Marketing for logistics companies

Marketing of Logistics Enterprises

Introduction: Logistics enterprises optimize marketing activities and realize the combination of logistics and marketing, which can enable enterprises to take customer needs as the "first driving force" and save internal core resources. Strength, continuously and healthily promote the healthy development of enterprises, continuously reduce costs and expand profits, so as to maintain sufficient physical strength and flexible mind in the competition. The following is the marketing of logistics companies that I bring to you. I hope it will be helpful to you.

Logistics companies can only continuously innovate marketing concepts and optimize marketing activities, take customers as the core, use the logistics resource chain as a service method, and develop targeted marketing strategies based on market share and establishing customer loyalty. , focusing on the retention and development of customers, realizing serialized and personalized logistics services for customers, focusing on the maintenance of customer relationships, improving the quality of logistics services, predicting customers' logistics needs based on customer behavior, and designing logistics services for them, establishing long-term A win-win customer relationship and good marketing strategies can enable logistics companies to obtain long-term and stable customers and enhance the market competitiveness of logistics companies.

01 The relationship between logistics and marketing

Logistics represents the huge strategic potential of an enterprise, and it is a key factor for enterprises to obtain sustained competitive advantage. Mitsuteru of Japan's Keio University holds the view in "Strategic Marketing Theory" that: Another extremely important factor that marketing relies on to achieve the function of adjusting demand is logistics. Many of the activities involved in logistics are related to marketing strategies. These activities constitute the interconnection between the two systems of marketing and logistics. Logistics companies must first understand the relationship between the logistics activities and marketing activities of the customer company in order to take on outsourcing customers. In the logistics business, it is necessary to clarify customer needs and effectively provide customers with corresponding logistics services to support their marketing activities. In other words, the logistics services provided by logistics companies to customers are ultimately aimed at satisfying customer marketing activities.

1 Customer marketing product strategy and logistics are intertwined

From the perspective of product strategy, procurement, promotion, and customer service in the logistics activities of customer companies are most closely related to them. close. The product life cycle generally goes through the introduction period, growth period, maturity period and decline period. After entering the maturity period, on the surface, the scale of the product continues to expand, and it is the peak season for sales. However, in fact, the profits of both product producers and sellers gradually decline. From a marketing perspective, huge sales at this time also mean that the market demand for the product has reached saturation. If only this product is produced, producers will begin to gradually withdraw from the market. At this time, the company must immediately launch new products to the market, or widen or deepen the original product series to offset the reduction in profits caused by the decline in sales of the product. This is the case for successful companies. The sales staff of the logistics system are most sensitive to the arrival of the maturity period and can feedback this information to the marketing planning department in a timely manner. When planning, developing, and developing new products, because sales staff are in constant contact with customers, they know best what customers’ needs are, and what kind of new products should be developed, and what breadth and depth should be achieved in the series of products to have the greatest market potential, and what the new products should have. For questions such as what functions, sales staff can provide developers with the most valuable information.

2. The impact of customer marketing price strategy and promotional activities on logistics

Price strategy also has an impact on logistics and the services it provides. Whether the price strategy is correct or not will affect the breadth and depth of logistics activities and their smoothness. The quantity discount given to customers in the price strategy will affect the customer's order size. Appropriate discounts will attract customers to increase order quantities, warehouse operations will tend to handle bulk goods, and handling and transportation operations will become simple and efficient, especially when implementing a distribution system. Therefore, only by comprehensively considering both marketing and logistics can we develop a pricing strategy that can meet the comprehensive needs of marketing and logistics.

Promotional activities also affect logistics activities.

Heavy investment in promotional activities such as advertising and publicity is a support for salespeople to increase sales. However, if the logistics system cannot supply products to customers in a timely manner, sales will not expand as expected. Therefore, it is necessary to establish an information system between the logistics department and the marketing department to facilitate the rapid transmission of information, and to continuously communicate and coordinate the scale of promotional activities and logistics links such as inventory, transportation, and customer service.

3 Logistics is the main artery of marketing

Logistics is the main artery of marketing. During implementation, all logistics activities are closely related to the marketing goals, plans, marketing activities, advertising and distribution of the customer enterprise. Retail, after-sales service, etc. are closely related. Therefore, the customer company's logistics strategic plan positioning should be at the top of the entire logistics system, which stipulates the customer company's logistics service positioning. The marketing system is in the middle layer. This level specifically reflects the performance of the customer's enterprise's logistics capabilities and operations, and has intuitive interaction and contact with customers. In this stage, the relationship between logistics and marketing is the most significant and comprehensive. Marketing emphasizes providing the right goods or services to the target market at the right place, at the right time, at the right price, to meet customer needs.

Whether marketing can achieve satisfactory results and whether it can attract and satisfy customers is largely restricted by the logistics management capabilities and decision-making of the customer company. Logistics capabilities directly affect an enterprise's sales performance. Customer-oriented value-added services of customer companies are personalized services that are closely related to marketing. They are differentiated and uncertain, and therefore require higher logistics services from customer companies.

