To sell warehouse space, a 3PL needs to know exactly what it has available, who that space fits best, and how to reach those buyers before a competitor does. The operators who fill capacity fastest don’t wait for referrals. They define their ideal customer, make their space easy to evaluate online, and run marketing that keeps inquiries coming even when the building is full.
This guide explains how to sell warehouse space if you run a 3PL, fulfillment operation, or warehouse. If you own a building and want to lease it to a single tenant, a commercial real estate broker is the right call. If you run the operation inside and need customers to fill it, read on.
Capacity comes and goes. A large customer leaves, a contract winds down, or a new building comes online. Every empty pallet position costs money, and filling it under pressure often means taking on customers who aren’t a good fit. A steady marketing program changes that.
How to sell warehouse space in 7 steps
Step 1: Know exactly what you’re selling
“We have space” isn’t enough for a buyer. Before you market anything, get specific:
How much space and where. Square footage or pallet positions, by building, with the markets each location serves.
What kind of space. Ambient, temperature-controlled, food-grade, hazmat, bonded, or high-security.
What services come with it. Storage only, pick and pack, kitting, cross-docking, returns, or full ecommerce fulfillment.
When it’s available. Now, next quarter, or as a new building opens.
These details become the backbone of your website, your ads, and your sales conversations.
Step 2: Decide who your space fits best
The best customers for your space are the ones your operation already serves well. Look at your most profitable accounts and find the pattern. Common buyer groups include:
Ecommerce and direct-to-consumer brands that need fast, accurate order fulfillment
Manufacturers that need overflow, regional, or just-in-time storage
Distributors expanding into a new market
Companies moving away from running their own warehouse
Pick one or two groups to focus on first. A food and beverage brand, a medical device maker, and a fast-growing apparel brand all ask different questions. Speaking to each one directly converts better than a generic pitch.
Step 3: Make your space easy to evaluate online
Most warehouse buyers research online long before they contact a 3PL. If your website lists the same services as everyone else, buyers can’t tell whether you’re the right fit, so they move on.
A strong 3PL website makes it easy to find:
Locations, with the regions and shipping zones each one covers
Available capacity and types of space
The products and industries you handle best
Your technology: WMS, integrations with ecommerce platforms, and real-time inventory visibility
When you need customers soon, paid search is the quickest lever. Buyers searching for terms like “3PL warehouse in Dallas” or “ecommerce fulfillment for supplements” are actively shopping. Ads tied to your locations and specialties put you in front of them within days.
Keep campaigns tight: target the markets where you have space, send clicks to pages that match the search, and track which campaigns produce real quote requests. Our guide to PPC for logistics companies covers the details, and paid ad management can run it for you.
Step 5: Build demand that lasts with SEO and AI search
Paid search fills space quickly. SEO keeps inquiries coming without paying for every click. Location pages, specialty pages, and helpful content help your 3PL show up when buyers search, and increasingly when they ask tools like ChatGPT or Google’s AI Overviews to recommend a warehouse partner.
Not every good-fit customer is searching right now. Targeted outreach reaches companies that match your ideal profile before they start shopping. That might mean a LinkedIn campaign aimed at supply chain leaders at mid-sized ecommerce brands, or an email sequence to manufacturers in your region.
A lead generation program keeps your pipeline full so the next vacancy doesn’t turn into a scramble.
Step 7: Follow up fast
Speed matters. Buyers often contact several 3PLs at once, and the first provider to respond with clear answers has the advantage. Set up alerts for new quote requests, respond the same day, and have answers ready for the questions buyers always ask: rates, minimums, onboarding timelines, and integrations.
Frequently asked questions
How do you sell warehouse space quickly?
Know exactly what you have available and who it fits best, then reach those buyers directly. Paid search, a website that lists available capacity, and targeted outreach to ecommerce brands, manufacturers, and distributors that match your specialty bring in inquiries fastest.
Who buys warehouse space from a 3PL?
Ecommerce brands that need fulfillment, manufacturers that need overflow or regional storage, distributors expanding into new markets, and companies that want to stop running their own warehouse.
