Marketing Strategy for a Shipping Business: A Beginner’s Guide

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Marketing any type of business has its fair share of challenges, especially taking into account that there are an estimated 334 million companies worldwide.  Marketing a shipping business can be even more challenging. As a shipping company, your goal is to reach an international audience, and to do that, you have to move online and compete with established companies. You must be very strategic when marketing your logistics business online so you can stand out and demonstrate your expertise. Letting go of outdated marketing strategies like cold calling and focusing on your online marketing strategy will help you promote your shipping business, expand your reach, and win new international clients. In this article, we will discuss how to build a marketing strategy for a shipping business from scratch so you can be successful in the market. 

Invest in Your Website 

Your website is the face of your shipping company. It’s the first thing people see online when looking for transportation services, so it should include all the necessary information about your brand. If you want to grow your brand and attract new potential clients, you must invest in website development. 

You want your website to be easy to navigate, include informative content, and provide opportunities to book shipments online, track them in real time, and receive customer support. In other words, it should be a platform that allows users to manage their orders from start to finish. 

To ensure people have a great experience using your web page, make it mobile-friendly, optimize its speed, simplify navigation, and focus on visual branding. Also, make sure it has an intuitive, responsive design. With 61% of users reported to be unlikely to return to a site they had difficulty accessing from their mobile device, mobile optimization has never been more important. 

But even if you think you’ve created the perfect website, it still needs to be optimized for search engines. That’s how you increase your visibility and find new clients. 

You will likely rank high in search engine results when you work on keywords, backlinking, technical health, and other vital SEO elements. To maintain high rankings, you need regular website analysis and updates. By checking your positions with AI-powered SEO tools like SE Ranking Rank Checker, you will know what works for your website. By comparing your competitors’ keyword positions alongside your own, you will understand the full picture and be able to adjust your SEO and online marketing strategies accordingly. 

Dashboard of keyword rank tracker tool by SE Ranking (Source: SE Ranking)

Once you’ve created your website, you need to populate it with relevant information and effective content. And that’s where content marketing– your next point of focus– comes in.

Use Lead Generation Services

In today’s dynamic shipping industry, incorporating B2B lead generation agencies into your marketing strategy can be a transformative move. These agencies specialize in identifying and connecting you with potential business-to-business clients in need of shipping services.

By collaborating with a reputable lead generation agency, you can tap into a consistent stream of qualified leads, enabling your shipping business to expand its client base and effectively enter new markets.

This strategic approach not only optimizes your resource allocation but also ensures that you are targeting businesses that align seamlessly with your services, ultimately enhancing your marketing efforts and driving growth for your shipping business.

Work on Content Marketing

If you want your shipping business to stay competitive in the market and attract new clients, you must start creating high-quality, engaging content for your customers. In your marketing strategy for the shipping business, focus on writing blog posts or making educational videos on various topics connected to logistics and transportation. This demonstrates to your audience that you are a credible expert in the industry. 

Remember that people visit your website not just to order services; they often want to learn new information as well, so you need to give them this opportunity to understand the field of shipping better. 

You’ll also rank higher in SERP if you write your content following Google’s E-E-A-T guidelines. As part of your SEO strategy, make sure to include relevant keywords, ensuring that they’re integrated naturally without compromising the quality and readability of your content. 

The types of content you can create for your shipping business can include blog posts on related topics, such as best practices for international shipping, customs regulations, or even case studies showcasing successful shipping solutions that would add value to the reader’s business. 

Example of blog related to e-shipping field (Source: Eshipping)

Of course, your content should also be shared on social media channels like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. These tools can help you promote your brand, learn about the latest trends, and communicate with your customers directly. They can also help you expand your reach through targeted advertising campaigns. 

Run Targeted Advertising Campaigns

Apart from posting content on social media, you can run paid advertising campaigns to reach a wider audience. Your targeted ads should focus on people’s specific interests, locations, traits, and preferences. That’s how you reach people who are interested in transportation services and are more likely to click on an ad and proceed to your website. 

One of the best ways to utilize targeted advertisement is to capitalize on your best-selling content, such as the one blog post that drives the most traffic to your website and gets the biggest response on social media. Since it’s already doing great online, you can repurpose it as your Facebook promotion. 

Targeted advertising has multiple benefits, such as increased engagement, potential for customization, and the ability to build brand awareness. Since targeted ads focus specifically on users’ interests, you will reach a more relevant audience and increase your click-through rate. 

Furthermore, targeted ads are incredibly customizable. You can use different tones, different imagery, and so on to appeal to various segments of users. For example, you can create unique ads for different age groups and for people from different countries. 

Finally, targeted advertising campaigns can help you build brand awareness by appealing to people who are already interested in shipping services. 

Develop a Referral Program

Once you’ve built an audience with the help of targeted advertising, you can move on to developing a referral program. Your customers can often do your marketing for you through recommendations and word-of-mouth. To encourage this, you can develop a referral program where you offer discounts or rewards for those clients who recommend your company to others. 

According to recent statistics, referred customers have a 30% higher conversion rate, a 16% higher lifetime value rate, and a 37% higher retention rate. This makes referral programs essential to the success of any new business; not only are they incredibly effective, but they are also inexpensive, making them a worthwhile and sustainable marketing strategy for your brand.

Example of how referral program in e-shipping can work (Source: eShipper)

To develop a referral program, start with templates. These include referral emails, follow-up emails, social copy, and more. Your templates can be customized depending on the group of customers you’re targeting and the promotions you’re currently running. 

