With technology changing daily life, well, daily, and social media reaching and influencing millions of people around the world, it only makes sense that the two should come together. However, we didn’t quite see it emerging in the trucking industry: Tyrannosaurus Marketing, a firm that does promotion work for the trucking industry, has recently realized the impact social media platforms (such as Facebook and Twitter) have on procuring leads.
“Experience with this industry has shown that many managers and senior executives are incredibly active on social, even if they may not make it clear that they’re there,” said Jennifer Greene, founder of Tyrannosaurus Marketing. “[Entry-level and other employees] are often very visible, even down to the truckers driving shipments cross-country having active Twitter accounts.”
Her goal, along with that of others in the industry, is to “use social media and other mediums to tell their story in a compelling way do a better job of cutting through the noise.” Considering the fact that social media marketing can both increase a company’s exposure and traffic, the focus is getting their marketing strategy to stand out from all the other competitors who have realized its benefits. The solution? Artificial Intelligence.
There are a multitude of AI marketing companies that utilize social media trends to target consumers; from sophisticated editors that rely on machine learning engines to keep tabs on industry competitors to recommendations on the best time to post, the best hashtags to use, and the best influencers to pay attention to, your business is able to maximize their marketing efforts and increase potential leads. Since the transportation industry isn’t necessarily well-known for its technological advances, some aren’t quite sure they want to commit to this brave new world just yet.
“While we may use these types of tools [in the future] to help ensure we are reaching our target audiences in effective ways, our goal will always be to provide our audiences with content that matters to them and adds value,” said Mark Osborne, vice president of human resources at Day and Ross Transportation Group.
Although it’s estimated that 72% of adults Internet users use Facebook (and countless others use Twitter, Instagram, etc.), it’s easy to understand Osborne’s hesitancy. Artificial intelligence is a big unknown, especially as tools continue to get more and more sophisticated; one of the main concerns is privacy.
With AI and market research techniques focusing heavily on personalized advertising — as, ironically, that is what has the biggest impact on consumers’ purchasing decisions –, some people are becoming wary of just how much information is being tracked and shared. However, as Stephen Boidock, director of marketing and business development at advertising agency Drumroll, points out: “some of our best experiences come from tracking,” referring to recommendation engines on services like Spotify and Netflix.
