How Digital Advertising Has Changed Driver Recruiting

 

Internet-1024x768Behind our everyday lives there is the ever-changing digital world. Digital media has affected nearly every business in the industry and particularly, trucking companies and their driver recruiting strategies. With Internet marketing and online advertising being in conjunction with traditional types of advertising such as radio, television, newspapers and magazines, trucking companies are able to reach their highest potentials and most qualified applicants through digital advertising more than ever.

So what’s the hype about digital advertising and how is it beneficial? Digital advertising is simply Internet advertising or Internet marketing and includes promotional advertisements and messages delivered through social media, mobile devices and mobile advertising, email marketing, search engine marketing, and web banner advertising, to name a few.

Online advertising outweighs print advertising in that it is easily updated, available 24/7, and it can specifically target drivers in your hiring area. It’s a lower cost form of marketing compared to print and typically generates fast responses. This allows trucking companies to begin the hiring process more quickly and efficiently.

Consider this — how often do you see people using their smartphones and tablets out and about? Our guess is… pretty often. Chances are many of those people are considering a new career or looking online for job opportunities. There are numerous ways to reach the public through digital advertising and put your company’s brand in the palm of their hand, but you could be missing out. Now is the time to consider if your company is taking advantage of the many forms of digital advertising to recruit drivers. Digital advertising is changing the country, so you may need to change your driver recruitment strategy. Let’s look at the most common types of digital advertising and how each has changed driver recruiting.

Here are five common types of digital advertising and how each has changed driver recruiting:

 

1. Social Media 

Because of the many advantages of digital advertising, trucking companies are able to become more personal with their drivers, specificially through social media. Trucking companies not only use social media as a recruiting tool but to form conversations with potential drivers, share with drivers the history of the company, updates, and any information that can make a driver feel connected.

Studies have shown that word-of-mouth and personal recommendations are seen as far more credible to consumers. While print advertisements are popular and necessary, studies show that companies need to increase their focus on more personalized approaches, such as social media. Social media is growing faster than ever, and it’s extremely valuable for your trucking company to connect with drivers on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and other social outlets. Truck drivers are active on social media — are you?

2. Mobile Devices and Mobile Ads

In the past, mobile advertisements were just smaller versions of online display ads that would appear on a desktop screen. As the mobile world continues to grow and evolve, there are now many sophisticated and precise methods to target drivers and convey your message to drivers through mobile devices and ads. Mobile advertising has become crucial in that it engages applicants on a mobile device that can, in turn, direct drivers to the application process in the palm of their hand. Mobile traffic has been growing steadily over the past five years, but increased more than 50 percent in 2013. You can’t afford to ignore mobile users in 2014.

In order for your mobile ads to be effective, your website needs to be mobile responsive in that it contains the necessary content of your recruiting site on a mobile device. You must tell potential drivers what your trucking company offers and provide a quick application in a simplified format.

3. Email Marketing

Email marketing is a form of direct marketing that uses electronic mail as a means of communicating recruiting messages to drivers. Email marketing is highly beneficial in that it is cost effective, can be targeted specifically to the recipient, and it is easily trackable. Email marketing can reach a substantial number of drivers because your message is landing directly in their inbox; there’s no searching for it. Over half of all Internet users check or send email on a typical day, which can allow you to reach out to prospective drivers with personalized, relevant, and dynamic messages.

4. Search Engine Marketing

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is the process of gaining traffic and visibility to your website from search engines through both paid and unpaid ads. SEM is associated with positioning a website within search engines and includes aspects such as SEO (Search Engine Optimization), paid listings and other search-engine related services that will increase exposure and traffic to a web site. For example, unpaid SEM could be content marketing and blogging. A paid type is Google AdWords. There are numerous forms of SEM that are available to recruit drivers for your trucking company.

5. Web Banner Advertising 

If you have surfed the Internet lately, you’ve seen your fair share of banner ads. These small advertisements appear on all sorts of web pages and vary considerably in appearance and subject matter. The purpose of a banner ad is when a website visitor clicks on your banner, it will then take them to your full website. It allows potential driver to see the small banner ad, which draws them in and then sends them to your full website to begin the application process. Here’s a great blog on how to target your online banners when recruiting truck drivers.

Digital ad spending is expected to surpass TV:

 

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Digital advertising such as social media marketing, the advancement of mobile devices and ads, email marketing, search engine marketing, and web banner advertising has changed driver recruiting forever. It’s crucial your trucking company takes advantage of digital media to reach drivers. If you’re ready to maximize your digital advertising efforts or have any questions, contact the Hightower Agency here

As one of the top recruitment agencies in the trucking industry, we offer a wide variety of digital advertising such as social media services, creation of mobile sites, website redesign, mobile ads, email marketing, search engine marketing, blogging, content marketing, web banner advertising and more.

Interesting in learning how to recruit drivers on social media? Download our eBook:

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