Should a 3PL advertise available warehouse space?
Yes. Paid search and LinkedIn ads can put available capacity in front of buyers within days, while SEO and content build a steady flow of inquiries over time.
Why do warehouse buyers choose one 3PL over another?
Location, capacity, technology, accuracy, and experience with their type of product. The 3PLs that make those details easy to find and easy to verify get more serious inquiries.
The most reliable way to grow a trucking company is to win more direct freight from shippers. Direct contracts carry better margins and steadier volume than broker loads, and they’re harder for a competitor to take. To earn them, carriers need a clear specialty, proof that they deliver, and a marketing program that keeps them in front of shippers long before the next bid.
After a long freight downturn, many established carriers are taking a hard look at where their revenue comes from. Broker freight kept trucks moving when the market was soft. But when too much of your business runs through intermediaries, you give up margin, you don’t control the relationship, and your growth depends on someone else’s book of business.
Here’s how to grow a trucking company by building a stronger base of direct shipper freight.
Why direct shipper freight matters for growth
Direct freight gives a carrier three things that broker freight rarely does:
Better margins. No intermediary takes a cut of the rate.
Predictable volume. Contract lanes let you plan capacity, hiring, and equipment.
A relationship you own. When a shipper knows your team, your service, and your safety record, you’re competing on value, not just price.
Brokers will always have a place in your mix. The goal is balance, so a rate swing or one lost broker relationship can’t knock your plan off course.
How to grow a trucking company in 7 steps
Step 1: Decide which shippers you want
Growth starts with focus. Look at where your network is already strong and decide which shippers fit it best. Consider:
Lane density. Which lanes do you run often enough to offer consistent capacity?
Verticals. Which industries do you already serve well? Food and beverage, building materials, retail, and manufacturing each have different service needs.
Equipment and services. Dedicated fleets, temperature control, flatbed, or final mile all point toward specific shipper profiles.
The result should be a short list of target accounts, not a vague goal of “more shippers.” A list of 50 to 100 well-matched companies is something your sales and marketing teams can actually work.
Step 2: Know who makes the freight decision
Freight decisions rarely sit with one person. At most shippers, several roles weigh in:
Transportation and logistics managers who handle day-to-day carrier performance
Procurement teams who run bids and negotiate rates
Directors and VPs of supply chain who set strategy and approve partners
Operations leaders who feel the pain when a load is late
Each of these people cares about something different. The transportation manager wants reliability. Procurement wants cost and risk control. The VP wants a partner who can grow with the business. Your marketing should speak to all of them. That’s the idea behind account-based marketing: coordinated outreach to every person who influences the decision at the accounts you want most.
Step 3: Turn your specialty into a clear message
“Great service, reliable capacity, on-time delivery” describes almost every carrier’s website. Shippers can’t tell you apart if your message sounds like everyone else’s.
Find what’s actually different about your company. It might be:
A region or set of lanes where you have unmatched density
Expertise in a demanding vertical
Technology that gives shippers real-time visibility
A safety record or driver retention rate well above the industry norm
Pick one or two, and say them the same way everywhere: on your website, in sales decks, on LinkedIn, and at trade shows.
Step 4: Prove it with data and stories
Shippers are cautious about moving freight to a new carrier. Proof lowers that risk. Make it easy for them to find:
Case studies showing how you solved a real shipper’s problem
Quotes from shipper customers, with their permission
This proof belongs on your website, where shippers go to check you out. A website built for shippers makes your coverage, capabilities, and track record easy to see, and gives visitors a simple way to request a quote.
Step 5: Make your leaders familiar names
Shippers buy from people they trust. When your executives regularly share useful views on capacity, service, and the freight market, they become familiar to the people who make freight decisions.
LinkedIn is the most effective place to do this. Consistent executive thought leadership from your CEO, VP of sales, or head of operations builds credibility that a cold call can’t. When your sales team does reach out, the shipper already knows who you are.
