Video Marketing with Michelle LeBlanc

I am Jennifer Karpus , remain Executive Director of TMSA , a trade nonprofit educating and connecting marketing and sales professionals in transportation and logistics , and today I have on the show Michelle LeBlanc , who is CEO at Drop and Hook , and we are here at the TIA Capital Ideas Conference , so we thought we would take the opportunity to do this recording live

together . How are you doing ?

But so we are in San Antonio for TIA , and we're in the swing of trade show season and , besides always being easy to spot on the trade show floor which I love , that you're wearing your pink outfit today , because , it's very true , but she normally wears bright colored outfits Great to find her .

But what are some of your other kind of go-to must-haves for trade shows when you travel ?

say this is like inbound marketing in an outfit , because people will come up and talk to you . It's an easy opener to be like .

I love the pink , yes , um , but you know , I would say one of my other like favorite trends that has happened in the world is everybody's wearing their sneakers to a trade show now , and I so appreciate people who have their brand colored sneakers . That is definitely one of my go to's . I also like to have chapstick reusable water bottle .

I know you might think you're going to get one at the expo from the 17 brands that are giving them away , but I will tell you . If you're here at an event like TIA , they're not necessarily going to open the expo until day two , so it's always important to hydrate .

And then something I always travel with also is my little wireless mini mics , in case there's a good opportunity to get some content , like we're doing right now .

Yeah , yeah , content I mean .

But then I come to things like this and I see a whole lot of my favorite people all in one place and

have those relationships and those connections .

So as a marketer , I also look at trade shows as an opportunity to take those relationships and connections , take advantage of the fact that we've paid to be here in this place and use it to produce some content that we're going to get extra mileage out of by putting it out , say , on one of the company's LinkedIn pages .

So content production , specifically at a conference , is tricky because you're not necessarily going to have beautiful backdrops like this , everywhere you go .

You're not necessarily going to have good sound and if you're not paying for a full-on video production company , that's going to be a little bit of a challenge , but that doesn't mean you can't take the opportunity to do a little something that is off the cuff for social media .

Um , so you know , something that is a really easy thing to do is , if you have customers that are at an event , maybe it's an opportunity to grab just a quick testimonial where you ask them a simple question , whether it's to share their experience working with you as a customer , or maybe it's something as simple as talking about a trending topic in the industry .

You know , last night the truck stop drone show was talking about fraud , right ? So everyone here is talking a lot about fraud . That's an ongoing topic , you know . It's an opportunity to get that authentic little soundbite piece of content talking about something like that .

That can turn into a quick turn thing to put out on social media , which oftentimes we find a drop in hook . One of the biggest challenges for our clients is just remembering to stay on top of that , the content production . It doesn't go away and you have to keep showing up consistently over time with the right messaging .

So conferences are definitely a good opportunity to get a little bit of that , bundle a bunch of stuff into one or two days .

People want to talk about it , but you know , so let's kind of compile that , have a few people say their thoughts on it and then you have this great piece of content that you can break down into the individual people or bring it into like a full video with a different perspective is really great .

And so that was how I started getting into social media and what I have noticed over the course of that , as each of the platforms has , you know , started to adopt things like video , is , whenever you are at the early stages of that new tool has been launched , there is a little bit of juicing of the algorithm to get that type of content out there more if

you are an early adopter of those things . So over the last year , year and a half , linkedin has been pushing video content a lot more . You might have noticed , if you open up LinkedIn , there's kind of that video feed section now .

So from a you know , effectiveness standpoint , just having the format of content that the platforms are looking for , that's going to keep people on that platform for longer , more consecutive minutes that they are spending on LinkedIn , like that's what LinkedIn wants out of you . So if you're willing to kind of play that game .

You're going to get a little bit more reach , more impressions out of that , you know , assuming you are wanting to get brand awareness , because why more impressions out of that ? You know , assuming you are wanting to get brand awareness ? Because why else are we doing all ?

