“ WE ALL REALIZE THAT PEOPLE DO BUSINESS WITH PEOPLE THEY KNOW AND TRUST ... I THINK USING SOCIAL MEDIA CONSISTENTLY AND STRATEGICALLY HELPS TO BREAK THE BARRIERS TO TRUST .”
been great to drive revenue and grow my business ,” he says . “ I can ’ t tell you the number of people who have contacted me after seeing one of my posts . They want me to look at their insurance policies or have questions about something in the final-mile . They ’ ve seen some of the content I ’ ve put out there , and they ’ re looking for someone to help them ,” he says .
He ’ s a big fan of mentioning and tagging other companies to bolster engagement with his posts . “ When I post and tag other companies , inevitably , someone from that company reaches out to me ,” he points out . “ It could just be a thank you or an invitation to jump on a call to learn about what I can do for them . I ’ m getting 1,500 to 2,000 engagements on my LinkedIn posts . And every time I post , I receive at least two to three inquiries that lead to opportunities . There ’ s also an indirect benefit . I ’ ve had people referred to me by someone who ’ s seen my posts . Think about what that means for growing a customer base for a courier business .”
LinkedIn – The Business Platform
For Burns , LinkedIn is his platform of choice and one he recommends for other B2B companies , like last-mile providers . “ In the last-mile world , the vast majority of work is business-to-business . For business people , LinkedIn is the social platform of choice . I ’ m in commercial insurance , so most of my prospects will be on LinkedIn . It is easy to find people and talk to them on LinkedIn . It surpasses the email . You can get direct messages to people .
They will likely click on your link even if they don ’ t know you . And they get a good sense of who you are within a few minutes ,” he says .
He talks about the outcome of a recent post : “ I had a guy call me last week . He said , ‘ Your name came up . I didn ’ t know anything about you . I went to your LinkedIn , and everything I saw tells me you ’ re the guy .’ So , without him ever talking to me or knowing anything about me , he got a good sense of who I am based on my LinkedIn . That ’ s the kind of warm lead that any businessperson dreams of .”
While Burns concentrates his efforts on LinkedIn , he suggests considering other social media platforms for couriers who do more business-to-consumer work . “ If you are doing more B2C type deliveries , you may want to leverage TikTok or Instagram . Or even Facebook ,” he suggests . He advises that a carrier pick one or two platforms and post on them regularly instead of trying to be on all of them .
It ’ s all about picking the platform based on who ’ s on it and why the company is posting . For example , in his personal life , Burns often uses Facebook and Instagram to share special moments . “ Currently , I keep my personal posts separate from those of the business . Business is on LinkedIn , and my personal life is on Facebook and Instagram , but that could change as my content evolves ,“ he says .
Building a Library of Trust With Social Media
Burns illustrated how one hypothetical delivery company might use social media to drive business .
38 customized logistics & delivery Magazine I summer 2024