Step 6: Show up where shippers research carriers
Shippers increasingly start their research with a search engine or an AI assistant. They ask questions like “dedicated carriers for food and beverage in the Southeast” or “how to evaluate a truckload carrier.” If your company doesn’t appear in those answers, you aren’t on the list.
SEO and AI search optimization help your website and content show up in Google results and in the answers tools like ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews give. Content that answers shippers’ real questions does double duty: it helps you get found, and it shows your expertise.
Step 7: Build a pipeline that doesn’t depend on a few reps
Many carriers grow through a handful of salespeople and their personal relationships. That works until a top rep leaves and takes the pipeline with them.
A lead generation program builds a steady flow of shipper opportunities that belongs to the company. Pair it with trade show outreach before, during, and after the events where shippers meet carriers, and your team has more conversations to work with every quarter.
How long does it take to grow direct shipper freight?
Targeted outreach and trade show follow-up can start conversations within a few months. Brand building, SEO, and executive thought leadership take longer, usually 6 to 12 months, but they compound. Carriers that start now are the ones shippers remember when the market turns and capacity tightens.
Frequently asked questions
What is the fastest way to grow a trucking company?
Focus on direct shipper freight in lanes and verticals where you’re already strong. Target a short list of well-matched shippers, prove your reliability with data, and keep your company in front of every person involved in the freight decision.
Should carriers stop working with freight brokers?
No. Brokers help fill capacity and smooth out volume. The goal is a healthier mix, so your growth doesn’t depend on intermediaries.
How do shippers find new carriers?
Through referrals, freight RFPs, trade shows, LinkedIn, and online research, including AI search tools. Carriers who are visible across those channels make the shortlist more often.
What marketing works best for established trucking companies?
Account-based marketing, executive thought leadership on LinkedIn, a website that proves your capabilities, and SEO that helps shippers find you. Together, they build a pipeline that doesn’t rely on cold calls.
PPC for logistics companies works best when it is built around one goal: reaching shippers at the moment they are looking for a partner. Done well, pay-per-click advertising puts your 3PL, warehouse, freight, or fulfillment business in front of buyers within days, not months. Done poorly, it burns budget on truck drivers looking for jobs and consumers trying to track a package.
This guide covers how we approach logistics PPC for our clients: the keywords worth paying for, the negative keywords that protect your budget, how to set a starting budget, which platforms to use, and how to measure results across a long B2B sales cycle.
Why PPC works for logistics companies
Most logistics buyers start with a search. A supply chain manager who needs overflow warehouse space in Savannah, or an operations director comparing LTL carriers in the Midwest, types that need into Google. PPC lets you show up for that exact search, in that exact market, today.
Speed.SEO for logistics companies builds long-term visibility, but it takes months. PPC can generate qualified inquiries in the first few weeks.
Precision. You can target by service area, facility location, device, time of day, and audience, so spend goes where your capacity is.
Measurability. Every click, call, and form fill can be tied back to a keyword and a cost, which makes it easier to prove ROI to leadership.
Flexibility. When a facility has open space or a lane needs freight, you can turn up spend in that market and turn it back down when capacity fills.
Choose keywords that signal buying intent
Generic terms like “supply chain management” or “logistics” are expensive and attract students, job seekers, and researchers. The best logistics PPC keywords combine a service with a location or a specific need.
Service plus location
“3PL warehouse [city]”
“fulfillment center [city]” or “fulfillment services [state]”
“cold storage warehouse near [port]”
“LTL carrier [region]”
“drayage services [port]”
Service plus industry or requirement
“freight forwarder for [industry]”
“food grade warehouse”
“hazmat freight shipping company”
“temperature controlled trucking”
“ecommerce fulfillment for [product type]”
Comparison and outsourcing terms
“outsource warehousing”
“3PL providers”
“dedicated contract carriage”
“third party logistics company”
Start with phrase and exact match on your highest-intent terms. Once conversion tracking is reliable and you have enough conversion data, broad match paired with smart bidding can help you find additional searches you would not have thought of.
