Can You Reach the Trucking Industry on Facebook?

We talk a lot about Facebook, and with good reason. It’s a huge social media network, having recently hit a traffic milestone of almost 1.5 billion. And that isn’t just made up of millennials. While many have joked that millennials are leaving because “their moms” are on Facebook, the social network still has mass appeal.
However, as a marketer, you don’t need to know about general demographic information. That could be helpful, sure, but you’re trying to reach very specific audiences in the trucking industry. Demographics are only so useful.
So you’re asking yourself, is Facebook an effective marketing tool for reaching the trucking industry? The best way to answer this question is to go straight to research.
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Research shows . . .

Research shows that a good portion of the trucking industry uses Facebook. In fact, usage is consistent between two major trucking industry audiences, owner-operators and fleet executives.
This graph shows fleet executive social media usage for the top social platforms.
For fleet executives, Facebook tops the list of social media usage. Around 48% of fleet executives indicate they use Facebook. Additionally, looking closer at the data, a large majority of that number have personal accounts, about 46% of all fleet executives.
This graph shows the social media usage statistics for owner-operators.
The results are similar for owner-operators. Their Facebook usage is a little lower, at around 47%. Again, the data shows a large majority have personal accounts, at around 45%.
But those numbers only account for roughly half of all owner-operators and fleet executives, and they’re percentages. Let’s take a quick look at some additional statistics to better understand how many people we’re actually looking at.

First, let’s look at owner-operators.

There are around 3.5 million truck drivers operating in the United States. It’s estimated that nearly 9% of that figure are owner-operators. Doing the math, that puts the total number of owner-operators at around 315,000. If 45% of owner-operators have a personal Facebook page, we’ll say you can consistently reach around 141,750 people with purchase authority.
Blog: Is data on the trucking industry really worth the investment?
For fleet executives, this number is a bit harder to pin down. There are a little over 1.2 million fleets operating in the United States alone, and you can see a breakdown from the ATA here. If you assume there is one person at every fleet with purchase authority, you’re looking at a little over 1.2 million people.

That number is a safe bet, but it’s still fairly lower than the actual reality.

Many fleets have multiple managers and fleet executives with purchase authority, so you’re probably looking at closer to double that number.
For today’s article, we’ll play it safe. Estimating the number of fleet managers and executives with purchase authority at 1.2 million, that puts your reach on Facebook at 552,000 people.

So yes, Facebook can reach the trucking industry.

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The Bottom Line

Facebook has a massive reach, including a large portion of the biggest trucking industry audiences. And you shouldn’t expect that to change anytime soon.
Blog: 4 Digital Marketing Channels to Reach the Trucking Industry
Additionally, Facebook is making it easier to reach your audience, whoever they might be. With a robust catalogue of ad formats and targeting options, you can get very specific in who you put your ad in front of.

For you, trying to reach niche B2B audiences, this can be a game changer.

Even though millennials haven’t quite made their way into their own operating authority or into the executive suite, it’s safe to say that social media should become a big part of your marketing and advertising strategy. As demographics begin to change, you’ll see an increase in social media usage. Eventually, you won’t be able to rely on Facebook alone.
For the time being, however, Facebook could be one of the best channels to drive the conversions you need.
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