SFLTHE STATE OF MARKETING
IN LOGISTICS
The session started with a review of the disruption to the industry on business thinking, sales, finance and operations, which was discussed in the first two sessions. We reviewed the state of marketing in logistics and the feasibility of current strategy. The norm in sales was discussed around:
- Relationship selling
- Reference selling
- Recruiting new sales staff
The current state of marketing was viewed through the following parameters:
- Limited marketing performed primarily by sales and admin departments with a minimally active social media presence
- Gifts and Print Material
- Events and Networking
EXTENDING YOUR DIGITAL FOOTPRINT
Standing Out of the Crowd
Given the rush to digital that will take place and the acceleration of this due to Covid-19, we presented actionable steps to take to help you stand out of the crowd.
As non-asset based B2B service provided, we identified the following as critical to showcasing your digital footprint:
- Updating your logo and branding
- Utilizing the website as an Inbound Marketing Tool which performs as a 24/7 sales opportunity
- Differentiating through Document Customization
Within this framework, the following strategies were identified to be implemented during the Recovery Stage that we are now in:
- Know your best customers better
- Target your dream clients
- Reinvent your business
In a transaction based business, sales is driven by customer experience
We also looked at tools to increase customer experience and improve the digital footprint. The three possibilities for customization were:
- Mobile App
- Client Dashboard
- Webtracker
We ended the webinar with an overview of what was at stake by not adopting these strategies and the greatest of these would be:
- The loss of branding, decreased customer retention and non-differentiation
- Reduced customer experience
Decreased sales with the inability to recover from Covid-19 or grow your business.
PIVOTING SALES
Creating a marketing strategy
Relationship selling, events and networking was discussed as the traditional strategy for increased revenue and business growth. Given that Covid-19 makes these marketing methods obsolete, pivoting sales to realign sales strategy with marketing was the proposed solution.
A marketing plan, akin to a financial plan or gap analysis was the proposed first step towards actualization of this solution. Investment in marketing was identified as a priority with the first step to perform a marketing sprint, followed by creating increased internal synergy to strenghten the sales and marketing pipeline by utilizing Cargowise One’s CRM functionality.
This was exemplified through an analysis of performing marketing and sales synergy on LinkedIn. The first three steps towards this was
a) planning a framework for an Accounts Based Marketing Strategy,
b) Building a community and
c) Reviewing performance through metrics and data.
Contact us today at connectwithus@softfreightlogistics.com for all your digital marketing requirements.
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