Facebook vs. Instagram: The Best Platform for Trucking Companies

March 8, 2024

In our journey through the digital marketing landscape for trucking companies, we explored Facebook’s significant contribution to enhancing connectivity among truckers. Expanding our horizon, we now incorporate Instagram as we refine our digital marketing strategies for the trucking industry.

The selection of the right platform is pivotal in steering your marketing efforts towards success. Each platform brings its own unique set of attributes to the table, including:

Audience demographics
Advertising costs
Types of content allowed
Desktop vs. mobile usage preferences
The mix between text, images, and video content

These aspects are just the tip of the iceberg! When we talk about social media advertising, two major players come to mind:

Decoding Facebook & Instagram for Trucking Companies

Owned by Meta, Facebook and Instagram share numerous advertising tools and features, making cross-platform promotion seamless. Yet, their distinct identities may guide your ad strategy in different ways:

1) Viewing Preferences: Desktop or Mobile

Facebook’s adaptability shines, serving both desktop and mobile users with ease.
Instagram, with its mobile-centric approach, is perfect for quick, visually arresting content.

For truckers and companies looking to circulate comprehensive content or desktop-oriented ads, Facebook stands out as the reliable platform. On the flip side, Instagram thrives on mobile interaction, making it the go-to for striking images and concise messaging.

2) Navigating Links in Your Strategy

Facebook simplifies the process by allowing links directly in posts.
Instagram, however, restricts link use to bios or requires investment in sponsored posts for direct linking capabilities..

Thus, while Facebook offers a direct path to user engagement via links, Instagram might challenge you to think more inventively or to invest in its paid advertising options.

3) Designing Your Ads: Choosing the Right Format

Facebook’s versatility supports an array of content forms, even allowing for text-centric posts.
Instagram mandates visual content, be it photos or videos, leaving no room for “text-only” posts.

This distinction emphasizes Facebook’s flexibility and Instagram’s dedication to visual narratives, a key factor for presenting the trucking lifestyle and your services vividly.

4) Insights Into Your Audience

Facebook caters to a diverse age group, facilitating outreach to a wide audience in the trucking sector.
Instagram resonates more with the younger crowd, making it the venue for engaging budding truckers and visual-content enthusiasts.

Considering the prominence of Facebook in the trucker’s digital toolkit, Instagram emerges as an equally potent venue, especially for captivating a younger demographic with visually engaging posts.

Choosing the Right Platform for Your Trucking Needs

To maximize your influence in the trucking industry, a dual-platform strategy involving Facebook and Instagram could be beneficial. Your choice should align with your content strategy, target audience, and specific goals:

For in-depth, informational content or ads that are best consumed on a larger screen, Facebook remains a prime choice.
For content that’s visually stimulating and tailored for on-the-go consumption, Instagram is your spotlight.

Truckers Flow Success Stories: Boosting Driver Recruitment

Our strategies don’t just sound good on paper – they actually work out there in the real world. Take a look at what we did for two of our clients. Eclectic Logistics, looking for Flatbed Drivers, saw their name get around way more on Facebook with a jump in attention by over 250%. They got 427.5 thousand people seeing their job offer. On Instagram, even though it’s a smaller crowd, they still got a decent bump of 3.6%, reaching 67 thousand CDL-A Drivers.

Then there’s LIV Enterprises – looking for Owner-Ops and Lease Purchase Drivers. Their Facebook numbers nearly doubled, soaring up by 130.9% to reach over 914 thousand truckers. Instagram was a hit too, with a whopping increase of 572.5%, which means they got in front of 539.2 thousand potential drivers. And it’s not just about people seeing the ads. Actual visits to their pages went up too – Facebook visits shot up by 159.6%, and Instagram profile visits by 217.3%.

Increased social media reach and visits for LIV Enterprises' owner operator hiring campaign

"Graph showing increased Facebook and Instagram reach for Eclectic's driver recruitment

These aren’t just numbers. This is real growth, and it shows that what we do brings in the right eyes to help trucking companies like EclecticLogistics and LIV Enterprises find the drivers they need.

Need Help with Your Social Media Ads?

Getting the hang of social media ads can be tricky. If you’re scratching your head about where to start, think about teaming up with experts. Truckers Flow is here to help you nail your social media ads on both Facebook and Instagram, making sure your messages get seen by truck drivers. If you’re unsure about social media ads, reach out to us and let’s make your trucking ads shine!