Trans.INFO 2020 summary - successes, lessons learned, plans

Initially I've planned this as a regular LinkedIn post, yet when writing ... i realised that so many things have happened in past year, that closing everything up in just 1'300 characters is simply impossible. So here we are - in this longish article summarizing this crazy year at Trans.INFO. Enjoy! (and I also hope that some of those may bring you inspiration for your own businesses!)

(quick disclaimer for everyone who hears about Trans.INFO for the first time ever - who we are? International media portal focused on logistics, supply chain and transportation available in 7 independent editorial versions, read by approx 800 k - 1 mln logistics-related readers across Europe monthly. Ok, now you are ready to read the rest of this article :) )

First things first: the BIG numbers

In whole 2020 the Trans.INFO website was visited by an amazing number of over 8'000'000 (eight million!) people with more than 33'000'000 (thirty three million!) page views. Comparing to 2019 (and do 2018), the growth is uncanny.

Trans.INFO grew from a total of 3.7 mln unique readers just 2 years ago, up to over 8.2 unique readers by the end of December, 2020. Also, as you can see - our logistics, supply chain and transportation related articles were viewed over twice as many times as in the previous year. At this point - we are extremely happy.

How did we manage to gain such a increase?

Well, two things were crucial, both dependant on each other. Firstly - the people. Secondly - the quality of content. Trans.INFO website is currently available in 7 independent language versions - english, german, russian, polish, romanian, lithuanian and hungarian. Each lead by a vivid personality individual and focused on local issues of those key markets. And yes - we are a team of just 16 people researching, creating, publishing and promoting the content that reaches over 8 million readers in Europe! Moreover - last year our editors have published almost 9'000 articles (including interviews, analytics and reports). Huge congratulations for your hard work Dorota, Bartosz, Agnieszka, Diana, Szymon, Natalia, Maciej, Zsofia, Artur, Hanna and Krzysztof! Separately i want to mention the ones, who joined Trans.INFO this year - Ma?gorzata Michaska working with Trans.INFO's external authors and experts; Agnes Sterniak leading the German editorial board; Gregor Gowans exceptionally developing the English website and last but not least Micha? Pakulniewicz - transportation market analyst. Cannot tag all of them here, but I highly encourage you to follow them on LinkedIn for tons of quality content.

You've already met the magicians standing behind the content, so now let me brag a bit about the content itself :) Ready for some articles, we're most proud of? (do click the graphics to view more)

• covid-19 coverage, including live stream and Google map with new rules, restrictions etc. In fact, the map as a standalone item was vastly shared on social media and hit over 6 million views worldwide (!!) (all language versions, the screen is for the EN version only)

• "Magazyn Managerów Transportu" - an online magazine created by the polish editorial team lead by Dorota Ziemkowska. First number focusing on e-commerce logistics and new technologies in the era of pandemics was issued in Q3'20 and was already downloaded by over 6'000 professionals. Second edition is currently under construction ;) and planned to be released within just a couple of weeks!

• dozens of interviews with the industry greatest minds, just to name a few:

Lars Martensson, Volvo Trucks’ Environment and Innovations Director by Zsófia P?l?s

Edvardas Liachovi?ius, CEO of Girteka Logistics by Szymon Knychalski

David Nothacker, CEO and co-founder of sennder by Gregor Gowans

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Wimmer, Vorsitzender des Vorstands, Bundesvereinigung Logistik (BVL) e.V by Natalia Jakubowska

Barna Erdélyi, the new CEO of Waberer's by Zsófia P?l?s

Andrzej Koz?owski, Member of the Board at Rohlig Suus Logistics by Dorota Ziemkowska

Want some more numbers?

Well, I know you do like numbers :) So let me just mention, that apart from over 8 million readers per year, the Trans.INFO's website community is much, much more.

• we run 7 independent Facebook profiles with over 68'000 fans in total
• on LinkedIn, you'll find 5 more dedicated Trans.INFO profiles in english, polish, german, romanian and lithuanian with over 10'000 business-related followers in total
• prefer watching video? there you go! Our YouTube channel has already 15'000 subscribers!
• apart from those big ones, we're also present on Twitter, Xing, Telegram, VKontakte
• database of readers registered to Trans.INFO, receiving regular e-mail communications from us has reached the number of 90'000 contantacts (including shippers, carriers, forwarders and truck drivers)

PLANS, PLANS, PLANS

Long story short ... we want to keep growing! :) I cannot tell you all our secrets and surprises, but let me share with you these four key projects for upcoming year:

1. Increasing the reach in Europe - 10 mln UU / year. Yes! Articles and people reading them is our fuel. We're working on both our editorial content and cooperating with more and more external authors. Only in exactly 182 logistics and supply-chain experts published their articles on Trans.INFO. And we're hungry for more! So if you consider yourself a good writer or have any other idea for cooperation with our media portal, please leave me a comment here and let's go through it!
2. Launch of Trans.INFO Metrix tool. Have you already tried Metrix? If the answers is no ... then shame on you. Here's the most accurate, real-time and dig-deep in data analytics tool, that your business urgently needs. These are the last weeke

3. hyperLOG - transport and logistics future forum. Yes, we'll be back this fall! The best logistics event you've ever been to is coming back to life after this year's reschedule. Right we're working on the location, agenda draft and creative ideas. Whenever you want to join as as a participant, speaker, media partner or sponsor - don't hesitate to contact me for details :)

Lessons learned

2020 was a truly challenging year. From one day to another we were all forced to change our regular agendas and start working remotely. And as you probably may imagine - close cooperation, daily meetings, talking to people inside your team and externally, keeping the pace and staying in the center of issues lies at the core of day-to-day work of every redaction.

Now, after almost a year of remote work I can say I am proud of my team, that we managed to pivot our lives so quickly and smoothly! Yet we all agree, we need to work on the ven better communication, understanding and quality of virtual meetings.

The more traffic we have, the more readers visit Trans.INFO, the more companies want to advertise on our websites, the more work we have. Here, at the media redaction we live in an extremely fast-paced environment. This is both amazing, inspiring, competitive and hazardous. In the flood of daily tasks and procedures, we need to learn to find more time for strategic thinking. To slow down a little, to rush less. To sit with a cup of coffee, empty blanket of paper and open-relaxed mind. TBH I wish this to everyone who managed to keep reading to this point! Stop for a moment and think of the future of your business, we all keep forgetting about that.

One more thing we've learned this year - time is the key to everything. Two, three or four years ago, when we were at the very beginning of the adventure called "Trans.INFO" who of you would have thought that, we'll be doing to many mesmerising projects? That so many people will be asking if they can can publish on Trans.INFO? That we will have over 300% growth in income from advertising Y2Y? That CEO's from huge companies will be quoting us as the expert media?

With all the time, that passed, all the great people we have in our team, with all our readers, today we can say that we love our job :) And what's more important - looks like the outcomes of our job please many people across Europe :)

Thank you for reading all of these! Waiting for you comments and feedback now :)

/Ewelina