every new person who Liked us, we contributed $1 to National Veterans Homeless Support for the 2011 Christmas Holidays.

“We strategically launched our campaign on Veterans Day (November 11)—with the goal of generating 2000 Likes before Christmas. The agency had already helped us build-up a significant fan base over the previous few months [from roughly 39 to 1839], but the results of this campaign were beyond anything we’d anticipated.”

Exceeding Expectations Weeks Ahead Of Schedule.
Baggett reached its goal of 3889 Fans by December 6—less than three weeks after launch, and nearly three weeks ahead of schedule. Just as importantly, during the campaign, Baggett’s “People Talking About” rate averaged nearly 19%. And, Buckhannan notes, the “talk” was overwhelmingly supportive.

To put that 19% rate in perspective, industry blog Social Media Today has said, “A decent ‘People Talking About’ number works out to be anywhere between .5% and 2% of your total fans. More than 2%, and you’re a rock star.”

Strengthening Retention With A Private Page.
Baggett’s latest Social success is a private Facebook group—established in March of 2012, and open only to existing drivers. “So far,” Buckhannan reports, “about 40% of our fleet has joined the group. Driver posts on the page range from friendly small talk to serious discussions of safety rules.”

Since Baggett doesn’t publicly promote the private page, it’s not a draw for attracting new drivers. But it’s certainly proving effective at boosting retention. While the company’s annualized turnover rate for 2012 is roughly half the industry average (47%), turnover among its private Facebook group is an almost-unheard-of 3.5%.

And that’s a number you can deposit in your bank of brand goodwill any day.

2 Comments | Advertising, Branding, Communications, Driver Recruitment, Driver Retention, Facebook, Social Media | Permalink
Posted by francishare

Recruiters: Is your company keeping the promises you’re making?

June 6, 2012


If not, maybe it’s time you were honest with yourself.

What was I doing talking to the Boilermakers Union?
Several years ago, my agency was invited to offer the International Brotherhood Of Boilermakers a proposal for a statewide campaign promoting organized labor in Alabama.

Being Southern, and a business owner, I’d naturally been conditioned to harbor deep suspicions about unions. However, the opportunity was too good to dismiss it outright—so I agreed to an initial meeting with Boilermakers president DeWayne Parker.

What Parker told me in that meeting entirely changed my way of thinking. “We want to help the companies we supply labor to,” he told me. “We want to help them succeed and prosper by delivering value—both in terms of superior skills and a better workplace attitude.”

That certainly didn’t sound like any union I’d ever read about. That was a message we could sell to Alabama businesses. Still, I told him, a PR campaign was doomed to fail unless the entire Union was committed to making the changes needed live-up to those ideals. Without hesitation he replied, “Then that’s exactly what we’ll do.”

Two months later, Parker was soundly defeated in his bid for re-election. And as far as I know, the union never made any of the changes he envisioned.

What’s The Boilermakers Union got to do with driver recruiting?
That experience came to mind recently, after a trucking company invited my agency to analyze its recruiting problems, then offer a plan for addressing those problems. In researching the company, we discovered there was a massive disconnect between its stated mission and the reality drivers were experiencing once they joined the company.

In short, the company wasn’t keeping the promises found in its mission statement, or in its recruitment advertising. Consequently, overall driver turnover was significantly higher than the industry average; among younger drivers, it was literally double the industry average.

Which is why our recommendations focused on what we saw as their top three needs: 1) Making the changes necessary to get the company back in line with its founders’ mission, 2) Realigning its brand promises with reality, wherever organizational changes couldn’t be made, and 3) Elevating the role of Driver Retention to its proper place in supporting Recruiting’s goals. After all, we reasoned, what’s the point of increasing your flow of new recruits if you’re just pouring water into a fishnet?

They knew we were right. They said as much. So what did they decide to do? They implemented a program for increasing the flow of incoming recruits.

Now, I fully understand how important it is to maintain a steady flow of incoming drivers. But the sad truth is, the company simply wasn’t willing to address its real problems, or make the real changes they needed so badly. Changes that certainly involved short-term costs—not to mention pain and suffering—but which would have ultimately led to long-term improvements in the health (and cost-effectiveness) of their recruiting and retention programs.

The sadder truth is, that company is far from alone in this industry. So how about you: Is your recruiting campaign making promises your company can’t keep? If so, at the very least, you need to change one of two things: Your promise, or your company. For best long-term results, I’d recommend taking a good long look at changing both.

2 Comments | Advertising, Branding, Communications, Dispatchers, Driver Recruitment, Driver Retention, Recruiters | Permalink
Posted by francishare

Recruiters: Is Your Agency Taking You For Granted?

