The concept isn’t complicated. Where can you find truck drivers? I bet you’ll find a few at truck stops. That seems logical.
But sarcasm aside, it isn’t quite that simple, is it? Yours and every other fleet needs to get in front of the same drivers. There are so many ways to reach drivers at any given truck stop it can be tricky to figure out what methods have the best chance of being effective.
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1. Physical Signage
It is great to talk about innovative ways to target drivers online (and we will), but it is also important to remember: If you can get your message in front of a few hundred truck drivers a week for a reasonable price, you should. Sadly, many signs focus only on their message and not on a call-to-action (CTA). Any advertisement should have something specific that you are telling your audience to do. You might be telling them to apply through your website, or call a phone number. But don’t forget to be as clear as possible.
An advertisement without a CTA is usually just decoration.
You can use a specific URL on all of your signs at truck stops. Use the information from incoming links to get an idea of how effective that medium is. Of course that URL needs to be short and easy to remember. For instance, “examplefleet.com/bonus” is much better than “examplefleet.com/home/advertisments/hasifesk.d35423.” This principal also applies to a phone number you set up to track how many incoming calls are generated by each line.
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2. Custom Events / Giveaways at Truck Stops
An event designed to raise your fleet’s profile and brand awareness among drivers might be something to consider. Opportunities to talk to drivers face-to-face are rare, but can have a huge impact. Giving away SWAG or even something more practical is always a good idea at these types of events. Spending a ton of money isn’t always a requirement.
A tent with a few cold drinks and a grill on a hot day can be a nice change for a driver from their usual routine.
Bring your most personable recruiters and engage as many drivers as you can. Every application counts, but be sure to track how many actual hires come from those recruiting efforts.
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3. Print Publications
Not only is print not dead, it is consistently ranked as one of the top resources that drivers use to look for open positions. There are certainly drawbacks to spending money on print. It is difficult to know exactly which ads are preforming well and generating the best ROI.
Remember that print ads are especially amazing at generating phone calls. If your preferred form of incoming lead is a conversation on the phone, print should be one of your top priorities.
Any recruiting strategies that ignore print publications is going to lack brand recognition.
There are also some drivers, especially owner-operators, who aren’t connected the way most people are. They might not own smart phones or even computers. Don’t exclude this audience just because they prefer to live life a bit more simply than the rest of us.
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4. Target Your Online Advertising by Truck Stop
This is one of the more cutting-edge ways to target drivers online. Of course you can target your advertising by area of interest using content marketing, but your fleet can also get great results by targeting specific truck stops. Narrowing down an online audience by geography can tell you a lot about where those drivers will be willing to operate.
It is also possible to target a specific route or even a more broad region of the country. Depending on what type of route you are recruiting for and what kind of qualifications you need, you will probably find that different types of applications tend to come from different methods of digital targeting.
