Congratulations on starting your marketing activities! Wondering what to do next?

When we started three years ago, helping logistics business owners and leaders attract new customers through marketing and salesmanship, many logistics companies hadn't embraced marketing and were skeptical about its benefits. To convince them, we created educational content showcasing successful examples, including major companies like DHL, to encourage others to follow suit. Today, we see a positive shift, with more companies engaging in marketing and public relations activities. While we can't take all the credit, we are proud to have inspired some to begin this journey with us.

This article will provide valuable advice to take your marketing activities to the next level.

Become more strategic with marketing activities.

Many logistics business owners initially start marketing or public relationship activities because they notice competitors doing the same and don't want to be left behind. This is understandable initially, but eventually, they must step up their game to excel. Logistics organizations should perform competitor analysis, identify key differentiators, and understand their buyers' personas to achieve this. This understanding will help create content that resonates with their customers and highlights the unique aspects of their brand.

Furthermore, organizations need to determine their goals with marketing activities. Few to choose from brand awareness, shortening sales cycles, lead generation, increasing customer value, boosting engagement, establishing industry authority, etc. Once the goals are set, a strategy and marketing plan should be developed to reach those objectives, including determining the budget, measuring progress, content plan, and ensuring consistency. If you want to learn more about creating a marketing strategy and plan, sign up for our newsletter.

Align sales with marketing

The other thing which logistics organizations need to do to monetize their activities is to align sales with marketing. It’s important to understand that in the case of logistics marketing, it serves as a tool to help sales to close more deals faster or increase existing accounts. In the case of logistics services, it will not generate sales as logistics services marketing is different from transactional services marketing. Yes, inquiries and leads can be generated, but good paying loyal customers are developed only in tandem with sales teams.

Alignment is challenging for any organization, particularly for logistics companies, it's even more demanding. First, not all organizations may be suitable for this alignment, especially if they are small, have combined sales and operations, or do not have the capacity for new customers. The alignment works well for organizations with expansion plans constantly looking for new customers.

To begin the alignment journey, create a sales and marketing process, establish sales and marketing enablement tools, and work towards gaining buy-in from both departments and leadership. Although challenging, it can lead to significant improvements in performance. We will talk more about the alignment in the future.

Focus on impactful content

When creating content, asking whether it brings the organization closer to its goals is essential. For instance, endless greetings, milestones, and party posts might not contribute much to generating new customers or building authority. So, if your organization has a different goal than just looking cool, you should consider changing to more professional content.

A rule of thumb in order not to get lost is when your organization creates content, ask yourself does it bring me closer to our goals? If not, don’t publish it. In the case of the above posts, most of the time, the answer is no. I'm pretty sure logistics companies can do a better job here.

Expand to more marketing channels

While starting with social media marketing, particularly on platforms like LinkedIn, is a good initial step, it's important to explore additional marketing channels once you've gained expertise in the existing ones. Look into creating events, blogs, email marketing campaigns, lead magnets, and expanding to other social media platforms. Select the channels wisely, keeping your audience in mind. Different channels will be more effective for different types of logistics services and target audiences.

Consider rebranding

As organizations engage in marketing activities, they might realize that rebranding is necessary to fit into the modern landscape and cater to their customers' changing preferences. This rebranding process should go beyond just updating the logo and colors; it should also involve evaluating and refining the mission and vision statements. The website content and related elements must align with the new branding and objectives.

To summarize, organizations that have embarked on their marketing journey must constantly evolve and adapt. Engaging in marketing prompts them to reevaluate their processes, activities, and readiness for the future. Marketing is becoming more crucial for logistics companies each and every year, keeping in mind logistics market consolidation and heightened competition.

If your organization requires assistance with any of the above activities, please reach out and arrange a call with us.

About the Author:

Tomas Ananjevas is a supply chain professional with 15 years of experience purchasing and selling Logistic services and building a supply chain from scratch. He founded a consulting, training, and staffing company that works exclusively with the logistics industry. Tomas is helping logistics companies implement the necessary changes to ensure business growth and continuity. You can arrange a time to talk with Thomas by clicking?here.