Are You Marketing Your Business?

Most new and experienced freight brokers spend their day working with shippers and trucking companies moving loads. It’s a task that starts early, with 100% focus on getting the job done, but let’s not forget about marketing.

Too often brokers, as well as others in the transportation industry, focus only on getting the job done with little attention paid to their marketing. I’ve had brokers tell me that they are marketing with every call to a shipper or carrier, which is normally an excuse for not marketing. This can be a costly error.

A broker will spend hours prospecting new customers without a single thought on how to market themselves to attract a customer. Marketing is a means to attract customers that otherwise may not have used your service. Yes, prospect calls are marketing, but so is a website, social media, YouTube, direct mail, advertising, and more.

Today, all freight broker companies have a website. This wasn’t the case a few short years ago. It wasn’t that long ago that we would need to convince a client that a website was mandatory. Today, it’s a given with freight brokers, freight broker agents? Not so much.

A freight broker agent may not have the capital available for a vast marketing campaign, but they should work toward having their own website. A website is working 24/7. It’s a means to attract new shippers, carriers, and an inexpensive way to promote their business.

As an agent you are your own business, and you need to market that business. Your broker has a website, if a shipper or carrier found their website who do you think they will call? You or your broker? With a web site you are allowing shippers and carriers the ability to find, and call, you.

In addition, most freight broker agents have a desire to obtain their freight broker license. A web site allows them to begin branding their business now so that it is a recognizable name after they begin working as their own freight brokerage company. In short, it’s helping you today and tomorrow.

I urge you to take a few minutes and think about what you are doing to market your business? You might find that you aren’t doing much. By not marketing, how much money is going to your competitor that could have been yours?

Thanks, 

TALTOA