When most businesses think of using social media they think, "What will we talk about?" Many think they can only use social media if they have a product to sell, which is simply misleading. Since social media is all about building relationships and having a conversation with your ideal audience, you can use social media marketing in every non-traditional industry. Let's just talk about one example: How a trucking industry uses social media.
When we first met with Tina Anderson, managing partner of NDI (a local trucking company), she mentioned her goals were to stand out from her competitors, who were just one mile down the road from her business. She said, like many businesses, the only difference between her business and her competitor (in the eyes of their customer) was price -- the last thing she wanted to do was have a race to the bottom on cost. Because you know what they say about the company with the lowest price, it's a race to the bottom and chances are you may just win!
After learning more about the goals with NDI, we knew they needed to be able to effectively tell their story and have a conversation about their unique differences of value with their target audience. Being they are a full-service tractor-trailer repair and parts company, our goal was to reach owner-operators of commercial trucks and trailers. Marketing to this audience had to be a no-fluff, only add-value kind of approach.
Like many, Tina was unsure if her audience was online and even using social media. But social media is the NOW and the future. In NDI's case, we were able to show some stats as to how this kind of marketing would reach their road warriors.
Think about it, road warriors are on the go. What do they take with them while on the road? Their phones and what's on their phone? The Internet! Chew on these numbers in a survey by CDL Life:
-- 66 percent of drivers use Smartphones.
-- 84 percent access the Internet daily.
-- 56 percent check Facebook or Twitter daily.
It makes sense. Truckers spend endless hours on the road, separated from their families, their employers and the rest of the world. But by using their Smartphones, tablets or laptops they can keep up with everything going on: From family updates on Facebook to traffic jams on Twitter to job searches on LinkedIn.
Why is social media the NOW and future of marketing? Social media is one ingredient to relationship marketing which allows you to have a conversation about your brand and build a know, like and trust relationship. First by using platform like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogging, you're able to set yourself apart in many ways. You're now able educate your audience by providing answers to their questions, show the personality of your brand and grow advocates for your brand.
A TRUSTED SOURCE: One great way NDI works to use social media is by becoming the go-to source for their audience. By using the 10-4-1 rule on Twitter and LinkedIn especially, though also on Facebook, they educate and show off their expertise with educational blogs and landing pages, and by sharing other great sources. For instance, they use sources like GasBuddy to share gas price information and tips; HealthyTrucker for diet and fitness ideas; AAA for traffic updates and CDLLife for all the updates on the trucking industry.
By curating content from third-party sources, they become a hub of information. Truckers don’t need to find a ton of other sources, they can simply go to NDI for a variety of helpful information for life on the road.
We also created a interactive newsletter with Paper.Li which takes our blogs (which we named the GloveBox) and all the industry related news on the web and puts it into one company branded newsletter by NDI. We publish this automatically on a weekly basis to subscribers, followers and fans so they don't have to search for what's trending online and open 8 different email newsletter by 8 different sources. They can open one, and get all the information in an easy to digest format.
RECRUITMENT: Finding employees and partners is a challenge for most businesses. NDI has a careers page on its website to keep people updated on their openings and provide the proper avenues job-seekers can go through to work there. They are also able to use Facebook, Twitter and Linked-In to advertise for jobs on a regular basis.
To take recruitment one step further, they are able to use social media to show off their company culture. NDI regularly posts “Happy Birthday” and “Happy Anniversary” posts for their employees. They’ll also post fun posts on members of the team and “tip” posts to show off their expertise. These posts are a great way to show off their strong belief in a family-style company that values everyone and lets potential employees glimpse at how they’ll be treated as more than just a paycheck.
ATTRACTING: Social media is a fantastic tool to capture the attention of your buyers who may have no idea who you are or where you are.
On YouTube, NDI has video tours and other informational videos highlighting different aspects of their facility that truckers can expect when they come in. They are also able to show who they are so that they become recognizable faces, not only through the videos but through pictures on social media.
NDI is able to regularly interact and make connections with other companies, locally and nationally. For instance, NDI often interacts with West Central Ohio Regional Alliance for health-related truck driver information by commenting, liking/favoriting and sharing information. This not only helps NDI’s audience but gets their name and logo out to be seen by other audiences, garnering more eyes on who they are.
What is interesting about NDI’s use of social media is despite the fact there are many trucking businesses out there, few of them are actually using social media. They may have a website up just for contact information, but that’s about it. NDI is one of the few trucking service companies using this simple and cost-effective marketing tool for an ever-growing audience in the trucking industry.
And at the end of the day, North Dixie Truck and Trailer, Inc. is able to support its business by attracting, communicating and differentiating itself from the competition.
The main goal of marketing in general is to ADD VALUE and EXPLAIN YOUR DIFFERENCE: Posting on social media is more than just memes and sales. We use their two-way conversation platforms to add value. What is important to their buyer personas is solving their pain points and assisting in helping reach their goals.
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