Build a logistics negative keyword list before you launch
This is where most logistics PPC budgets leak. The logistics industry attracts a huge volume of searches from people who will never become customers. Add these as negative keywords from day one, then keep building the list from your search terms report.
Wasted search type
Negative keywords to add
Job seekers
jobs, careers, hiring, salary, pay, resume, apply, application, indeed, CDL, driver, drivers, owner operator, part time
Package tracking
track, tracking, tracking number, where is my package, delivery status
course, degree, certification, training, what is, definition, PDF, jobs report
Residential moves
moving company, movers, household, apartment, storage unit, self storage
Review your search terms report weekly for the first month, then at least every two weeks after that. In our experience, ongoing negative keyword work is one of the biggest drivers of lower cost per lead.
Write ad copy that speaks to shippers
Logistics buyers are risk averse. They want to know you can handle their freight or inventory without problems. Your ads should answer that concern quickly.
Lead with the service and location that matches the search, such as “Food grade warehouse in Tampa.”
Add proof. Certifications (SQF, C-TPAT, IATA, ISO), years in business, square footage, fleet size, or on-time performance.
Highlight capabilities that set you apart: temperature control, WMS integrations, EDI, hazmat, cross-docking.
Use assets. Sitelinks to service pages, callouts for certifications, call assets for buyers who want to talk now, and location assets for each facility.
Give a clear next step, such as “Request a quote” or “Check space availability.”
Test one variable at a time. Even changing a single word in a headline can move click-through rate.
Send clicks to landing pages built for conversion
Sending PPC traffic to your homepage is one of the most expensive mistakes a logistics company can make. Build a dedicated landing page for each major service or location campaign.
Match the headline to the ad and the search term.
Put the value proposition and a short quote form above the fold.
Show trust signals: client logos, certifications, facility photos, and testimonials.
Include facility details buyers need: square footage, dock doors, racking, temperature zones, and proximity to ports or highways.
Offer more than one way to convert: form, phone number, and a request a call option.
Make sure the page loads fast and works on mobile.
Use targeting to focus spend where you have capacity
Geographic targeting
Target the regions your facilities and lanes actually serve. For multi-location operators, build separate campaigns for each facility so you can control budget by market. Adjusting bids by location performance has been one of the most consistently effective levers for our clients.
Audience targeting
Retarget website visitors who viewed service pages but did not convert.
Upload customer lists (Customer Match) to reach similar companies and exclude existing clients from prospecting campaigns.
Layer in-market and custom segments for business services and logistics where available.
Schedule and device
Most logistics leads come in during business hours. Review performance by hour and day, and reduce bids or pause ads overnight and on weekends if those clicks are not converting. Check device performance too, since many B2B form fills happen on desktop while calls skew mobile.
Pick the right platforms
Google Ads should be the foundation for most logistics companies because it captures active demand. Search campaigns targeting service and location keywords usually deliver the most qualified leads.
LinkedIn Ads work well for reaching shippers by job title, company size, and industry, such as supply chain directors at food and beverage manufacturers. Costs per click are higher, so use LinkedIn for targeted account lists, content offers, and retargeting rather than broad prospecting.
Microsoft Ads is worth testing. It often reaches an older, corporate desktop audience at lower costs, and you can import Google campaigns in a few minutes.
Performance Max can work for logistics, but use it carefully. Without strong conversion tracking and audience signals, it tends to spend on low-quality placements. We recommend getting search campaigns stable first.
Set a realistic starting budget
There is no single right number, but there is a right way to calculate it. Start with what you need the budget to do:
Estimate the cost per click for your core keywords using Google’s Keyword Planner for your service areas.
Decide how many clicks per day you need to get meaningful data. Each campaign needs enough volume to show which keywords and ads work.
Multiply the two to get a daily budget per campaign, then multiply by the number of markets or facilities you are targeting.
Plan to consolidate rather than spread thin. A few well-funded campaigns outperform many underfunded ones, especially if you want to use smart bidding.
