The main goal of your recruitment efforts is to attract drivers to your latest open trucking positions. Advertising your trucking jobs is a great way to get yourself out there, but you may be unsure of how to effectively get your ads seen and heard by the drivers you need.
In this blog, we’ll explore how to advertise to truck drivers, from specific types of advertisements to how to craft a compelling ad designed for your target audience.
Which Advertising Channels to Employ to Reach Drivers
When crafting an ad for truck driver jobs, the first thing to consider is which advertising channels are best suited to attract potential candidates. Since they’re a nontraditional audience, they are a unique set of resources that are better suited to reach drivers.
Let’s take a look at some of the best channels to make sure they see your job listing:
Radio Advertisements
As we touched upon before, audio-based advertising is a great way to make sure that your job ad reaches truck drivers. They can’t look at their phones while driving, so listening is always better than looking.
There are a couple of methods to employ with this medium. First, repeat the ad at various times throughout the day to maximize its reach. This ensures that drivers with all different kinds of hours have the chance to hear the ad.
Also, interactive radio shows allow truck drivers to call in and can be a great way to get direct engagement with your open positions. In addition, using a catchy jingle will increase truck drivers’ recollection of your ad.
Trucking Magazines and Newsletters
Try using truck magazines and newsletters for your job ads. This method has so many benefits, but most important is its effective targeted ads. Since these publications contain industry news, updates, and more, truck drivers often pick them up.
Another benefit of this channel is the wide circulation of these magazines and newsletters in the trucking industry. This means that a vast pool of truckers will be exposed to your job listings. Since they also already have credibility in that community, it increases the reputation of your open position.
The benefits don’t end there. The very nature of print advertisements allows you to provide more in-depth information about the position, so you can address any questions they may have. Since print doesn’t go anywhere, this allows for repeated exposure over time.
Digital Media
The first thing that comes to mind when thinking about advertising with digital media is using social media. However, there are a lot of limitations when it comes to using social media platforms in truck driver job ads.
Since drivers will have limited access to social media on the road, consider other ways digital media can help.
While traveling, a lot of truck drivers use GPS and route-planning apps. If you advertise in these apps, you can effectively reach your desired audience. In addition, truck drivers may check their emails or texts during their downtime. This makes email or text campaigns more effective than social media.
Utilize Direct Recruiting Methods
Perhaps the greatest way to reach truck drivers is through direct recruiting methods. Through direct recruiting, you can meet candidates face-to-face at events or have other company drivers refer some more drivers.
Let’s take a look at some of the best direct recruiting methods to reach potential drivers:
Job Fairs and Trucking Events
One excellent way to reach potential drivers is by attending job fairs and other trucking events. These are specifically tailored to hire truck drivers or provide them with industry information, so you’ll have the opportunity to meet current drivers looking for a job.
Since you’ll meet with them in person, you can quickly determine if they’ll be a good fit. In addition, it’s a great place to start building relationships with some of the best truck drivers. If you’re looking to simplify your recruiting process, this method is one way to do just that.
Partner With Trucking Schools
Driver schools are an amazing way to get introduced to a pool of new drivers. By partnering with trucking schools, you’ll have access to trained and licensed individuals. You’ll also be able to give the trucking company brand recognition by exposing drivers to them at the earliest stage in their career.
Rather than spending more money on highly experienced drivers, you can hire freshly graduated drivers with lower salary expectations. In addition, those who have just graduated are looking for long-term, stable employment. This increases your chances for employee retention.
Freshly graduated, new drivers may not have much experience, but by partnering with their school, you can easily verify their training and licenses.
Recruit Drivers On-Site
One of the best methods for hiring truck drivers is to meet them where they’re at. Targeting a driver directly at a truck stop is easier than doing so online.
At a truck stop, you’ll find a pool of talented drivers who may not have had the time to see your job posting otherwise.
Be careful not to be too pushy since they’re current drivers out on a job. You don’t want to disrupt them at their stop or take them away from other trucking companies.
