by Jennifer Lyons

With nearly 4 billion active users worldwide, the massive reach of social media is undeniable. As a direct result, social media has become a powerful marketing tool for businesses of all industries — and trucking and logistics companies are no exception. Social media for logistics companies can reap massive benefits for your business. 

Don’t worry if social media marketing is new to you! This article will cover important topics to get you started, including:

• Why logistics and trucking companies need social media
• Types of social media marketing for logistics companies
• How to get started with social media marketing
• The best social media platforms for logistics and trucking
• Ideas for logistics and trucking social media

Why logistics and trucking companies need social media

Why should your logistics and trucking companies use social media? The short answer is that social media can help:

• Maximize your number of leads
• Connect with a greater number of prospective clients
• Increase your visibility online
• Build brand awareness
• Prove your expertise

Ultimately, using social media is a great way to build your transportation business. Keep up with the competition by connecting to your customers, prospective employees, and business partners via social media. 

Types of social media marketing for logistics companies

There is more than one way to approach social media marketing for trucking companies. The two primary methods are unpaid and paid content. Both are important and offer unique benefits to your company:

Organic posts

One of the simplest ways to approach your social media strategy is with organic posts. Any content that you post costs you nothing — it is therefore an unpaid, organic post. These posts are a great way to connect with customers and prospective employees alike. 

Use organic posts as a way to hone in on your brand voice and share your values with the world. If you need a little help getting started, Constant Contact offers Social Posting and Monitoring tools to make social media more carefree for business owners.

Promoted posts

While organic posts may feel more natural, paid content in the form of promoted posts is a surefire way to maximize your connections on social media. 

The most popular example of promoted posts includes Facebook & Instagram ads. Paid content can authentically reflect your brand values no less than organic content does. The primary advantage of promoted posts is that they can be targeted to specific audiences outside the circle of your current followers, and you can more easily track their visibility and success. 

If you’re wondering how social media marketing is relevant to your current company model, consider Facebook lead ads. These straightforward ads on Facebook yield valuable leads that you can harness to expand your email list and reach a broader audience with your next email marketing campaign. 

How to get started with social media marketing

While it is common for business owners to face anxiety over social media, launching a social media marketing strategy is actually rather simple. To get started, you should:

Choose a single social media channel for your business

To ensure a strong start on social media, limit your focus to a single platform. By choosing only one, you offer yourself the opportunity to spend ample time developing your brand identity and building social media skills. 

Wondering where to start? 

As a trusted hub for business-to-business contact, LinkedIn is the perfect platform for launching your social media career. LinkedIn makes it easy to connect with other businesses! To get started on LinkedIn, begin by:

• Uploading your brand imagery
• Adding your location and industry
• Writing a brief summary about your business
• Adding other businesses as connections

LinkedIn is all about building business relationships, so take the time to add plenty of connections. You can strengthen your relationships with private messages or comments. Once you are comfortable using this essential platform, you can share resources, blog posts, and other content with your LinkedIn feed. 

Remember, social media is all about identity! Invest time building a social media presence that accurately reflects your company’s unique values. 

Set business goals for your channel

To make the most of your social media channels, it is important to set goals. These will give your content purpose and guide your creative choices. Set goals across these essential categories:

• Awareness: How is your content boosting awareness of your company?
• Education: As an authority on trucking and logistics, what useful information or resources can you provide to your followers? 
• Customer service: How can you form meaningful connections and improve your customer service on social media?
• Driving action: How can you drive viewers to your Transportation and Logistics website?

Create an actionable plan for your channel

From choosing a great name for your trucking company to building your customer base, you’ve put care into every aspect of your business. 
Keep your company values, history, and goals in mind when crafting your social media content. Integrate these elements to develop an actionable social media calendar or plan that speaks to your online identity.  

The best social media platforms for logistics and trucking

While Facebook is a great place to start online, you will eventually need to broaden your horizons to other platforms. Once you feel confident, you can start exploring other avenues for connection to keep your trucking company on the up and up. 

Each platform has unique strengths when it comes to building your social media marketing. Consider:

• LinkedIn: LinkedIn is a professionally-driven platform. For a trucking company, this is one of the most impactful ways to connect with your business partners and add new team members.
• Facebook: Facebook is popular, easy, and familiar. Thus Facebook is a powerful resource for connecting with prospective customers and employees.
• YouTube: YouTube is designed to host videos. If you have informational videos about trucking or logistics, this is the platform for you.
• Twitter: Twitter is a fast-paced way to connect with customers to provide service and build rapport. 
• Instagram: Instagram is a highly visual platform and particularly great if you have company photography to show off. 
• Pinterest: If you have already started a company blog, Pinterest is a great platform for driving traffic to both it and your website with short posts.

Ideas for logistics and trucking social media

Searching for ideas on how to optimize the use of social media for your logistics and trucking company? While the possibilities are nearly endless, here are a few to get you started:

Build brand awareness

Social media is the perfect place to tell prospective customers exactly what you can do for them. 

In this example, Voyage Freight Services demonstrates its commitment to quality delivery service that is on-time and damage-free. Using polished imagery and punchy language, Voyage invites viewers to “trust Voyage” for their next delivery.

Another way to build brand awareness is to share current events. If your brand is trying to do good out in your community, social media is the perfect place to express your commitment to the public good. 

In this post, Voyage shares its tree-planting initiative. For a trucking company, this is a great way to show off your environmental awareness and eye for the future.

Demonstrate expertise

As a trucking company, you can offer a wide range of resources to your customers.

Recruit new drivers

Another way to use social media effectively is to recruit new drivers. Whether over LinkedIn, Facebook, or even Twitter, social media is a great place to attract new team members. 

Next Steps

Now that you’ve read up on social media strategies for your trucking company, do you feel inspired to get started on your favorite social platform? 
Remember, Constant Contact offers Social Posting and Monitoring tools that make it easier than ever for you to post, schedule content, advertise, and engage with new clients.