Marketing Strategies - Marketing Objective Examples for a Trucking Company
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Trucking companies move a wide range of goods on the world's highways, connecting manufacturers, distributors, retailers and end users in a continuous cycle of pickup and delivery. As service providers, their marketing objectives revolve around building long-lasting relationships with customers and offering greater value than competitors. Key areas of focus should include brand differentiation, expanding geographic sales reach, and recruiting independent owner-operators for expansion purposes. Understanding a few of these goals can help you draft a marketing plan for your own transport business.
Brand Differentiation
Differentiation can increase brand loyalty from customers looking for specific abilities and trucking companies can set themselves apart based on a variety of factors. Some specialize in delivering perishable goods such as food, or hazardous materials such as gasoline. Advertising their certifications, unique services and safety record can set them apart from general-goods trucking companies. Others may set themselves apart based on better-than-average safety records or proven reliability, in which case marketing objectives will depend on showing examples of operational excellence.
Geographic Reach
The wider a transport company's marketing reach, the more customers it can attract and the more contracts it can serve. Expansion is therefore a clear and constant objective for those seeking to secure contracts farther and farther away from headquarters. However, establishing greater reach though effective marketing must always be coupled with an equivalent increase in capacity. Taking on loads that must travel greater distances before a company has expanded its operational and logistical reach can tarnish its reputation for reliability.
Sales Growth
While increasing revenue over time is a major objective of any business, the nature of sales takes on a unique aspect in the trucking industry. Raising the number of loads hauled per day and ensuring that trucks always have a load to carry is crucial in the industry. Unlike other businesses, sales have to be timed perfectly to ensure that trucks are not burning fuel without earning income. In addition to advertising, trucking companies can use price promotions, referral incentives and high-volume discounts to secure repeat customers and spur favorable word of mouth. Using price incentives to secure long-term hauling contracts can also increase income reliability and cash flow.
Recruiting Drive
Only a portion of the trucking industry's marketing campaigns are aimed at potential customers. Transport companies put significant effort into recruiting owner-operators and lease operators as a way to expand their reach without increasing overhead costs. Independent truckers operate in a seller's market in which companies compete fiercely on benefits offered to owner-operators, including per-mile pay rates, fuel discount programs, paid repair services and dedicated routes. Some trucking companies even offer business and accounting advisory services to attract and assist independent operators. Reaching the right independent operators with the right marketing material is vital for placing freight in the hands of the most experienced specialists.
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Marketing, Marketing Strategies
Brand Differentiation
Differentiation can increase brand loyalty from customers looking for specific abilities and trucking companies can set themselves apart based on a variety of factors. Some specialize in delivering perishable goods such as food, or hazardous materials such as gasoline. Advertising their certifications, unique services and safety record can set them apart from general-goods trucking companies. Others may set themselves apart based on better-than-average safety records or proven reliability, in which case marketing objectives will depend on showing examples of operational excellence.
Geographic Reach
The wider a transport company's marketing reach, the more customers it can attract and the more contracts it can serve. Expansion is therefore a clear and constant objective for those seeking to secure contracts farther and farther away from headquarters. However, establishing greater reach though effective marketing must always be coupled with an equivalent increase in capacity. Taking on loads that must travel greater distances before a company has expanded its operational and logistical reach can tarnish its reputation for reliability.
Sales Growth
While increasing revenue over time is a major objective of any business, the nature of sales takes on a unique aspect in the trucking industry. Raising the number of loads hauled per day and ensuring that trucks always have a load to carry is crucial in the industry. Unlike other businesses, sales have to be timed perfectly to ensure that trucks are not burning fuel without earning income. In addition to advertising, trucking companies can use price promotions, referral incentives and high-volume discounts to secure repeat customers and spur favorable word of mouth. Using price incentives to secure long-term hauling contracts can also increase income reliability and cash flow.
Recruiting Drive
Only a portion of the trucking industry's marketing campaigns are aimed at potential customers. Transport companies put significant effort into recruiting owner-operators and lease operators as a way to expand their reach without increasing overhead costs. Independent truckers operate in a seller's market in which companies compete fiercely on benefits offered to owner-operators, including per-mile pay rates, fuel discount programs, paid repair services and dedicated routes. Some trucking companies even offer business and accounting advisory services to attract and assist independent operators. Reaching the right independent operators with the right marketing material is vital for placing freight in the hands of the most experienced specialists.