May 18, 2012


If you asked me, all too often the answer is Yes.

In the years since my firm has been serving the trucking industry, I’ve talked with a lot of recruiters who were referred to me by friends and contacts. Referrals which, more often than not, included some variation on this suggestion: “You should call them because they’re not happy with their agency.”

I honestly can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had that sounded a lot, or entirely, like this:

Do you and the agency regularly review your numbers together?
—No.

When was the last time they made adjustments to your plan?
—Months ago.

Are they aware that your numbers are way down in the past few months?
—Yes.

And they haven’t suggested any adjustments?
—No

Tell me about your Social Media strategy.
—We don’t have one.

How does your turnover compare to the industry average?
—It’s actually a lot higher.

So what steps has your agency suggested to help you bring that down?
—We’ve never talked about retention.

I notice the website they did for you doesn’t really say anything about what makes your company unique.
—No, I guess it doesn’t.

Why not?
—They’ve never really explored what makes us unique.

Have they ever interviewed any of your drivers, to determine your strengths and weaknesses in recruiting and retention?
—No.

So how do they determine the strategy and content of your messaging?
—That pretty much comes from me.

(And finally, the pièce de résistance—which, admittedly, I’ve heard only once): Who’s your account rep at the agency?
—I don’t know.

Friends, if you have the same answer to any one of the questions above, your agency is not doing everything it can to support your recruiting goals. Granted, there are often legitimate reasons for that; for starters, you may be handling a lot of those responsibilities in house.

But if your agency relationship sounds a lot like the conversation above, and they have more than a bare-bones budget to work with, chances are you’re being taken for granted. In which case, there’s no two ways about it: you’re not getting your money’s worth. That’s wrong.

One of our long-time clients had virtually the same experience with their previous agency. (Click Here if you’d like to read about it). Needless to say, they saw a need for change, and they made it.

So if your agency relationship sounds a lot like the conversation above, here’s my question: Why haven’t you made a change?

Leave a Comment » | Advertising, Branding, Communications, Driver Incentives, Driver Recruitment, Driver Retention, Media Advertising, Recruiters, Social Media | Permalink
Posted by francishare

Integrated Recruiting: If You Knew It, You’d Do It

May 11, 2012

In an excellent piece for BusinessWeek magazine, Steve McKee explains why it’s so important for all your recruiting efforts to work together.

While McKee’s original column addresses the broader issue of marketing, his points are directly applicable to driver recruiting. Here are the key points I pulled from his piece—adapted to your specific needs as a recruiter:

New marketing channels pop up every day, from apps to publicity stunts and beyond. Audiences (and attention spans) are becoming increasingly fragmented. That reduces the chance any message has of getting through.

How do you overcome fragmentation? Integration. That means communicating a consistent identity from message to message, and medium to medium. More importantly, it means consistently delivering on that identity.

Everything you do to attract, convert and retain drivers should be integrated—including your human resource practices, your training programs, even your compensation and employee evaluation metrics.

So why don’t more companies implement integration strategies? They don’t start with a strategic messaging foundation, and they don’t have the patience to see it through.

Companies that maintain healthy growth over time tend to have more durable messaging strategies and longer-lasting campaigns, while those that struggle tend to change direction more frequently.

That’s exactly what’s happening in the cola wars. Coke has remained focused and consistent for years, and is winning market share, while Pepsi recently fell to an embarrassing No. 3  in the market behind Coke and Diet Coke. That’s why Pepsi is now reexamining everything about its brand.

What’s the first step?
Take a close look at all of your company’s messages to prospective and existing drivers. Compare those messages with what your drivers experience once they sign-on with you. If it doesn’t all connect for you in some meaningful fashion, it won’t for your prospective and existing drivers, either.

If your messaging strategy is weak (or off the mark), you may need to do what Pepsi is doing, and reexamine everything.

It may be that your problem is more a matter of execution: You’re simply not doing what you’re promising.

Or it could be that you haven’t pulled the trigger because you haven’t seen a flawless plan for integrating all your recruiting and retention efforts.

Here’s the good news: There’s no such thing as a perfect integration plan. Over the long haul, the companies who have the real recruiting advantage simply do it better than their competitors.

Steve McKee is the author of When Growth Stalls: How It Happens, Why You’re Stuck, and What to Do About It.

Click Here to read his original article in its entirety.

Leave a Comment » | Advertising, Benefits, Branding, Communications, Company Drivers, Digital Marketing, Dispatchers, Driver Incentives, Driver Pay, Driver Recruitment, Driver Retention, Media Advertising, Recruiters, Social Media | Permalink
Posted by francishare

Driver Recruiting Ads Should Focus On What Matters To Truckers.