Set aside part of the budget for testing new keywords and ads, and plan for seasonality. Peak season, produce season, and end-of-quarter pushes all shift demand. For a broader view of how PPC fits into your overall spend, see how much a logistics company should spend on marketing.
Measure what matters across a long sales cycle
Logistics deals can take weeks or months to close, so measuring only form fills can be misleading. Track these metrics:
Conversions and conversion rate (forms, calls, quote requests)
Cost per lead and, more importantly, cost per qualified lead
Click-through rate by keyword and ad
Search impression share and top of page rate, which tell you how often you show up and where
Quality Score for your core keywords
Pipeline and revenue influenced by paid search
Connect your CRM to your ad platforms. If you use HubSpot or Salesforce, import offline conversions such as qualified lead, opportunity, and closed won back into Google Ads. That teaches smart bidding to optimize for real business outcomes instead of any form fill, which matters when a single new account can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Common logistics PPC mistakes to avoid
Launching without a negative keyword list
Sending traffic to the homepage instead of a dedicated landing page
Using broad match without smart bidding or conversion tracking
Counting every form fill as a lead, including job applications and vendor pitches
Running one campaign for every location and service
Ignoring call tracking when many shippers prefer to pick up the phone
Setting it and forgetting it
Where logistics PPC is heading
AI-driven campaigns. Google’s AI tools now handle bidding, keyword expansion, and ad assembly. They work best when you feed them accurate conversion data and clear guardrails.
AI Overviews and AI search. Ads now appear alongside AI-generated answers. Pairing paid search with visibility in ChatGPT and AI search covers both sides of the results page.
First-party data. Customer lists and CRM data are becoming more valuable as third-party tracking declines.
Frequently asked questions about PPC for logistics
How much should a logistics company spend on PPC?
It depends on your markets, competition, and goals. Calculate a budget from the cost per click of your core keywords and the volume of clicks needed to generate data in each campaign. It is usually better to fully fund a few campaigns than to spread a small budget across many.
Is Google Ads or LinkedIn Ads better for logistics companies?
Google Ads is usually the better starting point because it reaches shippers who are actively searching for a provider. LinkedIn Ads is better for reaching specific job titles and target accounts, and works well alongside Google once the foundation is in place.
How long does it take for PPC to generate leads?
Well-built search campaigns often generate inquiries within the first few weeks. Expect the first two to three months to be focused on optimization as you refine keywords, negatives, ads, and landing pages.
What are the best keywords for logistics PPC?
The best keywords pair a specific service with a location or requirement, such as “3PL warehouse Dallas” or “temperature controlled trucking.” These signal buying intent and filter out researchers and job seekers.
How do I stop getting job applicants from my logistics ads?
Add negative keywords such as jobs, careers, hiring, CDL, driver, and salary before launch, and review your search terms report regularly to catch new variations.
Should logistics companies use Performance Max?
Only once conversion tracking is solid and search campaigns are performing. Without good data and audience signals, Performance Max can spend on low-quality traffic.
Need help with logistics PPC?
Fronetics manages Google Ads, LinkedIn Ads, and landing pages for 3PLs, carriers, freight forwarders, and warehousing companies. We know the keywords that bring in shippers and the ones that waste budget. See our paid ads services or talk with our team.
Digital supply chain management requires a whole new set of skills. From an omnichannel mindset to enterprise IT use, here’s what defines success of logistics leaders.
Editor’s note: This is the final guest post in a three-part series by Kate Began of Polycase.
It took some time for the tech revolution to hit the logistics industry, but now that it’s here, everything is changing rapidly. Suddenly, it’s all about omnichannel commerce, digital transparency, and advanced analytics (among many other trends). And as the world of logistics changes, the leaders of the logistics industry will have to develop new skills with which to navigate it.
What skills will the logistics leaders of tomorrow (and today) need to effectively manage the new realities of the supply chain? These seven areas will define the success of a business’s digital supply chain operations and separate the organizations that can fuel their success with technology from the ones who must struggle to adapt to it.
