How to get customers for your courier company

Whether you are starting a new courier company or trying to get more business for an established one, you need to think about marketing. There are many marketing strategies available to couriers now that were not around ten years ago, so it is worth familiarising yourself with them.

Facebook offers comprehensive, low cost marketing opportunities for small businesses. It is expected to have 1 billion users worldwide by the end of 2012, so it will give your courier company a powerful platform from which to communicate to potential customers. One you’ve signed up and secured your company’s username, you should search for your competitors’ pages. Check how many “friends” other courier companies have and how they are using Facebook to market themselves.

Twitter also provides a large marketing platform for small businesses. Start an account in the name of your business, then spend 20 minutes on Twitter’s homepage familiarising yourself with the content available. Search for terms relevant to your business, such as “courier” and “courier company”, and see how other businesses are using the site. You will also be able to see customers’ opinions on courier services and often potential customers asking for help and recommendations.

LinkedIn is a huge, business-focused social network. Once again, you should reserve your business name or your personal name so as competitors can’t use it. Once your profile is set up, you can encourage existing customers to give you a “recommendation”. This will give your business credibility with new customers.

Next, you should register with an online courier marketplace such as DeliveryQuoteCompare.com. It won’t take long to set up a profile, and DQC will provide you with free access to thousands of courier jobs throughout the UK and Europe. There are no registration or subscription fees, and it is free to give a quote on any courier job. DQC only charges a small success fee if the customer accepts your quote.

Although it is still a good idea to use traditional strategies such as advertising your courier services in the local paper, you should also take advantage of all the free marketing platforms and job opportunities the internet has to offer.