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The Importance of Brand Advertising

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Brand Advertising

In today’s competitive market, it’s more important than ever to have a clear brand identity that is communicated in every social media post, job listing, and recruiting event.  

 

Whether your company is looking to attract new talent, find different suppliers, or simply stand out among the competition, brand advertising is essential to creating and promoting a unique identity to the public.  

 

Continue reading to find out the importance of brand advertising, and how your company can leverage its brand to differentiate itself from competitors, build trust, and establish a strong presence in the market. 

 

What Makes Brand Advertising Important? 

In simple terms, brand advertising refers to the strategic efforts a company makes to promote its unique identity, values, and offerings to the public. It’s all about creating a memorable and positive impression of the company in the minds of potential customers, employees, and other stakeholders. 

 

In the trucking industry, brand advertising is key to recruiting and retaining qualified drivers while distinguishing your company from the growing number of carriers in this highly competitive market.  

 

By fostering a sense of belonging and pride in being associated with your brand, you will not only attract new talent but also cultivate loyalty among existing employees. This can protect against industry-wide turnover rates and increase overall employee job satisfaction.  

 

In a field where safety and reliability are essential to long term success, a well-crafted brand image can also convey professionalism and commitment to excellence. Highlight company safety measures and rigorous protocols to demonstrate your dedication to ensuring the well-being of your drivers and to reinforce your reputation as a trustworthy and dependable employer.  

 

Additionally, showcasing accolades, certifications, and industry recognition further solidifies your brand’s credibility and sets you apart as a leader in the transportation industry. 

 

Tell Your Story 

Brand advertising at its core is an opportunity to differentiate your company by emphasizing what makes it unique. When deciding how to market your brand, consider what sets your company apart.  

 

Is it your exceptional safety records, commitment to driver work/life balance, or your top-of-the-line equipment? Do you want your company to be known for supporting new drivers through mentor training programs, or for offering competitive pay and benefits? 

 

The best way to communicate your unique story in a relatable and engaging manner is to use real-life examples to showcase your values and culture. Consider interviewing your longest-tenured drivers to understand what factors make them want to stay with your company, then be sure to share their experiences and insight in your marketing efforts.  

 

Utilize Social Media 

Digital marketing is key to recruiting drivers and promoting your brand in today’s world. Social media provides a chance for carriers to meet potential candidates where they’re at, whether they’re actively looking for a job or not.  

 

Social media platforms also can be useful to showcase your company culture and brand. Post photos and stories that highlight daily life within your organization, celebrate achievements, and introduce your team. Encourage drivers to participate in content creation, serving as “influencers” for your company. 

 

Providing a window into your company’s world helps potential drivers visualize what it’s like to work with you. It fosters a sense of community before they even apply, and allows your brand to be defined by more than just mission statements and technical information.  

 

Maintain Consistency 

An important consideration to keep in mind when building a brand is to maintain consistency across all channels. This is essential for establishing credibility and trust and will reinforce your brand and company’s values no matter which platform or recruiting method is used.  

 

Consistency also builds recognition, such as through vehicle branding or distinctive logos. This can help your carrier become the first thing that comes to mind when a driver or customer needs your services, and can increase your standing in the industry.  

 

The most effective brand advertising of yout employment value proposition often comes from a collaborative effort between HR and marketing teams, which increases the likelihood of concise and consistent branding. By utilizing the skillsets of both teams, carriers can clearly communicate their values whether they are actively hiring or not. Even during periods when immediate recruitment isn’t the focus, this collaboration ensures that the company’s mission and commitment to drivers remain visible and resonate with the industry at large.  

 

 

 

For more tips and tricks to stay ahead of the curve in today’s highly competitive market, be sure to keep up with our latest Truck Driver Blog posts and connect with us on  social media. 

Brand Awareness: How It Attracts Great Drivers

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brand awareness: how it attracts great drivers

Your company’s brand is one of your biggest assets in attracting and recruiting great drivers. Or, if your brand is weak, it’s one of your biggest liabilities. Sometimes trucking recruiters are so focused on providing better benefits than the competition, that they forget that their own unique brand is something others can’t compete with. Each trucking carrier can position its brand to offer something valuable and attractive to the best drivers. Having a brand isn’t enough – you need to build brand awareness otherwise it will weaken, and other carriers will be more attractive. Here are some things you need to know about strengthening your brand awareness.

Remember the Driver Lead Funnel

When considering how to build you brand awareness, don’t forget the driver lead funnel. This tool helps you understand the different levels at which driver leads engage with your carrier.

The driver lead funnel starts with awareness, then leads to consideration, and finally to conversion.

Sometimes we forget that there are phases in the funnel before actual conversion! If recruiters focus entirely on conversion, they won’t pay enough attention to the previous steps in the funnel which actually lead to conversion. The risk is that leads aren’t properly cultivated and groomed toward conversion. Thus, they don’t engage with your company’s brand before they send an application for a job. Your company will just be one of several dozen which the lead is applying to. Don’t forget the top of the funnel- and that starts with awareness! If recruiters focus more on building brand awareness as the first step, then drivers will be more likely to consider, and then convert, to that carrier over others.

Create Brand Encounters

Okay, so building brand awareness is an important prelude to driver consideration and conversion. But what’s the best way to do that?! Consider that the average worker has at least 8 touch points of contact with a company before they take an actionable step toward conversion. Those are 8 opportunities for you to connect with drivers and have them engage with your brand.

The best way to build brand awareness is to create opportunities for “encounters” with your brand.

In fact, you need to make sure that you’re creating more frequent or more memorable encounters than your competition. These encounters can be created by strategic and engaging content through your channels. Maybe the average driver encounters a Facebook post by you, then reads a blog post from you. A month later, perhaps this driver follows you on Instagram and starts liking your content. The following month, this driver visits Glassdoor and researchers your company, clicks on a driver testimonial video, or asks your company a question on Facebook. Sooner or later, this driver will be looking for a new job. It’s only after all these encounters that this driver will be more likely to have your carrier at the top of their mind and convert to your fleet. You can use many channels to build brand encounters.

Ask yourself, “how many content touch points are we providing potential drivers today?”

Follow the Data and Trends

While the strategy of brand awareness is perennial, the tactics may change with time. The tactics really depend on the data that you have available on your company’s performance, and the trends which are popular at the moment. If you’re maintaining a strong marketing and recruiting operation, you’ll have data on key performance indicators like cost per hire, conversion rate, etc. While those two are metrics regarding conversion, don’t forget metrics for awareness and consideration! Key performance indicators for those phases include how many impressions or clicks you received, the click-through-rate, session time, bounce rate, etc. These data can help you answer questions like which social media channels to use for brand awareness, what types of content is more popular, and what time of day you should post.

Don’t forget some trends that can also inform your brand awareness. For example, 85% of social media traffic is mobile. Additionally, 72% of drivers say that they use a mobile device to fill out a full job application. This tells you that you really need to optimize your mobile interface to make it more user friendly! If not, you’ll see higher rates of application abandonment. Similarly, the data and trends tell us that video is still content king.

If your carrier releases video content for engagement purposes, it will be more successful that photos or text.

Another popular option is user-generated content. This will draw more traffic since truck drivers are incredibly interested to read or see what other truck drivers have to say. Use these insights from data and trends to strengthen your brand awareness!

The Quick Guide to Employee Value Proposition

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