Third-party logistics companies and freight forwarders have a lot of value for business owners, from improving the supply chain to streamlining international or regional shipping.
These benefits are useless if businesses don’t know they exist, however. Marketing is vital to helping logistics companies reach their customers and generate revenue.
Check out this step-by-step guide to creating a marketing plan for logistics companies to ensure you’re visible to the right audience.
What is Growth Marketing?
Growth marketing is a specific focus of marketing that uses experimentation and data-driven methods to optimize growth in businesses.
Unlike other marketing efforts, growth marketing is entirely focused on growth, which involves testing to see where the company can improve, designing experiments to optimize processes, and using the results to determine future goals and testing.
Difference Between Growth Marketing and Traditional Marketing
Traditional marketing can be used to build market presence, gain customers’ attention, and guide them to the top of the funnel. Growth marketing is different in that it’s not solely focused on attracting potential customers – it works to increase the customer lifetime value and nurture ongoing relationships with customers.
Why Logistics Companies Need to Implement Growth Marketing Plans
Logistics companies can use growth marketing to scale the core business, expand in a global market, and move into adjacent industries. This can be done by implementing a focused tech stack, optimizing efficiency, and expanding competencies.
Growth Marketing Framework
Growth marketing is analytically focused and runs on a framework to maximize performance while minimizing costs. Done correctly, a growth marketing framework can get the logistics company in front of the right people to gain leads efficiently.
Growth marketing framework may be tweaked to each company’s needs, but the general approach includes:
- Defining goals and metrics to determine where the company is and where it wants to be.
- Data analytics to determine the areas of improvement and experimentation, such as inefficiencies in processes.
- Hierarchy of ideas to choose the best tools and software solutions to produce the desired results.
- Testing to identify the best ideas and use qualitative and quantitative results to determine performance. This experimentation typically takes 30 to 90 days.
- Analysis to see if changes are effective or more testing is needed to find new opportunities.
The framework is more than a step-by-step approach – it systemizes the process to ensure that it can be revisited periodically and scaled effectively.
5 Steps to Get Started with Growth Marketing
1. Implement Framework
Growth marketing framework is an essential resource in growth marketing efforts and defines goals, experiments, and ideas driven by data. The preferred framework is AARRR! Framework, which includes each step of the customer journey:
- Acquisition: Choose the channels with the most customers
- Activation: Determine the actions the users take when they discover your site.
- Retention: Determine the churn rate to see how effective your current marketing efforts are.
- Revenue: Identify valuable revenue streams.
- Referral: Look at customer referrals.
2. Determine Conversion Goals
Growth marketing is about defined, measurable goals and milestones. These may include increasing conversions on trial periods, earning subscribers, converting viewers into paying customers, achieving viral growth, and eliminating churn. Determine specific conversion goals and let it inform testing efforts.
3. Develop a Growth Marketing Strategy
A growth marketing strategy begins with a specific, measurable goal to be completed in a set timeframe. Use this goal to define your growth marketing strategy and identify metrics to define success.
4. Implement Growth Software Tools
Growth marketing focuses on the analytical side of marketing more than the creative side. Use tools to accomplish your goals, such as analytics tools to capture customer data, social monitoring tools to learn more about the customer journey, and A/B testing tools to experiment with your marketing efforts.
5. Enlist Experts
If you want fast results, leave growth marketing to the experts. Successful growth marketers can help you create your growth marketing framework and identify the key areas of focus for your initial strategy.
Types of Growth Strategies Logistics Companies Can Use in Their Growth Plans
- Choose the channels with the most activity from your customers
- Keep up with digital trends to gain an edge over competitors
- Focus on measurable results.
- Use customer personas to understand the buyer journey and optimize the customer experience.
Growth Marketing Metrics for Logistics Companies
Logistics companies are unique in that they require customer retention and loyalty for long-term profitability. Because of this, the best metrics to focus on involve the costs and longevity of customers.
- Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): This is a primary focus to learn how much revenue is earned from a customer.
- Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC): This is the cost of getting a new customer, which includes marketing and sales efforts.
- Cost Per Lead (CPL): This is the cost of nurturing a lead.
- Average Recurring Revenue (ARR): This determines the value of a customer and the volume required for profitability.
There are numerous metrics that logistics companies may use for growth marketing, but these are some high-value metrics to start out.
Use Growth Marketing to Boost Your Business
Logistics companies have some unique challenges in marketing, especially if they’re looking to scale. Growth marketing offers long-term, data-driven solutions to marketing efforts that enhance performance, competency, and profitability.
— Author Bio
Sidney Karanja
Sidney is the founder of Savo Store, a logistics and procurement services provider that works with corporations, start-ups, and non-profits, to help them acquire and transport goods to their offices in Africa. Savo Store also operates a platform that allows individuals in Africa to shop hassle-free at any U.S. retailer. Sidney founded Savo Store with the goal of eliminating some of the hurdles that plague cross-border transactions between Africa and the rest of the world.
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