To manage the digital supply chain, here are 7 skills logistics leaders need
1. Ability to adapt
Twenty-first-century logistics will require its leaders and managers to constantly learn how to use new tools and react to changing market conditions. The new logistics professional has to keep a steady hand at the tiller during times of big change and use solid data analysis to find the right path forward, even when market conditions aren’t perfectly clear.
Flexibility will be incredibly important in implementing the most cutting-edge logistics technologies such as logistics blockchain, automation, and IoT. But it’s also critical to the daily operations of logistics when it comes to filling in transportation gaps and devising on-the-spot solutions to problems. The logistician who can harness the new digital tools for these ends will be formidable indeed.
2. Proactive curiosity
Adaptation is easier when a business pursues the right new tech, rather than waiting for it to come to them. Good logistics management will also increasingly require a commitment to proactively keeping up with technological and industry trends.
The 21st-century logistician has to be well-versed in everything from industry white papers to what’s trending among logistics professionals on LinkedIn. They need to be able to spot key trends and prepare for them so that businesses can stay ahead of the curve and not get blindsided by major changes.
3. Strategic thinking
Thinking two steps ahead can be tough when the business environment is changing so rapidly, but that’s what the new millennium logistics professional has to do. They have to take the long view and keep a business’s core principles at heart when creating plans for the future.
The need for strategic thinking also means tempering enthusiasm for new tech with good judgment and analytical rigor. Unwise investment in unproven or poorly-implemented technologies can be just as disastrous for a supply chain as lagging behind in tech, so as always, there’s no substitute for clear-eyed analysis and solid planning.
4. Enterprise IT use and procurement
Enterprise IT is an increasingly critical skill set for logistics professionals. Almost all logistics companies now use enterprise IT software, such as ERP suites, to manage their supply chains, and digital logistics professionals must often make decisions about procurement and implementation of these sophisticated software products.
Knowing how to get all of these disparate technologies to work together can be an even more difficult and necessary skill. Cross-platform performance can require knowledge of APIs and other tools that have been foreign to the logistics industry until now. Much of today’s logistics software is also cloud-based, so it’s also useful to know the basic principles of SaaS architecture and cloud workflows.
5. Project management
Today’s logistics professional often has to assume leadership roles on major projects. In order to be an effective leader, they must be skilled at tasks such as:
● Identifying the strengths and weaknesses of team members and delegating tasks to them effectively
● Working with upper management to structure project calendars and deadlines
● Estimating costs and planning for the budgeting and deployment of resources
● Identifying key technological tools for driving project success
● Creating transparency at all levels of the project by deploying appropriate digital tools such as IoT sensors and shipment tracking
Twenty-first century logistics concentrates more operational and computing power in every employee’s hand than ever before—but that power only produces results when employees are managed properly by a competent project manager.
6. People skills
Speaking of managing people, logistics professionals must also remember that not everything in the digital supply chain is run by circuits in a plastic enclosure. On the contrary, old-fashioned people skills are as necessary in the logistics industry as they’ve ever been—perhaps even more so.
Supply chains now have more stakeholders than ever, and effective management requires communicating effectively with a wide variety of personalities and roles. A good supply chain manager will be able to use 21st-century communication tools to connect people and make sure everyone’s on the same page, but they must also be fluent in the “soft skills” of empathy and interpersonal contact.
Empathy also requires a zero-tolerance mindset for regressive elements like sexism and racism in the digital workplace. Logistics may not be HR, but much of the everyday work of combating prejudice is done at the ground level by managers. For a business to attract and retain the best talent, they must pursue an egalitarian vision that makes work a great place to be for everyone.
7. An omnichannel mindset
Business, both B2C and B2B, now flows through a multitude of channels. That means that for the 21st-century logistics professional, an omnichannel mindset is a must-have. Whoever your customers are, they’re now on mobile phones, tablets and even voice command services like Alexa. A business’s platform and its logistics operations must reflect this new reality.
