TMSA Trailblazer Award: drop & hook

2022 Trailblazer Award Winner

ELEVATOR PITCH:

Trucker Tools needed to demonstrate to freight brokerage customers that drivers were interested in using their app and would be familiar with it and open to using it for tracking. To do this, Trucker Tools wanted to be the most downloaded tracking app with the biggest number of drivers using it. Through social media research and conversations with the Trucker Tools customer advisory panel, drop & hook found that drivers wanted most to hear directly from people like themselves. We also learned that not all drivers needed or wanted the same things out of the product, and that many drivers preferred interacting with smaller niche sub-groups on social media where they could see their own unique experiences reflected. Recruiting a diverse group of influencers and ambassadors to speak on behalf of the brand would help us reach a wider range of individuals beyond the existing Trucker Tools user base, and reflect that wide range of experiences back to these new audiences. The original goals of the Trucker Tools influencer program were to increase app downloads through influencer referral links and grow brand awareness by increasing social media community size. Since its start, goals have shifted to education and awareness and a continued effort to drive app downloads. Since the beginning of its influencer program in December 2019, Trucker Tools has

• shared 185 influencer posts across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube that have brought in
  • 873K impressions
  • 47K engagements
  • 333K video views
• Through the program's organic and paid efforts, there were over 10,000 new app downloads in the first six months and within the second year of the program, the app reached 1 million downloads.

MEASURABLE RESULTS AND OBJECTIVES ACHIEVEMENT:

With the original goals of increasing app downloads and social media community size, drop & hook helped Trucker Tools double its social media audience in the first six months of the program. Today, Trucker Tools has a social following of more than 127K fans. As a result of growing the Trucker Tools fan base, drop & hook was able to help bring in over 10K app downloads directly through influencer referral links in the first six months of the program;since then, the app has reached over 1 million total downloads. Continued success and app downloads have allowed drop & hook to shift the influencer program to share more educational content, teaching truck drivers how to use the app in their daily operations.

BLAZING A TRAIL!:

Through the Trucker Tools influencer program, drop & hook broke into the influencer market, and did so successfully, by utilizing influencers to create educational business to business content. By leveraging influencers, Trucker Tools has been able to increase app downloads, grow its social media presence, and create an audience of engaged users. drop & hook blazed the trail by using influencers in the trucking industry to do more than just promote a product, the influencers also successfully promote business tools and create educational content for Trucker Tools users. Trucker Tools influencer program put drop & hook in a position where they can teach others about these types of programs and how to run them successfully in a business to business environment.