Few industries have more stakeholders, and moving pieces, than trucking. It’s why reputation management at the average fleet can feel like a heavy load. After all, fleets need to create messaging that resonates with current drivers, applicants, employees, clients, and the general public as well.
It’s also one of the reasons KAT Media exists: to help busy fleets with reputation management. It leaves them free to do what they do best: fleet safety, recruitment and retention, maintenance, HR and everything in between. This allows reputation management to become proactive instead of reactive. For many fleets, it’s a game changer.
What does this mean? Your marketing plan should have strategies for building and maintaining your reputation. It should consider all of your stakeholders, from drivers to clients to your local community. It should also contain ways to identify problems before they ever start.
Here’s how to handle reputation management at trucking companies like yours. Hint: it all starts with your content.
Remember: say what you mean and mean what you say. It’s not enough to make positive claims about your fleet. Those claims need to be backed up by verifiable actions as well. Be prepared to bring the strategies we recommend here to life.
Ensure all your departments are aligned
Reputation management is the job of everyone at your fleet. This means that, while your marketing team can determine the best strategies and tactics, input is needed from every department first. You can’t make promises that your fleet isn’t set up to deliver. Make sure you have buy-in from HR, operations, mechanics, and yes, upper management. It takes feedback from the entire fleet before you’ll know if your marketing plans are feasible!
Once every fleet in your department is in alignment with your strategies, it’s time to put them in play.
Put your content in the driver’s seat
Remember how I was saying reputation management needs to be proactive? That starts by ensuring you’re in charge of your own narrative. The best way to do this? By making your content the driving force behind establishing who you are.
And “who you are” should be the driving force behind all your marketing. When you know who your fleet is and what it stands for, your content can be aligned those values (if you need help establishing who you are, this handy article can help). More importantly, your people, from your office staff to your drivers, will be aligned behind those values as well.
To find out if your content is driving your reputation in the right direction, here’s some tips and tricks.
- Set up alerts for online reviews from Google, Yelp and Glassdoor, and be prepared to respond to both positive and negative feedback. The sooner, the better!
- The majority of driver feedback comes from social media. Make sure you’re monitoring your social channels more than once a day, and replying to any negative comments ASAP.
- If online chatter hints at an issue which could become a major problem, take action right away so your fleet can course-correct.
Take control of your own narrative, and you’ll have greater success at managing your fleet’s reputation. You’ll also know how to help manage the driving force behind your fleet: your drivers.
Strengthen driver reputation – and retention
Despite the level of training and qualifications needed by truck drivers, negative stereotypes can persist among the general public. While every fleet knows these are unfair, it’s your role as a marketer to build and maintain the reputation your drivers deserve.
Driver reputation management should be baked into your marketing plans. Not only does it improve your fleet’s overall reputation, it shows your drivers you see them as highly qualified individuals. That helps lead to better driver retention, which also helps your fleet’s reputation.
- Run slideshows and reels of driver training sessions and safety inspections.
- Highlight your ongoing training sessions, especially ones for new road rules.
- Reward your safest drivers, if you’re not already doing so. Honor drivers for their sterling safety records, and make sure your audiences see them.
- Show, don’t tell, how you’re a safety-first fleet, and how that starts with your drivers. Create driver appreciation pieces, hype up your safety record, and highlight your frequent driver training sessions.
Hype up your drivers, their skills, and their contributions to your fleet. It not only improves your fleet’s reputation; it shows your drivers how much you value them as well.
Engage in Community & Industry Presence
Let’s get back to what I said earlier about ensuring all your departments are aligned on your fleet marketing. There’s a reason why: the biggest reputation management strategies require the involvement of everyone at your fleet. I’m talking about becoming (if you aren’t already) more engaged in community and industry events.
Once everyone is onboard, it’s time for the next step (and often the most complicated one): putting your community engagement strategy into action.
- If you already support several causes, have your fleet take on a more visible role. It could be a community cleanup day, a food drive, or an “adopt a family” event for the holidays.
- Sponsor, or have someone offer to speak, at a trucking industry event.
- Look for events and charities that are driver-focused as well, to encourage your drivers to participate.
- Remember: if you’ve chosen to be involved, be sure you’re giving it your all. A half-hearted effort will reflect badly on your fleet. Be sure you’re only taking on what your fleet can handle!
Community involvement shows that your fleet walks the walk. See how you can take on a greater role in community and industry events. If you aren’t involved in any yet, then now is the time to start.
Reputation management at your fleet doesn’t need to be complicated. Proactive planning, and effectively putting strategies to action, will help build and maintain the reputation you’ve worked hard to earn. If you want to make the process simple, our team at KAT Media can help. Get in touch today and we’ll talk.