You should also determine the referral incentives you’re going to offer. One example would be a 20% discount on transportation services for referring a friend. Because you want to motivate your customers to keep bringing in new clients, these incentives should be valuable and only available through the referral program. 

Next, design your customer referral program and landing page, making sure to craft a catchy headline that summarizes the value of the program. It’s important to choose the right tools to manage your referral program, such as referral program software and CRM systems that help you follow up with your prospects, nurture customer relationships, and keep track of customer preferences.    

Develop Strategic Partnerships

Developing strategic partnerships with other businesses is a great way to promote your business. Of course, this does not mean cooperating with your direct competitors. Instead, you could team up with a local retailer and organize in-store pickup of your orders there. This strategy benefits both businesses, increasing the visibility of the store while allowing you to deliver goods faster and improve inventory management.

Thus, the two rules of strategic partnership are:

1. Make sure that the business is not your direct competitor.
2. Make sure they serve the same audience as you. 

One idea is to collaborate with eCommerce platforms, which can help your business reach a larger customer base. You can integrate your shipping services with these platforms and offer their customers free or cheaper shipping. 

Another idea is to create a strategic partnership with a technology provider. This allows you to enhance your business efficiency by using new tracking systems, inventory management software, and other solutions to optimize your processes. 

Offer Customizable Shipping Solutions

Most people want a unique, personalized approach when seeking certain services, and shipping services are no exception. Nowadays, a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work, and it can turn potential customers away. Thus, consider offering customizable shipping solutions for your customers, allowing them to adjust shipping preferences according to their specific needs. 

For example, you can offer different packaging options, including eco-friendly packaging or the ability to choose the time and day of delivery. The more options you provide for your clients, the more likely they are to continue using your shipping service and recommend it to others. 

One way to inform your customers about customizable shipping solutions is through advertising. Create catchy ads that stand out, highlighting the ability to choose eco-friendly packaging or select time of delivery. The goal is to stand out among your competitors and offer unique options that no one else does. This information should also be clear on your website and promoted by your strategic partners, who should be asked to inform customers about these shipping options as well.  

Sponsor Industry Events

Another way to increase your visibility and showcase your shipping service is to sponsor industry events. For example, you could sponsor a logistics event. That way, your company’s name would be on all the event’s materials, giving you the opportunity to promote your services to people unfamiliar with your business. 

Example of event related to the logistics industry (source: MEXT)

Sponsorships are effective for a number of reasons. 

First of all, event sponsors are always in the spotlight. This gives your name and logo visibility and encourages widespread recognition of your brand. 

Secondly, being a sponsor allows you to be in closer contact with your target market if you choose to sponsor a transportation/logistics event. People visiting the event are already interested in shipping services so that they will pay attention to your brand. 

Finally, being a sponsor is an effective way of networking and building new connections in the industry. It can help you find new leads, sponsors, and even future employees. 

One of the most successful examples of event sponsorship is FedEx’s sponsorship of the UEFA Europa League, which allows FedEx to expose its brand to new clients and reach a large audience of football fans. 

Use Geotargeting

If you want to reach customers from a specific region, consider using geotargeting. This tactic is also called geo-targeted advertising because it uses location data to target users. For example, if you operate in only one state and don’t ship to other states, targeting people exclusively from that area would be wise. You can also use this strategy if you are entering a new market and need to find new customers in that area. 

Geotargeting has multiple advantages. For instance, you can hide your ads from competitors. This is useful whenever you are testing a new strategy that you don’t want other businesses to know about. If you combine geotargeting and IP exclusion, only the groups you choose will see your ads. 

Moreover, geotargeting helps you become locally relevant, raising awareness of your brand in a specific area and increasing your visibility and conversion rates. 

There are a number of tools you can use for geotargeted advertising, including location-based targeting, audience targeting, and weather targeting. Location-based targeting limits your reach to a chosen location, while audience targeting shows ads to people who have already visited your website. Finally, marketers believe that weather has an impact on customer behavior, so weather targeting is used to display ads based on location and current climate conditions. 

Having said that, geotargeting doesn’t have to be based on real-time location. In other words, it doesn’t necessarily mean you can only target people who currently live in a specific location. Geotargeting can also be based on a historical location, such as a city that your audience has visited recently. As such, you can also target people visiting the location for a brief period of time. 

Use Direct Mail

Not many businesses use direct mail as a logistics marketing strategy, but some companies have found a way to use it to their advantage. It may seem that direct mail is an outdated form of marketing, but if used strategically and creatively, it can build trust and attract new customers. 

Direct mail marketing involves sending your current or potential customers a physical letter, postcard, brochure, or package. It’s a simple and straightforward form of marketing that has multiple advantages. 

First, people enjoy receiving mail because it’s relatively rare in the digital age. 

To maximize the effectiveness of your direct mail, define your target audience first. Then, create compelling content, including eye-catching visuals, personalized messages, and high-quality printing and materials. Whatever you send out, make sure you provide clear calls to action across your marketing collateral. 

Conclusion

Mastering a marketing strategy for a shipping business can be challenging but worth the effort. If you want your shipping business to grow and expand, you must invest in an effective logistics marketing strategy that covers digital marketing and other practices like direct mail. This is especially important if you have an international shipping business with lots of influential competitors. 

If you follow the tips outlined in the article, your chances of staying on top of the competition and promoting your business will increase exponentially, so make sure you get started on your new marketing strategy today.

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