And then , oh , now , we can run a remarketing ad , using paid ads , to people that have watched that video and are part of your ideal audience , in order to bring them further down and , you know , be able to talk to them more directly .

So , that said , you know if you are creating video content for TikTok sort of speaking in the native language of TikTok creating video content that is for that platform , that is the type of content that your audience is used to seeing and likes engaging with on that platform , will do better .

So the most important thing you can do is know who your audience is and what they specifically like , because while you can say , okay , here's an overall best practice for tick tock , you know 30 seconds to a minute long a video um , maybe your audience is actually really interested in those longer like how to videos that are really going to walk you through doing

something specific and putting out content that's going to resonate with you . Know , the 100 people you really want to talk to is , in my mind , always better than putting out content that's going to resonate with 100,000 people . But they might not be your right people , Sure , sure .

strategy ? And then also , do you think that the sales teams could be doing a better job incorporating video into their marketing strategy ? And then also , do you think that the sales teams could be doing a better job incorporating video ?

I think sometimes marketers fall a little too heavily into that and you know they start seeing like okay , when brands are doing kind of really funny content , that's like more comedic . You know , like that it feels good , you get that dopamine hit of . We put this thing out and it makes me laugh and there's certainly something to be said for that .

Like I hope we're all doing things that we love , that bring us joy to our lives . But kind of getting that like cheap and easy win is not necessarily the thing you actually need to be doing .

So you always have to make sure , like , does this actually make sense for our brand and what it is that we're trying to say , or are we kind of unintentionally making ourselves seem unserious ?

Or you know , know , like as the marketing team , sometimes you have to be talking to internal audiences in your company as much as you have to be talking to the external audience .

So are you seen as less of a serious business professional by your bosses because you are focused really heavily on kind of getting that laugh , getting that engagement and not translating that into this is what this means for business results .

For you know , on kind of getting that laugh , getting that engagement and not translating that into this , is what this means for business results . For you know our bottom line because ultimately , over the last couple of years the market's been tough and marketers don't necessarily have an easy time of that .

How does it fit into our brand , how does it fit into our business objectives ? Because sometimes , yeah , like you're , you're catching that fun new thing .

How do we get into that one on one sales conversation ? And that is great . But something I think they sometimes sell themselves short on is how much knowledge of their specific niche that they have picked up over the years . And you know they're hearing directly from their prospects firsthand , like what are the things that that person is dealing with right now ?

What are their struggles ? Ideally , if they're a good salesperson , they're probably asking a lot of questions , right ? So taking the time in your day to think about , like okay , that's stuff that I have learned , can I turn that into a really quick video ? And I think for salespeople it doesn't necessarily have to be something that is really highly produced .

You know your prospects , like knowing who you are as a person . We all always say like this industry is about relationships . So you know , be your authentic self . Create a quick little video . Share something that's of value . Don't be afraid to put it out there .

Like , here are some video testimonials or things that are going on , or just I remember last year at TMSA we did like 30 second videos of the sponsors and yours was my favorite because you were like hello , I'm Michelle , and it was , yeah , it was an introduction to who you are , what you like to talk about , both in like marketing as the sponsor , but just

like who you are as a person , because people got to know you . And that was , to me , the most successful of those videos because it wasn't super pitchy , it wasn't something completely irrelevant , it was just like hi , I'm here , let's connect while we're at the show .

Right , we are right now in a very strange era for consumer marketing where brands are kind of embracing this idea of being unhinged right , having mascots everybody knows , duo the owl , Right .

And so you know , I don't think that logistics , sales and marketing professionals need to necessarily do that , but there is an opportunity there to maybe think about , like , should our brand have some sort of avatar that can be a figure that can talk about these things ? Right , I think as a marketer , you always kind of want the thought leaders in the company .

Maybe it is your leadership that is out there , but is there an opportunity to have , you know , a stand in for your brand that can talk on behalf of the brand ? I don't think that's going to be a fit for every single company , but I know there's a lot of freight tech companies here today .

