Since the majority of consumers turn to the internet first when shopping for products and services, using digital marketing techniques can be one of the easiest ways to grow your company. This is true for both business-to-consumer and business-to-business companies, especially in the trucking industry. Some of your customers may be well-established brands who find you through industry contacts, but others may be startups building supply chains or small businesses looking to cut costs.

Invest in Helpful Tech

Things like integrated software and digital dashboards for your company can seem like useful items for increasing productivity, but not for marketing. However, creative use of the tech you have as well as investing in new software and hardware can boost your marketing efforts. For example, you can integrate your tracking and GPS with truck routing systems with a customer account or app which lets them see where packages are, get shipment updates in real-time and much more. You can then market this service on your website or in advertisements on or offline to highlight your focus on efficiency.

Optimize Your Website

Having a website that is easy to use and easy to find is important to both digital and traditional marketing campaigns. This means paying attention to things such as how your site looks on desktop versus mobile devices, whether navigation between sections is intuitive, and how easy the site is to read. Some companies forget that readability is about more than just the words used, which can leave people struggling to find information. Using the wrong combination of text and background colors, for instance, can cause words to blend and users are likely to click to a different site with better color combinations.

Website optimization also plays into digital marketing because you can use Search Engine Optimization techniques and raise your rankings on search result lists. These techniques include using keywords strategically on the site and in blog updates to establish relevance and authority and streamlining page loading processes for faster load times.

Use Customer Relationship Management Techniques

Customer relationship management software is used by businesses in almost every industry to keep track of where each client is in the purchase journey and to help design targeted marketing lists for emails, SMS marketing or phone calls. You can usually find CRM solutions for integration with your business dashboard so you can track various marketing campaigns from the same page as you send newsletters or look up client accounts. For trucking companies, you can use the CRM information to advertise new services or sales to the clients most likely to place an order.

Newsletters and Blogs

Part of optimizing your website is uploading relevant and informative content regularly, such as a blog explaining products or services you offer or giving advice on how to compare shipping plans or how to safely pack items for trucking. You can use these blog posts for other digital marketing techniques such as linking an ad to land on a specific blog page or by embedding a link in an email newsletter for customers looking for further information. By getting customers to opt-in to email newsletters, you can add them to targeted lists based on geographic location, purchase history or interest types so your clients are more likely to receive engaging messages which prompt action.

Solicit Feedback

Asking your customers for feedback, either through an email or an online form, can help with more than just marketing. This can let you know if your ads are reaching your targeted audience or if there are problems with your website or client portal, it can even provide insight into how your company can improve the types and quality of service. Having reviews and recommendations listed on your website or social media can also help potential customers determine your reputation and how well your company can meet their needs.

Incentivize Referrals

Even with digital marketing, word of mouth is one of the best ways you can find new customers. Those who have had favorable dealings with you in the past are likely to recommend your company to a friend, but if you offer incentives for those referrals, they are likely to tell several people about your services.

Track Marketing Efforts

Your company or marketing dashboard should have a way to see and track various metrics for your marketing campaigns. This can help you determine which ads are the most successful and which ones need improvement. The metrics you track should align with your campaign goals and keep you up-to-date on your progress. For instance, you can make flyers with a promotional code on them to hand out at a trade show and track how many times that code is used on your website. If you make twenty flyers, you can set your goal at twenty sales using the code by the end of the promotion and track your numbers from the dashboard.

Know Where Your Customers Are

It is important to have an ideal customer in mind before you start a marketing campaign. Determine who is most likely to purchase your services and where you can find them. For business-to-business companies, this might mean professional networking sites and trade shows more than pay-per-click ads on blogs, but advertising on sites designed to help entrepreneurs start successful companies is a good idea. You can start by searching for the companies who are your current clients on various social media platforms or joining local off or online trade associations.

Use Social Media and Networking Sites

Using social media and networking sites effectively is more complicated than many people think, but it can also be easier than you fear. Once you have established which ones your customer demographic uses, you can open an account and take advantage of the platforms’ marketing tools. You can then post links to your blogs or informational videos for cross-platform marketing and engage your audience with contests or updates from the road.

Digital marketing can look different for trucking companies than for other business-to-consumer or business-to-business companies, but many of the same techniques will be effective in meeting your goals. Once you know who your customer is and where they hang out online, you can use tech innovations to target marketing, track metrics and engage potential clients.