Thanks to COVID-19 a large portion of the globe is working from home. Traditional driver recruitment methods, like job fairs, have been cancelled. However, the need for quality drivers has never been higher. Digital driver recruitment is your best option. Here are the essential elements of a digital driver recruitment campaign. Implement these into your digital campaigns for maximum results.
Interacting and Building a Presence on Social Media
Truckers are very active on all social media platforms, especially Facebook. Facebook’s group features enable drivers from across the country to connect with each other. Groups also enable recruiters to connect with drivers. Meet customers (in this case potential drivers) where they are. Be active in these groups and sell potential drivers on working for your company.
Social media is used by drivers to research potential employers. Drivers will look up your company on all social media platforms if they are considering working with you. This is an excellent opportunity to showcase how great your company is. Post photos of your company picnic, positive driver testimonials, and content from regular day-to-day interactions. These posts will make potential drivers want to work for you.
Make Your Content Driver Friendly With Mobile First Design
Every piece of content released by your company must be easily accessed on a mobile device. Drivers are not in front of a computer often. They do their web surfing from their smartphones or tablets.
Content that must be designed for mobile devices include: company website, landing pages, any ads your company runs, and all emails sent to drivers.
Pay-Per-Click Advertisements to Generate Awareness
For a fee, platforms like Google, Facebook, and Indeed will place your job advertisements right in front of the people you want to see them. Your company is only charged the fee every time a driver clicks on your ad.
Paid search ads have a click through rate of roughly 3.75% and display ads are around 0.77%. PPC advertising will not generate huge numbers of applicants. But, it is an excellent tool for generating awareness for your company.
Search Engine Optimization Generates Applicants
PPC advertising may have a low click through rate, Search engine optimization is the opposite. Ranking number one for a Google search result has an average click through rate of 31.7%. If your company ranks high for common trucker searches then you will generate a large number of site visits. Site visits turn into applicants.
Focus on the SEO Three and you will increase your ranking over time. The SEO Three consists of: content, technical, and links. Your company needs to create engaging content, have a technically sound site, and find ways to get other sites to link back to your site.
Website Design is Your Company’s First Impression
Drivers are going to research your company if they are considering applying for one of your available positions. They will visit your site. A poor quality site will give the first impression that your company is not professional. Professional quality sites will create a first impression that sells drivers on working for your company.
Landing pages are a critical part of your website. The page that drivers land on when they click on one of your ads or emails is the landing page. A well designed landing page will excite the driver and have a strong call to action. A call to action is going to be what gets drivers to apply.
Technical Strategies Provide Key Insights and Hyper-Focus
Digital driver recruitment campaigns need a technical strategy. Tools like Google Analytics will show you where your site traffic is coming from. Use this data to gain key insights that guide your digital recruitment strategy.
In addition to providing data driven insights, there are technical marketing strategies you need to be using. These strategies enable your campaigns to hyper focus on your desired niche market. Geofencing, for example, will allow you to only show your job advertisements to drivers in a specific area. Retargeting is another technical strategy that will show your ads to anyone who has visited your website.
Email Lists Connect Your Company to Interested Drivers
Starting building an email list of every driver that is ever shown any interest in your job postings. Include former drivers that you would like to rejoin your company. Platforms like MailChimp will help you organize your email list, design emails, and send them out to everyone.
Emails need to be eye catching and informative. Do not overwhelm the reader with too much text. Some great things to include in an email campaign are: pictures of happy employees, testimonials, company achievements, profiles on high performing drivers, and messages from upper management.
For the near future, in-person driver recruitment is not possible. However, drivers are in higher demand because of the pandemic. Take advantage of this unique opportunity to begin digital driver recruitment, and make sure to use the essential elements.
