2022 has been an exciting time for the logistics and transportation industry. Faced with supply chain disruptions, the emergence of new technologies, and booming consumer demand, logistics companies have risen to the challenge of keeping our world moving. Staying on top of industry trends will be critical for supply chain and logistics companies to ensure the success of their brand and to continue serving their customers’ needs.
Here are three trends that can elevate your sales and marketing efforts in 2023.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Integration Improvements
Marketing efforts are heavily focused on data-driven decisions, which will only become more relevant as CRM platforms become more robust. Artificial Intelligence (AI) will become a standard for CRM Systems in 2023. AI features such as chatbots, trigger events, automation, upselling suggestions, etc., can help streamline customer service functions and lead management.
Furthermore, CRM integration between business departments is on the horizon for 2023. According to TMSA’s Marketing and Sales Metrics Study, approximately 38% of logistics companies do not currently integrate CRM, marketing automation platforms, and CX software across departments in their organization. System integration supports the RevOps model, aligning marketing, sales, and operations to achieve revenue goals. CRM integration across departments gives all employees access to the most current and accurate customer data, which will reduce errors, improve service times, and diminish the silos between departments in an organization.
New Marketing Channels for Advertising
In 2022, the driver shortage and increased consumer demand presented new challenges to the logistics industry. The tight labor market presented the need to try different methods in recruitment marketing, sparking innovative ways to showcase what makes your company different.
Many logistics companies have explored short-form videos to spread brand awareness and recruit top talent. Companies started utilizing TikTok for recruitment marketing. In 2023, companies will expand their presence on the platform. TikTok is rolling out updates to support this growth, including boosting video search capabilities and prioritizing local content.
Additionally, in 2022, there was a shift to thought leadership content to build connections with prospects. In 2023, growth in this space will become more interactive and engaging. Utilizing your employee base as brand ambassadors is a key strategy to increase your marketing reach to new audiences and can provide companywide benefits. Encourage individual employees to grow their own personal brand through podcasting, webinars, blog posts, and social media (within company policy). These content pieces are great to repurpose for new marketing content on the company pages.
Promoting and Abiding by a Purpose-Driven Strategy
People tend to buy from people who are like themselves, likewise, companies want to purchase from companies whose mission aligns with their own. In 2023, it is crucial to not only talk about it, but be about it. The best differentiator in business is doing the right thing.
Sustainability, social responsibility, and diversity have always been important but were not necessarily always treated with importance as a buying factor until recent years. According to Deloitte, purpose-driven companies grow on average three times faster than their competitors.
Did you know that TMSA has a Purpose Award. Learn more here.
Purpose drives employee satisfaction, which can help with retention, and can grow deeper connections with customers. Showcasing your purpose can help drive sales. Marketing can assist sales team by creating sales enablement collateral that highlights purpose-driven initiatives.
Companies today have a greater responsibility to their communities, employees, and the environment at large. Of course, service and price still matter in the buying decision, but building a cohesive partnership on a strong foundation of authenticity goes a long way.
If 2023 is anything like 2022, the logistics industry will have an interesting year.
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