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Do You Know Why Your Campaign is REALLY Failing?

Everyone knows campaign tracking is important. But when it comes down to it, most fleets are only using tracking to try and save money instead of figuring out why their campaigns are failing.
If your campaign is floundering, do you know why? Do you try to find out or do you just pull the plug and decide to go a different way? You have to fight the urge to base your entire campaign around lower costs. A campaign is only successful when you are generating the leads and hires that you need. If you’re not, the first step is finding out why.
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Why is your campaign failing?

 
The simple question of, “Why is my campaign failing?” is one that most people never even think to ask. They just kill the campaign. Instead of just giving up, dig deeper.
Recruiting Failure

It’s important to remember that cost isn’t everything.

Before giving up on a campaign you need to figure out why it’s not working. Start by asking some simple questions like these:

  • Are the channels utilized providing quality drivers?
  • Are the right driver types being reached?
  • Are you reaching enough drivers?

All these questions have one thing in common. They all go beyond simply looking at cost.
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Something to consider with campaign tracking.

It is important to note that while campaign tracking is extremely valuable while looking at a single campaign, you must be careful NOT to compare and contrast numbers or metrics from two completely different campaigns.
Everything from who you’re targeting, how you’re targeting, and where you’re targeting them can affect a campaign’s outcome. Since most campaigns are different in these aspects it can actually hinder you to directly compare and make decisions based on the costs or success rates of one campaign versus another.
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So, what are some things you should be tracking and what exactly can they tell you?
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What metrics are fleets using?

 
Before you’re able to adjust your campaigns with tracking you, of course, need to track useful information. So, what works? What are other fleets like yours using? We surveyed fleets and asked them what they were using to track their campaigns and this is what they had to say.
Recruiting Benchmark Survey Results (2016)-01
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Want to participate in our next survey?

We are in the process of putting together a new recruiting benchmark survey. To be included and have access to the results sign up for our newsletter and be on the lookout for more news.
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Best metrics to track within your recruiting campaigns.

 
There are several metrics you can look at to help you understand exactly where your campaign is falling short. Going beyond the surface level of cost and getting to the heart of WHY you’re failing will help you improve what you’re doing to gain success moving forward.
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Hire Rates by Response Type

 

What type of responses are getting your fleet the most qualified hires?

  • Short forms
  • Long forms
  • Phone calls
  • Lead-gen forms

How does this help you understand WHY you’re failing?

Are you getting more or better leads from a certain response type? If phone calls give you the best leads but you have most of your spend invested in lead gen forms this is going to hurt your campaign results.
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The solution:

Hire rates by response type tracking allows you to see exactly which approach is providing you with the most qualified drivers. Remember, this isn’t always the cheapest option, but if it gets you better drivers, it provides you with the most value.
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CPH by Driver Type

 
CPH is the metric that everyone loves to track, but you can take it even further by layering data. For instance, instead of just tracking CPH, look to CPH of specific types of drivers (such as team drivers vs. company drivers).

How does this help you understand WHY you’re failing?

Do you need company drivers or team drivers? Which drivers are you converting into hires and what are they costing you? If you’re not getting enough or a certain driver type or they are costing too much you may need to tweak your campaign mix to get to where you want to be.
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The solution:

Change your targeting and channel distribution to fit who you are after. If you need more team drivers, take a look at the numbers. Which channel brings in the most team drivers at the best value?
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CPH by Placement

 
Dig down and find out where (geographically) your hires are coming from. Are drivers from certain areas more expensive than others?

How does this help you understand WHY you’re failing?

While cost isn’t everything, avoiding wasting spend is still important. If drivers are costing you more but not offering any other advantages you are burning through budget that could be allocated elsewhere to generate even more hires.
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The solution:

Avoid targeting high cost areas if you can avoid it. Again, cost isn’t everything so if you the value is there it’s not a bad idea to spend a little more. But if the results and driver quality are the same why continue to spend more for the same results.
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Speed to Contact

 
How soon after generating or receiving a lead are you able to get in touch with them to start your active recruiting process?

How does this help you understand WHY you’re failing?

It’s a simple fact, the faster you make contact with an interested prospect, the better chances you have at converting them to a driver. A slow response time could be what’s driving the poor performance of a campaign..
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The solution:

Take any steps you can to eliminate friction in your process and shorten your speed to contact window. Remember, the faster you can get to prospects the better chance you have at converting them.
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Unanswered Calls

 
How many leads are you calling, but fail to get in contact with? These are leads you generate but aren’t able to do anything with.

How does this help you understand WHY you’re failing?

Is there any correlation or commonalities among these unreachable drivers? Any time you spend money to generate leads but are ultimately unable to reach them is a loss. The goal is to reach every lead you can to reduce wasted time and money.
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The solution:

Identify any similarities the unreachable leads have in common. These correlations can help you filter similar drivers out moving forward to help cut down on unanswered calls and improve the results of your campaign
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Disqualification Codes

 
It’s important to do all you can to limit wasted time, effort, and spend on drivers who do not fit into your plans.

How does this help you understand WHY you’re failing?

If a specific channel continuously generates leads that are disqualified, you’re wasting money. Disqualification codes can help you cut undesirable or unqualified drivers BEFORE you waste time and money pursuing them. If you’re not using some form of disqualification codes or filtering leads it will overwhelm you with drivers who do not meet your demands.
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The solution:

Employ as many applicable disqualification questions/codes as you can to pre-filter prospective drivers before leads are distributed to your recruiting team.

  • Unable to contact –
  • You generate leads but you are unable to contact the prospects.

  • Denied due to previous work history –
  • A driver’s work history precludes them from driving for your fleet.

  • Denied due to experience –
  • The driver does not have enough or the right kind of experience you require.

  • Denied due to driving record –
  • The driver has too many accidents or violations on their record.

  • Out of area –
  • A driver meets your criteria but is not in the correct geographic region to fill your fleet’s needs.

  • Home time –
  • The home time desired by the driver does not line up with the home time being offered by your fleet.

  • Local or LTL only –
  • The driver is only willing to work locally or move lighter loads.
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    Know WHY your campaign isn’t working.

     
    The whole idea behind campaign tracking is to see what works and what doesn’t. But there’s an important aspect beyond that. WHY doesn’t something work?
    Instead of just abandoning a campaign that’s not working, dig deeper. Go beyond the superficial cost metrics and really get to the heart of the matter. More times than not you can turn a campaign around by tweaking your targeting or altering how you attempt to reach drivers.
    With so many tracking variables it can be daunting and executing successful campaigns can seem like an impossible task. The data available from Randall-Reilly has been helping trucking fleets just like yours reach their goals for years. If you need some help let us know. Working together you can figure out what’s best for your company and the next steps to take with your recruiting.
    Whether partnering with someone or choosing to go it alone, the most important thing is for you to get everything out of your campaigns you can. If you’re able to reach your goals at a lower cost that’s fantastic. However, your entire campaign shouldn’t be centered around lower costs that don’t necessarily translate to more or better hires. Don’t just run a cost-effective and successful recruiting campaign. Know how and WHY your campaigns function the way they do so you can recreate those positive returns and grow them in the future.