On October 24, 2013, this presentation was given to the Columbia River Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association about the importance of social media for logistics companies. The presentation gave the attendees an introduction to the concept of branding, the importance of maintaining communication with customers and prospects and promoting thought leaders within their companies. It also speaks to the importance of good web design, how to use social media services to promote their company and ways to advertise online to their targeted audiences.

1. Understanding social media, web and
online promotion for logistics
companies.
Scott Case
Founder, Chief Storyteller
scott@positionglobal.com
@scottcase

2. Today’s Topics
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Branding - What is it, why is it important, is yours
current and relevant and do you use it correctly?
Digital marketing and communication:
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Newsletters
Audio / video
CRM
Your website
Social media for businesses (focus: logistics industry)

3. Branding
Simply, it’s how you look.
Everywhere. To everyone.
Relevance and quality
aside, it has to be executed
consistently.
Do you let other people use
your brand mark?
Best practice is to have a
style guide.

4. Brand Considerations
Geographic consumption.
Audience - B2B or B2C? Or both?
Name, logo execution, tagline or some combination of
all three?
Equity and market reputation.
Level of penetration.
Overt or nuanced messaging of your company’s
mission?

5. Right and Wrong Style Execution

6. Overt or Subtle?

7. The Arrow
Henny Youngman, the comedian, had this whole
signature to his act around ‘Take my wife. Please.’
What the PR folks wanted to do was the equivalent of
changing his shtick to ‘Please, take my wife.’ If you
have to call attention to your punch line, to explain it,
it’s no longer a punch line. It doesn’t work, it isn’t
funny, and no one will remember it.”
- Lindon Leader, Creator of FedEx Logo
Excerpted from Matthew May’s book The Laws of Subtraction
Appearing online in Fast Company Co.Design October 23, 2012

8. Another use of subtle

9. When You’re Copied, You’ve Made It
1939 British
government
propaganda
poster to boost
wartime morale.

10. When You’re Copied, You’ve Made It

11. Digital Marketing and Communication
Survey
Tools of the trade
CRM
Email campaign
Surveys
Newsletters
Webinars/Seminars
Podcasts

12. CRM (Contact Relationship Managers)
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Do I need one? YES
Choose wisely.
Considerations:
Features
Interoperability
Cost
Interface with current
operations software?
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Buy or subscribe?

13. Email campaign programs
Stamps are great if you’re a
collector.
Like CRM’s, you’ve got
choices.
Make specialized templates for
different messages.
Top features:
–Segmenting your lists
–Checking your clicks

14. List Segmentation
World Market is a
GREAT bad example.
Respect the inbox.
Rule of thumb is the rule
of threes.
Newsletter
Targeted issue
General marketing topic
!

15. The era of
the audience
is dead.

16. Checking your clicks

17. Newsletters

18. Newsletters
Determine the frequency.
What’s in your company’s
DNA? Industry news,
product offerings, project
news, employee content?
Should be timely, highlight
your company and link
back to your site and the
source content.

20. 42

21. Things your content should be:
!
Helpful!
Shareworthy!
Shareable!
Searchable!
Path to conversion from prospect to customer.!
!
!

22. Your Website
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Your website is your always-open door to current
and future clients, agents, employees and vendors.
The site must put forth the most professional and
complete digital identity that is pitch-perfect with your
real world identity.
The site must be responsive to render across multiple
devices and platforms (computers, tablets, phones).
The site must incorporate a prominent call to action.
Don’t think when it’s up that it’s done.

23. Not-the-greatest practice web example

24. And how’s that look on my iPhone?

25. Pictures tell stories on your site
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Meta-tagging
Words + pictures =
find in Google Images
= direct traffic to your
site
We’re BROKERS AND
FORWARDERS. We
move and clear stuff.
And we should take
pictures!
Credit: jifnet.com

26. QR Codes

27. QR Code Best Practices
• QR codes used in advertising are going to be checked
on a smartphone or tablet.
• QR codes need to be simple; short web addresses are
the best web addresses; use a link shortener.
• Think of the screen real estate of the device it will be
shown on.
• More importantly, if you’re advertising a product or
service, direct the viewer to the campaign for that
product or service.