The rise of omnichannel commerce means that logistics operations must find a way to interlock with every channel that’s important to a business. That means keeping in mind how channels such as brick-and-mortar stores, traditional online sales and mobile shopping are all distinct but interrelated and managing them with an eye toward keeping every part of the complex interplay running smoothly.
There’s no running away from the oncoming wave of disruptive technology in the digital supply chain, so the only option is to ride it. Logistics professionals who are flexible, curious and empathetic will have the best capability for managing these new realities and turning them into a profitable and efficient future.
Kate Began serves as the Sales and Marketing Manager for Polycase. She oversees the customer service representatives, assists with product development, and leads the marketing efforts from the Avon, Ohio headquarters.
Digital marketing over social media is a trend that continues to grow, but it’s only effective if you’re doing it right. Here are social media mistakes supply chain brands are still making.
Highlights:
When it’s done right, there’s no greater tool for your company to increase brand awareness and generate leads than an engaged presence on social media platforms.
Knowing what content hits home with your followers and potential followers is crucial.
The most successful companies on social media are the ones that find innovative and creative ways to engage with users.
It’s no mystery why approximately 81 percent of small and medium businesses maintain a social media presence. With 3.5 billion users worldwide, social media is a dream come true for businesses looking to reach a ton of potential customers.
Digital marketing over social media is a trend that continues to grow, as more businesses jump on the social media bandwagon. When it’s done right, there’s no greater tool for your company to increase brand awareness and generate leads than an engaged presence on social media platforms. But it can be virtually useless if your company isn’t doing it right.
Traditional marketing strategies may be misleading for companies hoping to connect with customers over social media. And familiar ways of using social media for personal use can also lead marketers astray. The most effective use of social media for your business centers on knowing your audience and positioning your brand within the right conversations, rather than promoting your product or service.
Are you making social media mistakes? Check out our list of the most common blunders we see companies making to find out.
Mistake #1: Not knowing the audience
Everyone understands how a billboard works. It advertises something for sale where it can be seen by as many people as possible. But for companies looking to increase their effectiveness, that’s a big social media mistake. The most important thing a brand can do on social media is to engage dynamically with other users. And to do that, companies first have to figure out who their audience really is.
It’s surprising how often brands don’t have a clear idea of who they’re trying to connect with on social media. Knowing what content hits home with your followers and potential followers is crucial. And collecting followers and promoting your brand visibility with the right audience means figuring out what other interests your target demographics might have.
So, how do you develop a profile of who your audience is? The first step is to put together a detailed description of your target buyer persona. It’s important to consider details such as the location, education level, and role in the industry of the buyers you’re hoping to reach. Based on this profile, marketers can more precisely pinpoint the needs and concerns of their target audience. This is vital for being able to anticipate the groups to join where potential buyers are most likely to be found.
Bottom line: engage with your audience! Once you have figured out who that audience is, join groups, encourage and leave comments, and pay attention to what your followers care about.
Mistake #2: Using objectives instead of strategy
The best way to use social media for digital marketing involves developing a clear strategy for attracting followers, delivering content, and achieving an ROI. Unlike personal use of social media, effective digital marketing depends on maintaining a regular schedule of generating content. Knowing how often to post content or update profiles can make a huge difference for staying on the top of newsfeeds at key times of day.
Generating new content is crucial for keeping followers engaged and attracting the attention of potential new followers. A variety of different kinds of content prevents followers from tuning out or skimming past your company’s posts. Partnering with brand ambassadors and market influencers boosts the organic visibility of your brand: by working with prominent social media users, your company can benefit from dynamic interactions with brand ambassadors who your target audience follows and views as authentic.
Following a strategy can also help achieve and measure your ROI. It can be particularly difficult to prove the ROI of a company’s participation in social media, so it’s especially important to use analytics tools for tracking how your social media presence is doing. Social Media Examiner’s 2018 Social Media Marketing Industry Report found that only 44 percent of marketers agree that they know how to measure social media ROI, leaving two-thirds of marketers aren’t sure whether their efforts online are paying off. Measuring defined goals against analytics data can help your company identify and react to effective techniques, and improve your social media standing.