Use Referral Programs
Another tool for driver recruiting is driver referrals. With the help of current employees, you can get recommendations for new employees. This is another method that simplifies the hiring process as you already have verification of their abilities as a driver.
Make sure to establish a strong referral program that offers incentives for finding a new driver. This ensures current drivers are more likely to help with your recruiting needs.
Create Compelling Advertisements for Truck Drivers
Now that you have a better understanding of how to advertise to truck drivers let’s take a look at how to craft an advertisement that appeals to any truck driver.
When creating advertisements, it’s always important to know your audience, have a relevant message, ensure you post content across multiple channels, and measure the effectiveness of your ads.
Here’s how to do just that:
Incorporate Elements That Resonate With Truck Drivers
We know you want your job postings to resonate with your desired audience. To ensure your jobs appeal to truck drivers, make note of job stability. In addition, make a note of the safety measures your company has in place to ensure their well-being.
Other elements that attract drivers include offering competitive pay, benefits such as insurance, and flexible hours or routes. Truck drivers will especially appreciate it if you show respect and appreciation for what they do.
Incorporating these elements into your ads will ensure truckers feel valued, and they’ll be more likely to consider checking out your job boards.
Craft a Clear and Relevant Message
The first step to crafting a clear and relevant message is to avoid industry jargon and instead use straightforward language that allows for broader understanding. It’s also important to include the benefits of the job, be clear about possible pain points, and appeal to the driver’s lifestyle.
You’ll want to be honest and transparent about the job and avoid embellishing the position with false claims. You can include testimonials of other drivers to support your claims.
The last part of any message is a call to action. Your ad should encourage a driver to apply or reach out for more information.
Adapt the Content for Different Channels
Once you’ve developed your message, you’ll want to ensure it applies across multiple channels. Let’s take a look at how your content should look across radio, print, and digital mediums.
For radio ads, the message should be compelling to catch their attention. It should incorporate language that resonates with the driver and includes a catchy jingle to improve ad recall.
With trucking magazines and newsletters, you’ll want to have high-quality visuals and compelling headlines. For print advertising, the content should be informative and appeal to their interests.
Mobile advertisements should be visually appealing and easily readable on a small screen. Be sure to respond to comments on your website or social media and engage with a possible driver.
With any form of media, you’ll have a few seconds to capture their attention, so your ads must be captivating.
Measure the Effectiveness of Your Advertisements
Once your ad is out there, it’s important to see how well it’s performing. There are a number of measures to see how effective it is.
One method is to look into the response rate. This shows you how many users visit your job boards or even apply for the job due to the ad.
Another metric is the cost per hire. This is measured by dividing the total advertising cost by the number of hires from the advertisement. This lets you know if the amount spent was worth the investment.
You can also measure the time to fill, which shows you how long it takes from initially posting content to making the hire. The shorter the time, the more effective the advertising.
Get Your Jobs Noticed by Truck Drivers
Truck drivers are a unique audience to advertise to. The nature of their job makes their advertising needs a lot different from your standard audience. One thing that makes them different is their unique modes of media consumption.
Additionally, they work long and odd hours, so it’s important to be wary of when they’ll be interacting with your ads. It’s incredibly important to be familiar with your target audience. Targeted ads have greater relevance and precision.
If you’re looking to get your jobs noticed by the talent you need, we recommend these options:
You can reach drivers where they’re already looking for jobs at AllTruckJobs.com. We offer plans that include engaging and high-converting advertisements on our website.
If you’re looking for more exclusive job leads, AdElite will design captivating ads that’ll be shared across multiple platforms. All leads generated will be sent directly to your email or ATS.
Using Effective Advertising to Help in Hiring Truck Drivers
By familiarizing yourself with truckers, utilizing the outlined mediums to promote jobs to them, and following the aforementioned strategies, you’ll be able to match more drivers to more trucking companies.
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