It's interesting to me I don't think any of them have a mascot , and you know why is that ? Because this is a tried and true thing that has worked for companies throughout the years .

So , you know , I think , like it's just always in my mind really good to see , like , not just what are your direct competitors doing , but what are some aspirational brands that you're like I like what they're doing and think about if there's something you can take from that .

So I want to kind of switch gears a little bit and talk about something that you're passionate about and that's something that people are kind of afraid to talk about right now in this space , and that is DEI , and it's constantly evolving and there's people who really support it , there's people who are afraid to support it , there's people who don't support

it . But what are steps that companies can take to ensure that they are authentically incorporating DI into their brand identity in the current condition , with all those things in mind , even when that moniker right now is kind of triggering to people ?

I got my start actually doing like driver recruitment marketing , my start in transportation at any rate , and you know , I think when it comes down to it , we are an industry that is about kind of moving things from point A to point B and you know , truck drivers and people working in the ports and train conductors , you know , are the sorts of people that are

at the front lines . People working in the warehouses are at the front lines of actually doing this real world work , and so telling those authentic stories of you know who these people are is something that I kind of fell in love with early on in my career .

And ultimately , you know , I think that the fact that that sort of stuff resonates has not changed at all in any political environment .

That's going to resonate Because , like , when you decide to work with another company , ultimately you need the individuals in that company to deliver on the service that you have purchased , right , Like we're generally not out here doing e-commerce , so it is something that is about the humans that are executing on it , and I would love to say that companies embraced

DEI because they knew it was the right thing to do . I think certainly some of them did , but I think in our space , a lot of companies embraced using DEI and those authentic stories in their marketing because it was something that was really commercially successful for them and certainly that's something we've seen with customers we've worked with .

I had a brand where we worked to really establish them as a great company for women to work for in trucking , and they , you know , we had an insight that the women that worked for them stayed with the company for longer , generally had better safety records , you know , and were really good employees better safety records , you know , and we're really good employees

and so we took that insight and said , ok , well , we have like 8% of her workforce is women right now . Can we grow that ? And two years after we wrapped up that initial campaign , we weren't putting money behind it anymore .

People were still coming to the website and downloading the lead generation materials that we had made two years later , because the women that were initially exposed to that campaign were now referring this company to their other friends who were thinking about getting into the industry .

So in my mind , there's something really powerful about that that like that's how , as a brand , you actually establish brand awareness . I think marketers like to talk about that term a lot , but it's like you're literally taking up space in somebody's head , that they know what it is that you stand for and what you're going to get out of that company .

So I think telling those authentic stories really is how you do that and you know , I don't think that's going away and I think it is like it is just at a baseline level , a really commercially successful thing to do because , chances are , your workforce is very diverse and having that representation in your materials is the realistic real world picture of what it's

like .

And what do you provide for your company , your company culture , all of those things are all of a piece of it , and it's a little sad that , like , those words can just be so triggering to people and they don't know exactly how to navigate it and I think a lot of things get lumped into that that really aren't a part of it .

When we're just saying , hey , like you have a diverse workforce , this is authentically who your company is . Just share that .

That terminology always makes me cringe a little bit because it feels very like , okay , like we're doing this as a very specific , like PR play to get these end results out of it , but the reality , when it comes down to it , is like most companies in our space .

Part of what I love about this industry is most of these companies are giving back to their communities , are really contributing at that level , and I don't think it's wrong to take those stories of what they're doing and share them , because I think , if anything , it's great for companies to see that other companies are also doing this and that this is an important

part . Right , you want your community to be strong , because those are your consumers as well .