Mistake #3: Using the most popular social media platforms
Although the social media platforms with the most users may seem like the most effective platforms for digital marketing, platforms that allow you to engage with your audience can carry more weight than more popular platforms.
All social media channels have a differentiating quality that makes them appealing to specific audiences. So, start by identifying where your target audience is spending their time. For instance, if you are interested in reaching millennial buyers, then your social media efforts should definitely include platforms such as Twitter that millennials tend to use on at least a daily basis.
Once you’ve determined the most effective platforms for your company to concentrate on, be sure to tailor your content to those platforms. Although it’s easy to post the same content across all your accounts simultaneously, the foundation of social engagement is authenticity. Especially with automation tools, many companies post copied-and-pasted content on multiple platforms all at once. But this strategy risks undermining the authenticity of your brand. Work to create content—including video and images—that caters to specific platforms to build brand awareness and loyalty.
Mistake #4: Promoting instead of connecting
This is the big one! Social media platforms are all about fostering engagement among users. Users don’t want to engage with brands that push their products and services through standard marketing techniques. Instead, users will be drawn to companies that appear engaged with the same interests and objectives that they are. Users want informative, interesting, and, yes, even fun content.
The most successful companies on social media are the ones that find innovative and creative ways to engage with users. Brand loyalty arises from emotional bonds and trust that can form through social media interactions.
Greg Hadden, executive director of Motive Made Studios, sums up the power of connecting with users: “What often gets lost is the fact that good storytelling is potent stuff. It has the power to make people want to believe and to belong, which is the goal of all storytellers. We’re all selling something, be it an idea, an exploration of the human condition, or say, a vacuum cleaner. It’s no mistake perhaps that good stories often create products.”
Knowing how and when to respond to a social media crisis is crucial for reputation management and preventing future issues.
News travels at lightning speed thanks, in large part, to social media. With the ability to amplify news – both good and bad – you hear, almost daily, about brands battling a social media crisis. Look at Facebook, who is still managing the aftermath of the Cambridge Analytica scandal almost two years after the news broke.
When your company suffers from negative reviews on social media, it hurts. A single post can have a direct impact on your bottom line. That’s why it’s crucial for B2B brands to know how and when to respond to online reviews and comments. Here are four ways to help your company manage a social media crisis.
4 steps to managing a social media crisis
1. Establish policy
We recently wrote about the importance of a social media policy, and there’s never a better time to implement one than during a social media crisis (except for maybe before it happens). When you provide employees with guidelines on how to respond to negative feedback online, you minimize the risk of employees guessing the appropriate response. Because speed is critical in these situations, a social media policy allows your team to respond quickly and confidently.
2. Listen
You know customers are talking about your company, but is the tone a positive one? And if it’s not, how are you responding? Social listening gives you the opportunity to take a negative customer-service situation and not only correct the problem, but deescalate a situation from turning into a crisis.
Through consistent social listening, you’ll understand the difference between grumblings and a significant change in sentiment toward your brand. Though no company is perfect, a personalized response to negative comments on social media shows a genuine concern for your customers and an investment in customer satisfaction.
3. Engage
As we’ve said, time is of the essence. A short, initial response on social media is a must, but your brand needs to follow up with more in-depth messaging. Social media thrives on engagement, and responding to a crisis is no different.
Lauren Teague suggests, “Avoid getting pulled into a long discussion of what went wrong. Instead, try to move the conversation to a more personal channel, like private messaging. You could also offer a phone number, email address, or other means of communicating outside of social media.”
4. Learn
Deep breaths. Once you’ve survived a social media crisis, the experience isn’t over. Take the time to meet with your employees and examine what happened, what worked well, and what needs to change in the event another crisis occurs. Learning how to minimize the damage of a social media crisis will only benefit you when future issues arise.
Give your staff the opportunity to share their experience during the crisis. Insight from your different departments can help determine areas in your social media policy that need updating, including how to prevent similar crises in the future.
Has your company experienced a social media crisis? How did you put out the fire?
