Ads are useful for more than just selling your services: They make potential customers more aware of your business brand, encourage current clients to stick with you, and can even serve as a recruitment tool.
With this post, let's take a look at the pros and cons of using paid advertising for your trucking business.
Types of Advertisements
Paid advertisements come in many forms. Here are some of the most relevant for owner-operators and carriers:
Search ads—Google search ads help put your business in front of people who are actually looking for it. Here's a quick explanation of how they work.
Social media ads—Advertising on Facebook or LinkedIn allows you to connect with the massive number of users who visit these platforms regularly.
Local ads—If you're trying to reach a local audience, placing an ad on the radio or in the newspaper is always an option. These outlets are especially helpful if you're promoting a local event in which your business is taking part.
Directories—If you've been in business for more than a year or two, there's a solid chance you're already registered in an industry-specific directory like TruckDriver.com. If you want to make your company even more visible, consider placing your trucking operation in the Yellow Pages for $49.95 annually.
Other than using paid ads, there are a multitude of options for promoting your trucking business that don't come with an upfront cost. You can, for example, create a social media presence or attend industry events. To find out more, check out this post on promoting your trucking business without spending a dime.
Keep in mind that these alternatives to paid ads still aren't exactly “free.” For instance, crafting a high-quality Facebook post requires valuable time. Whether that time is yours, an employee's, or a freelancer's, the cost is real.
Pros of Paid Advertising
Paid ads are reliable. Advertising services have the expertise and reach that most small businesses simply don't. When it comes to getting your message in front of an audience, you'll have more success paying an existing platform (Google, Facebook, the Yellow Pages, etc.) for ad space than if you tried to attract attention on your own.
Ad services do the heavy lifting. When you're trying to bring in new customers organically, there's a lot of guesswork involved: Who can I contact about our new driver referral program? What are the right hashtags to use for this Facebook post? Wait, should I even be using hashtags on Facebook? Ad services know what they're doing, meaning you can place your focus elsewhere.
Effective advertisements make your organic content more valuable. Content like social media posts and blog articles receive a boost from the extra attention the paid ads draw to your company. In other words, the more content you've already created, the more potential clients will have to look at after the paid advertising has caught their eye.
Cons of Paid Advertising
Ads cost money. There's no getting around it, good advertising isn't cheap. If your budget is tight or you're trucking business is just getting off the ground, maybe the timing isn't right to pay for advertising. On the other hand, if your business is stable but slow to grow, paid ads could offer the momentum you need to expand.
It can be difficult to tell what ads will soar and what will flop. Traditional radio or Spotify? Google search or Facebook? There's no surefire way to know the best place to advertise your trucking business until you actually start advertising.
Coming up with the right message takes time and effort. You'll want to be involved in at least the initial stage of planning your advertisement. Your business is important to you, so your message should be as well. (This is less of a concern with services like Google search ads, where you're essentially just presenting an existing webpage.)
Are you interested in an alternative to the conventional trucking business model? If so, take a look at how Relaymile is reimagining trucking to provide drivers with a healthier, more consistent standard of work.
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