It's not just recruitment , actually , it's retention as well , because turnover is so enormously expensive to these companies Like not only do you have to pay money now to meta to

run ads to bring more people in , or indeed , or whatever that is , you've got , you know , a truck sitting empty because you don't have a driver to be behind the wheel , um , you've also sort of lost all of the effort and value that you put into training this initial person and and in the free brokerage space as well , it's the same there's something like the

first six months there's a huge amount of turnover that happens , and I think a lot of that is training and misplaced expectations . But I also think having a sense of inclusion in your company is the sort of stuff that makes you stay and makes you really go the extra mile to contribute to this sense of a shared purpose and vision .

This sense of a shared purpose and vision but , yes , at a commercial level as well . It's just a really great , effective strategy for standing out and attracting people and , you know , I think it does really create more engaging content oftentimes , at the end of the day , to have those authentic employee stories . So you know , that kind of brings it to life .

We can all kind of say we have the best company with the best services , but you kind of need to go a level deeper than that and actually put some real world stuff out there , and that's what's going to make it work .

But I think things like being really rooted in your core values , who you are , what you stand for and making sure that you're aligned on those is very helpful in those moments where things are changing really suddenly . I think , from a sales perspective , customers are going to be turning to their vendors that they have relationships with and looking for advice .

What are you hearing from other people in the market ? How are they dealing with this and how can we work together to ? You know , beat us against the problem .

So you know , I hate to say that it's an opportunity when we're in times of , you know , sudden change and uncertainty , but sometimes it actually is , because I think it's an opportunity to be like we're all in this together . How are we going to solve this thing ?

So , you know , I think the thing that is really tricky , though , from a marketing perspective , is sometimes things take time , and that means kind of committing budget for a certain amount of time and staying the course , having a little bit of faith in what you're doing and what you believe in and working towards that end goal .

And that's a little hard to do for companies where they're feeling like things are really uncertain . So , you know , the best I can say is , if you look back at other times where markets fluctuated , the companies who kind of stayed the course and continued advertising in those times generally came out better at the end .

And you know there's been all manner of studies . If anybody wants to hit me up on LinkedIn I can share some links that speak to that . But you know , I think that is the thing . That is really tricky is that like not committing kind of being in that wait and see places is a hard thing for companies to do .

But maybe don't start a new channel on a new platform until we know that it's going to be here for the long haul . Monitor it , see what people are saying . You know , use it as an opportunity to kind of get content inspiration . But yeah , it's tricky .

. You can get more information about that event at eventstmsatodayorg . And that will take us to our last question of the day , and so this is your second interview on the move , so I can't ask you the same question that I asked you last time . So ask a different question , and that's if you could go back in time to one day of your life and relive it .

What day would you go back to and why ?

So I think I would say um , from a personal level .

Uh , the first date that I had with my husband , um , was definitely like I wouldn't change a thing , but we had a moment we were meeting , having coffee , and then , randomly , a bus passed by that said it was going to a part of Brooklyn that is where the Ikea was and we were like you want to go to Ikea , I love that .

And we got on the bus , right , and I think , like those moments in time where you take that leap and you're like , yeah , yeah , let's go to Ikea . We didn't end up going into the IKEA . We just walked around . It's in a cute neighborhood , didn't really want to test the waters quite to that level yet . That's a challenging one for any relationship .

But so that's my personal one is , I think you know , that moment in time of kind , of taking the leap and being like let's see where this goes . And I would say , from a business perspective , it's probably the same thing , I would say , the day that I initially stepped out on my own and started what now is Drop and Hook .

But at the time it was just my LLC and I was going to freelance . And my husband again plays a role in this one because I got my first invoice for my first client that it was one of the two that we went live with at the time , which is my friends at Reads Across America .

So anybody that went to TMSA a couple of years ago probably got to see that presentation with them . But you know it was a check . But my husband , being the lovely person that he is like , took a one dollar bill out of his wallet and he taped it up on our wall and he said congratulations , you are now doing this thing .

So it's all been upwards from there .

So thanks , michelle , for coming on the show and thank you everyone . Ooh , the computer is hot . We'll see you guys next time . Bye .