31. Keep QR codes simple: goo.gl, bit.ly
Crowley QR Code Shortened
Port Seattle QR code shortened

32. Search Engine Ranking and Optimization
Credit: sparkwiz.com

33. Two Ways To Get Listed
ORGANIC
!
Site design
Meta-tagging
Content
marketing
INORGANIC
!
PPC
Advertising
Remarketing

34. Advertising online offers clearly measurable results
to determine ROI.
Campaigns can be run that take
advantage of:
• Pay per click (involves bidding for
keywords).
• Remarketing ads.
• Display ads.
• Promoted posts through social media
sites.
• Geographic areas, variable budgets, A/
B testing.
• Site or industry specific activities.

35. Other digital outreach
• Webinars and
Seminars
• Podcasting
• Audio / Video Content

36. Social Media
for Business

37. Social Media for Business

38. 1.2 BILLION

39. Twitter Fact(oids)
Make it count: 140 characters or less.
Has become the communication vehicle of choice in:
–Disasters
–Revolutions
–Television and film marketing
#HASHTAGS for topics.
Lots of people weigh popularity based on “followers”.

40. Logistics Companies On Twitter
Companies and their followers as of October 23, 2013:
!
FedEx Trade Networks: 180
Maersk Line: 91,684
UPS: 57,703
Ceva Logistics: 2,223
Expeditors: 180
AA Cargo: 0 (because it’s gone)

41. Twitter Relevance for YOU
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If you promote you’re on Twitter, somebody has to pay
attention all the time.
Use it to advertise (newsletters, projects, services or
jobs).
Use it for emergencies (power outage, weather
closure, zombie apocalypse).
It’s the fastest real-time means at your disposal to get
the word out repeatedly.

42. •
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Launched on May 5, 2003, LinkedIn in January reported
200 million users in 200 countries and territories.
The networking is a little more personal.

43. •
LinkedIn is the place to be for companies and individuals
who want to network professionally.
Don’t fall into the trap of making your “social” friends your
LinkedIn connections; keep it work focused.
Join groups that are relevant for you and your company.
As an employer, you can see somebody’s history.
As an employee, you can look for a new gig.
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As a salesperson, you can keep people on your radar.
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44. • Fully SIXTY-FOUR percent of
visits to corporate websites
are from LinkedIn.
• Facebook has declined by
nearly half from thirty to
seventeen percent over the
past two years.
• Twenty percent of web traffic
is from mobile devices.
• However, only twenty-three
percent of companies have a
mobile or responsive site to
accommodate those visitors!
Source: Investis IQ Audience Insight Report

45. •
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Pew Research in 2012 showed that women were five
times as likely to be on the site as men.
“Boards”, which highlight content, are usually pictures.
Mostly for travel, fashion and cooking at this point.
But believe it or not, logistics companies are there with
infographics.
Infographics are expensive to produce, print and
distribute, but help stuff “stick” better in people’s
memories.

46. Infographic Example

47. Maersk on Pinterest

48. •
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Created in 2010 and
acquired by Facebook
for $1 billion (with 13
employees) in 2012.
First on iOS, then
Android. Now Windows
Phone.
#share #with
#hashtags.
100 million users.

49. Hashtags used here:
#logistics
#lgi
#heavyhaul
#transportation
#broker
#logisticsgroupinternatio
nal
#huge
#otr

50. Social sales channels are equalizers
1 billion
800 million
343 million
200 million
200 million

51. Manage those accounts!
Pick a service and post centrally.
Repurpose content.
Respond and thank people for follows / retweets /
repostings.

52. How do you measure your success?
• Campaign metrics - impressions, click throughs.
• Subscribers added to your newsletters.
• Followers or connections on other platforms.
• Acquisition cost per client.
• Brand penetration.
• Revenue.

53. Takeaways
1.Evaluate your digital presence.
2.Establish a budget, whether allocating existing funds or creating
a category for them.
3.Ask how many clients, prospects and agents can you talk to
simultaneously?
4.Is your site relevant and built properly for all visitors?
5.A multi-pronged strategy that focuses on communicating with
clients, remaining in front of prospects and putting forth an image
to both as well as future employees and decision makers is key.
6.Have a policy for managing your social networks.
7.Meet me tomorrow morning for a free analysis!

54. Scott Case | (630) 410-2059 | scott@positionglobal.com