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Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/737160
22 Sales & Marketing easier, especially when it comes to fi nd- ing the things I need," he says. Truck-Lite is like many businesses and depends heavily on search engines to spread their message. Others, such as Minimizer, have taken their marketing efforts to a new level. Minimizer's Director of Market- ing Steve Hansen says the company is constantly trying to engage potential cus- tomers. Though the company only sells products to distributors, they use a heavy social media presence to drive customers to their products. "We engage quite a bit on Facebook," Hansen says. "Last month we had 2.6 million impressions on Facebook." Hansen says research has shown that owner-operators have a heavy social media presence. On average, small business truckers drive more than 115,000 miles per year, which is more than three million miles in their lifetime based on an average 20-year career, and spend more than 240 nights per year away from home, accord- ing to the Owner Operator Independent Driver's Association (OOIDA). Those down times off the road provide ample opportunities to search for items they need. And that's where distributors and suppliers need to be. Hansen says it's working for Minimizer. "Since we started really using social media to its fullest, our website vis- its have gone up drastically," he says, adding that market research shows 90 percent of Minimizer's web traffi c is mobile-based. "That shows us that most of them use their phones or tablets which are easily accessible to them," Hansen says. "By us- ing Facebook to direct customers back to our website, it makes the searches easier for the customer and helps us show them the benefi ts of our products." The company has had huge success using video in that area. "We have a full time videographer on staff that creates videos on all of our products and we also use videos on our social media posts," Hansen says. Though social media and well- designed websites have been productive sources of marketing tools, they are not the only proven methods of success. For example, Minimizer sends out more than 100,000 outbound emails to customers each month based on data lists that meet their customer base's needs. The company also continues to use conventional marketing tools that still have their effectiveness. Sponsorships such as a drag racing team, hosting hunting and fi shing trips and other such events still prove to be good customer- based attractions, Hansen says. Each tool can be used by distributors as well. "I receive about six or seven emails a day from companies about what products they are featuring or with tech updates about something," Hodge says. "A lot of the time when something pops up that I need I remember that I saw an email about it so those are pretty helpful." But the key to an effective market- ing plan to owner-operators is having research that is proven and fact-based. Though their current marketing strat- egies are a little different, both Minimizer and Truck-Lite have invested to make sure they are doing what needs to be done to hit their customer base. "We began working on our new website more than two years ago," Liuzzo says. "We have taken our time and made sure to include the things that we believe to be customer friendly and that will help our distributors be informed on all of our products. We are building a social T R U C K P A R T S & S E R V I C E | O c t o b e r 2 0 1 6 By using Facebook to direct customers back to our website, it makes the searches easier for the customer and helps us show them the benefi ts of our products.bb – Steve Hansen, director of marketing at Minimizer