December 12, 2011

(No, that's NOT what I meant...)

The best place to start developing effective driver recruiting ads is by talking with your drivers. If you ask the right questions, you might learn a lot more than you’d expect.

Take Birmingham’s Baggett Transportation. An owner operator company primarily serving the military, Baggett hired an outside consultant to interview a series of its drivers. The results of those interviews ultimately led to a complete overhaul of the company’s recruitment ad campaign. And its website.

Below are interview comments Baggett received from the team of Bonnie and Wayne Speegle:

Baggett treats its owner operators like partners.
We’ve been Owner Operators with Baggett for 17 years because they treat people right. Whenever you deal with them, you know they have your best interest at heart. And that’s important, because there are always going to be tough times in a job like this. But when you’re with a company you trust and respect, you can be confident the good will always outweigh the bad.

Baggett knows who we are, and how we like to work.
Everybody at Baggett knows us by name. They know the kinds of jobs we prefer to take. They work with us like partners, not employees. And they understand that we have lives outside of our truck.

We’re proud to work for a company that serves our armed forces.
It’s an honor to be treated with the kind of respect you get when you’re working with men and women in uniform. There are a lot of drivers who deal with being treated poorly and disrespectfully on a regular basis. We experienced it ourselves before we started handling military transport, and it makes so much difference in the way you feel about yourself when people appreciate you.

How Baggett used that driver feedback.
The company formulated a core messaging strategy that emphasized the fact that Baggett is a company where drivers genuinely feel like they make a difference. Starting with the brandline which combined that message with the company’s proud tradition of serving the military: LET’S ROLL TOGETHER.

Result
Baggett’s Director of Driver Recruitment Daniel Buckhannan reports the campaign has been very well received—and represents a significant improvement over the company’s previous efforts.

For Further Reading

Recruiting & Retaining Women Truckers Means Understanding Their Needs

What The Super Bowl Teaches Us About Truck Driver Recruiting Ads

Improve Truck Driver Recruiting By Listening To Your Drivers

How Your Customers Impact Truck Driver Recruiting

Better Branding Maximizes Truck Driver Recruiting Effectiveness

Leave a Comment » | Advertising, Branding, Driver Recruitment, Owner Operators, Schedules | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by francishare

Improve Truck Driver Recruiting With Trailer Ads

March 16, 2011

Your own company trailers can be easily converted into effective mobile billboards in an integrated recruiting campaign.

Potentially Millions Of Impressions.
Think about how many drivers come in contact with your own fleet of trailers every day, week and month. Depending on the size of the fleet, you could be creating hundreds of thousands—if not millions—of valuable impressions in a year’s time. Every one of them a potential hiring opportunity wasted, if you’re not taking full advantage of that opportunity.

Reaching Drivers Right Where You Want Them.
And think about this: If a driver or team routinely passes by your company’s trailers, they’re already accustomed to working the same general territory. Which is another way of saying that trailer ads effectively pinpoint the locations you want to be reaching drivers. Better still, an effective trailer “poster” has no advertising competition for a driver or team’s attention at the time they see it—which is certainly something that can’t be said about the ads you’re running in the recruiting publications.

Just One Part Of A Campaign.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m not suggesting you should replace your print-ad campaign. If anything, trailer posters should be treated like billboard advertising—which is ideally used as an effective supplementary component to an integrated campaign. In other words, your posters should have a close resemblance to the other advertising you’re already running.

Keep It Short. And Smart.
For starters, trailer posters, like billboards, should be brief—with an attention-grabbing image, a short, compelling message, and an easily-remembered call to action. Depending on which expert you believe, billboards should have no more than six to eight words.

Although trucks tend to be within close visual range of one another for more than six to eight seconds, cost considerations will probably lead you to keep your posters at an affordable size—so the typical billboard word limit should be applied. If your print ads use a strong enough image and headline, that (along with a phone or text number) could be sufficient. If you plan to include your company’s website as well, drop the “www” from the printed address. It’s not necessary.

Bang For The Buck.
As a ballpark figure, a single three-by-two-foot magnetic poster will cost you somewhere in the range of $100—but that price could easily drop as much as 30% if you order in real quantity. That price sounds pretty high if you’re thinking in terms of paying $100 for a “poster”. But when you compare the number of potential impressions it could generate with the cost of running a single print ad, that $100 investment starts looking mighty small indeed.

Leave a Comment » | Advertising, Driver Recruitment | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by francishare

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