This week is Mechanical Systems Week. Steve Miles (Jerry Kelly Heating & Air Conditioning – St. Charles, MO) and I are presenting “Maximizing Your Mobile Billboard.” We offer truck design guidelines, practices to avoid, and mobile marketing tips. Here are nine of the mobile marketing tips.
Sponsor a Charity Through Your Truck
One of Ben Stark’s (Stark Air Conditioning – Hurst, TX) came up with the idea of sponsoring the Susan G Komen Foundation. Ben arranged with the Komen Foundation to donate a portion of the profit from the truck to the foundation. Ben painted a truck pink and added the Komen logo.
The truck was an instant hit among area breast cancer survivors and a tremendous public relations coup. It’s been written up in newsletters. People ask for it. People get their picture taken with the truck.
Ben shared his success with his Service Nation Alliance Advisory Board and pink breast cancer awareness trucks have begun to spread throughout North America with similar success stories.
Use Reflective Decals
This should be obvious, but apparently is not. Good reflective decals cost a little more, but the trucks light up at night. Not only do they draw added attention, but they’re safer.
Create a True Billboard
Your trucks are not limited to your logo. You can create a true billboard on the side. Make a claim. Present your unique selling proposition. Make an offer.
Multiply Your Fleet by Using a Different Billboard on Each Side
Keep the billboards similar, but the messaging or graphics slightly different. This way, one trick appears to be two. Your fleet enlarges.
Use Your Website
Instead of promoting your company name, promote your company website. For example, instead of emphasizing “Bubba’s Air,” emphasize “BubbasAir.com” if that’s the URL.
Promote on the Back
While people see the side of your truck with brief glimpses, they get stuck behind your truck in traffic. Give them something to read. Identify all of your products and services. Use magnets to run promotions and make special offers.
Note Your Awards
If your company has won awards (e.g., a Contracting Business Quality Home Comfort Award), note the awards on your truck. Help people recognize your company as “An Award Winning Contractor.”
Logo the Roof
Sure, you’ve got ladder racks and ladders in the way, but you can still see the logo through them. Certainly people can see when the ladder is off the truck. You might wonder who will see the logo. Anyone standing on a small rise or looking out of a second story window will see it. Moreover people will notice it. Few van roofs are logoed. That alone means people will take a second look.
Recruit
If you are hiring, let the world know with recruiting ads on your truck. The purpose of the ads is to communicate to other technicians that your company is growing and hiring. Hopefully, they will give you a call if they become dissatisfied with their current employer.
What are Your Ideas?
Share your ideas for getting more from your fleet of mobile billboards. If I get enough, I’ll share them in a future CB Hotmail. Email your ideas to [email protected].
Matt Michel is the CEO of the Service Roundtable (www.ServiceRoundtable.com). Visit their website for more truck marketing ideas in the “Free Stuff” section of their website or call 877.262.3341 and ask for a free copy of Truckvolution and 15 Mobile Marketing Tips.