Trucking and logistics companies have traditionally relied on trade associations to market their services to businesses. Common advertising tools for logistics include ads in trade publications, listings on trucking load boards, and attendance at trade association events. 

Supplementing these channels with logistics content marketing lets you build a relationship with your customers and drives them to your website, generating more leads.

This article covers the basics of content marketing for the trucking industry, including these topics:

  • What is content marketing?
  • Why should your logistics company use content marketing?
  • Generating ideas for content
  • How to promote your content

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‌What is logistics content marketing?

Content marketing involves creating and distributing online materials to a targeted audience to build relationships and generate interest in a company. 

Blog posts, articles, videos, newsletters, and social media posts are all considered content. Most content is not branded but is used to inform your customers and build your credibility and brand identity. 

Why should your logistics company use content marketing?

‌These marketing channels let you establish a relationship with your customers. By publishing content, you can answer their questions and teach them how your company can solve their shipping problems. Content marketing also helps enhance your search engine optimization (SEO). Effectively using keywords in your posts, blog titles, and video descriptions keep your name on the front page of each search.

‌Publishing and sharing informative content makes you the go-to expert, potentially enhancing your brand in the minds of new and existing customers. Content marketing shows potential clients that you are a valuable resource and enables them to find your website.

Generating ideas for content

‌The best way to implement a successful logistics content marketing strategy is to post content consistently. Whether you are creating informational videos, posting blogs, or managing various social media pages, you should post regularly to build a following.

Your content should not be overly salesy. You can use content to promote your services, but steer clear of making it sound like advertising. Customers are less likely to follow you if you’re constantly trying to sell to them. High-quality content should be informational and relevant.  Use content to train your customers on how to best use your services.

When you’re starting a blog or a video channel, you can use your FAQs to create content. Keep track of the most common questions you’re asked by existing customers and use them to brainstorm ideas for blog posts or videos. You can then embed these resources into your website, so they’re easy to find.

‌Looking through trade publications to see what’s trending in trucking and logistics can also inspire ideas. If your primary channel for content marketing is social media, post links to various articles in your industry. Sharing resources offers a balance in your content and keeps your page from being too sales-oriented. To generate SEO from these posts, use keywords in the description.

Your chosen channel will determine the type of content that you create. Keep the following guidelines in mind when brainstorming ideas:

  • Blog posts: good for long-form posts. High-quality content of 1,500 – 2,000 words.
  • Videos: should be no more than 10 minutes. Hook people in the introduction and use keywords in the description.
  • Social media: post guidelines vary based on the platform in question, but they should be shorter and lead back to your website.
  • Emails: Shorter is better. Keep your emails focused on one topic, but no more than three. Use teaser text in your email that links back to the article on your website for people to read the full article. 

‌With every content channel, you should be telling a story and focusing on your mission. You can use content to promote a new service, but it should be done from a mission-oriented perspective. 

For example, if you’ve recently added equipment to your fleet that allows you to transport perishable items over long distances, use content marketing to tell your customers how this will benefit them, or discuss why you decided to add this service.

Track analytics

‌Most content platforms offer tools that let you track your most successful content. If you have a blog, you can see which posts have received the most views. YouTube and other video hosting platforms let you see which videos have the most likes and how long people watched. Look for patterns in your most popular content and use them to generate ideas.

‌How to promote your content

‌Using keywords in your descriptions and headlines will help people find your content in internet searches, but actively promoting it will generate more views. 

Blogs, videos, and social media posts get more traction when more people are looking at them. Your YouTube video doesn’t have to go viral, but it’s more likely to be recommended to viewers if it has more likes.

Social Media

‌Social media posts are one type of logistics content marketing, but they are also effective for driving people to your other content. If your company has a blog, promote it on social media and use hashtags for more views. Hashtags also help other people share your content.

You can also encourage others to promote your content on their social media pages by making it shareable. If you have a blog, add a widget on the page that lets people share it easily to their desired social media platform.

Cross-promote with your clients

‌Talk to your favorite clients about cross-promoting your content. If you are on their email list, ask them if they’d be willing to include a link to your article in their newsletter. Offer to promote their content in your emails or create content around their successes with your service.

‌Use keywords

‌Not only will keywords enhance your website’s SEO, but they will also help people stumble onto your content through search engines. Think about words and phrases that clients will be using when they search the internet for your business and build those into your posts. If you’re making videos, put relevant keywords in the title and description.

Use links to your advantage

‌When creating content, you can choose current topics or evergreen topics (relevant for long periods of time). For example, a video about helping your employees access PPE during COVID-19 to keep them safe on the job is only relevant until the pandemic ends. A video about how to keep your truck drivers healthy during long drives by encouraging physical activity on the road would be more evergreen because it will always be relevant.

‌When writing new blog posts, include links to your evergreen content throughout. Place the links on relevant words and phrases, so readers can click them and be redirected to the evergreen articles.

‌Next steps

Successfully implementing a logistics content marketing strategy helps establish you as an expert in your field, and it drives traffic to your website. Along with traditional marketing tools, regularly publishing content that is engaging helps you create a relationship with your customers, and it makes it easier for them to find you. If you are not already using content marketing, choose a platform and get started.‌

‌Find more information about digitally marketing your trucking and logistics company with The Download: A Guide to Online Marketing.