What is the worst thing that can happen while on the road? Car trouble, duh! You’re stranded without any help, armed only with a cell phone.
Now, imagine you are a professional driver with a broken down behemoth class 8 truck. Your Camry with a flat tire doesn’t seem like such a big deal anymore.
Breakdowns and maintenance are just part of the professional truck drivers’ MO. They need prompt response and professional mechanics no matter where they break down. How can independent repair facilities reach these drivers in need of repair and maintenance?
Most drivers own smartphones these days. You can bet this will be the number one tool used to find a repair facility in the event of a break down. Technology is now available to ensure that your business can be found on their smartphone.
The Art of the Geo-Fence
Step 1: Create a Force Field
You need to fence in the area around your repair facility. Think of it as a force field. If anyone enters the realm of your repair reach, they will probably see your message. Your force field can be a radius around your shop or with a bit of fancy code your force field can extend along lanes of latitude and longitude.
Though, instead of thinking latitude and longitude, think roads and routes. The “force field” could encapsulate any major routes within 50 miles of your shop. Instead of a radius, your targeted area would look like a spider with legs reaching out to drivers (little creepy, I know).
Step 2. Create Multiple Touchpoints
Any form of digital advertising can be geo-targeted. If drivers don’t have repair contracts in place, they will probably use their smartphones to search for repair facilities. This gives you two opportunities to be seen.
Opportunity 1:
You can set up a Pay-Per-Click campaign to work only within your “force field.” Now when anyone searches for a repair facility they will most likely see your text ad. If you wanted to keep out searches from the average, non-CDL driver, you could match search phrases to the cookie database of a website like overdriveonline.com.
Opportunity 2:
Even with a targeted PPC campaign like the one above, there is a chance that some will not click on your text ad.
All hope is not lost! You can create a banner program based off search.
When a driver searches for a repair facility, he or she can see your banner anywhere within the Google Display Network. In addition you could match your banner program to the cookie database of a relevant website. If a tagged driver enters the force field and gets online they will see your banner.
So, that’s three layers of targeting: location, search phrase, and content viewed.
Step 3: Create Easy Routes of Communication
Convenience is the name of the game. When one is broken down, the lowest hanging fruit will get picked. You need to make it as easy as possible for drivers to contact you. Your text and banner ads all need to have a touch-to-call feature.
But keep in mind that some prefer to conduct business online. Set up a system that allows drivers to enter service requests online.
Drivers are on the move constantly. If you want to provide value and be there when they need unexpected maintenance, you need to geotarget your digital presence and make it as easy for drivers to get in contact with you.
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Want to learn more about geotargeting? Check out this infographic that gives you 3 reasons to geotarget or peruse this article on real world locations for virtual banners.
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