10 Great Websites: Macktrucks.com

September 13, 2010 - 9:23 am EDT

OTHER STORIES ON BtoB

I just flew in from the trade show and boy are the booths tired

Building and maintaining loyalty in a customer-driven World

How to market to startups (hint: It's not a one-night stand)

Five ways to combine #socialmedia and #contentmarketing

Lessons learned from print

Stop to smell the roses

Video blog: The science behind going viral

The decline of newsrooms and the rise of branded publishing

Shifting from product-centric to customer-centric

Social marketing begins with good social listening

Company: Mack Trucks

URL: Macktrucks.com

Target audience: Dealers and prospective Mack Trucks buyers, including truckers, construction companies, refuse haulers and other commercial companies

Key Web executive: Sharon Shuman, manager, e-business

Number of people who work on the site: 6

Last major redesign: February 2009

No. of pages on the site: More than 3,000

Web developer: In-house

The Mack Trucks site has a few main goals: Give visitors information about various models and engine configurations, and drive them to a dealer who can sell them what they are looking for. Other lesser functions include being able to find parts and service support, leasing information and training opportunities, said Sharon Shuman, manager of e-business.

MackTrucks.com makes this happen, while still tightly integrating the company's very specific and recognizable brand. "This was important because we have a 100-year history. The brand is a virtual icon," she said. "You never hear someone say, "I got hit by a Peterbilt.' "

Visitors can navigate the site via multiple pathways. "We want to show people [that], if you're a logger, this is the truck that's going to work best for you," Shuman said.

The company is also very proactive in using its website to discuss industry topics that generate a lot of questions, such as the Environmental Protection Agency's new emissions regulations. Mack Trucks is meeting those regulations through Selective Catalytic Reduction, or SCR, and highlights a new section called Talking SCR on its home page.

"We created this section to allow people to come in and submit questions," Shuman said. "All the responses are handled by one person, a product manager. The responses are handled via email, and then the questions and answers are posted to the website." The section is the most popular feature on the site aside from the product section, Shuman said.

Mack Trucks also makes it very easy for visitors to find and use offline contact information. "It's important for people to be able to download brochures and specifications, and we have a Request a Quote feature so someone can fill it out and we can do a telephone call to qualify them."

Expert commentary, Kara Pernice, managing director, Nielsen Norman Group: The company really did its research when it came to figuring out what its visitors want to know about the trucks. You know exactly what the trucks are supposed to do, and the company integrates the logo ... throughout the site in a fun way. You know instantly that this is Mack Trucks versus Mercedes-Benz. The company integrates photos well, and it's very easy to actually purchase a truck using the dealer and truck locators.