The level of service provided to customers during the logistics process is a key factor that affects customers' purchase and continued purchase of customer company products. The higher the level of customer service, the higher the expected level of sales. The improvement of service levels also means an increase in the costs incurred. Client businesses should choose between lower fees and customer-satisfying services.

Logistics is a tool with great potential to respond to market needs and improve marketing performance. Customer companies require logistics companies to improve logistics management, improve service quality, reduce prices, attract new customers, and improve corporate competitiveness and marketing effects. On the contrary, if the product cannot be delivered to customers in time, it will inevitably lose customers and market share. Logistics management is an important part of enterprise marketing management.

4 Logistics costs account for a large proportion of marketing costs

It is generally believed that the main components of the total marketing logistics cost are transportation (46), warehousing (26), and inventory management (10) , receiving and shipping (6), packaging (5), management (4), and order processing (3). Logistics costs often account for more than 13.6% of the total marketing costs in manufacturing companies, so logistics costs are closely related to marketing costs and are increasingly valued by managers. Some economists believe that logistics has the potential to save costs and expenses, and describe logistics management as the "last line of defense of the cost economy" and the "dark continent of the economic field". If logistics decisions are not coordinated, it will result in excessive marketing costs.

02 Marketing mix content of logistics companies

A logistics company is a service company. It mainly provides services to customers. Therefore, the following strategies should be followed when designing a marketing mix. To carry out logistics activities:

Product strategy

Product strategy refers to decisions related to the services or products provided by logistics enterprises. It includes several sub-factors: product or service design, packaging, branding, combination, etc. Logistics companies should consider what kind of services they provide from the perspective of customers. Logistics services mainly use transportation tools and information technology to help customers realize the spatial displacement of goods, different types, varieties, packaged products, and product life cycles. Different logistics services are required at different stages.

Price strategy

Price strategy refers to how a company provides a suitable price to attract customers based on customer needs and costs.

It includes basic price, price discounts and allowances, payment methods, etc. Price advantage is crucial for companies to share the market and increase profits. To this end, reducing production costs is one aspect. Logistics expenses also need to be reasonably controlled, because logistics expenses account for a large proportion of costs. Logistics companies should systematically optimize transportation tools, routes, transportation distances, rates, etc. based on customer needs, and formulate appropriate policies based on the company's target market and customer groups, combined with customer expectations and the service levels provided by competitors. service standards and price levels.

Distribution channel strategy

Distribution channel strategy refers to how logistics companies choose the best way to smoothly transfer services or products from suppliers to customers. Logistics services generally use direct sales, and intermediaries are often used. Common forms include agents, consignments, brokers, etc.

Promotional strategy

Promotional strategy refers to various measures that logistics companies use various media to deliver beneficial information to customers to arouse customer interest and increase corporate visibility. It includes various marketing communication methods such as advertising, personal selling, business promotion, and public relations.

03 How logistics companies optimize marketing activities

Logistics serves customers’ marketing activities. Logistics must meet customer marketing goals. Efficient logistics services are to ensure competitive advantage and differentiation. important means of sex. Logistics enterprises cannot achieve sustainable development competitive advantages without the correct application of marketing strategies. Only by continuously optimizing the marketing activities of logistics companies can logistics companies continue to launch special services in the competition and make the company in an invincible position.

1. Marketing channel strategy

Marketing channel strategy refers to the strategy for logistics companies to choose which marketing channels to use to sell modern logistics services. This includes the strategy of establishing your own direct sales service network, the strategy of borrowing other people's service marketing networks, and the strategy of establishing a marketing strategic alliance. Among them, the strategy of establishing a direct sales service network by yourself is a marketing strategy for logistics enterprises to sell modern logistics services directly to customers through their own e-commerce network or personal sales network; the strategy of borrowing other people's service marketing networks is to sell their own products through other people's agents. Logistics service strategy; and the strategy of establishing marketing strategic alliance is to establish strategic partnerships with companies in the same industry or other industries to jointly promote the goods or services of both parties.

2. Relationship channel strategy

Relationship marketing strategy refers to a strategy to promote logistics enterprise marketing by attracting, developing, maintaining and enhancing service relationships with customers. This marketing strategy includes developing potential customers and gradually turning them into actual customers, continuously retaining actual customers and further expanding the total amount of service business to actual customers. This marketing strategy requires logistics enterprises to pay full attention to the needs and interests of customers, cultivate an open imagination of logistics services, establish a proactive service awareness, comprehensively consider the value orientation and consumption preferences of customers, and emphasize the service commitment to customers and the guarantee of service quality. Customer services must be adjusted in a targeted and timely manner, the service scope should be broadened, and new service varieties and value-added services should be continuously introduced on the basis of ensuring the original service quality to improve customer satisfaction, etc.

For logistics companies, relationship marketing strategy should be the core strategy in the entire marketing strategy portfolio. Because the adoption of this marketing strategy can enable logistics companies to form an interdependent relationship with customers and obtain long-term service business and sales through this interdependent relationship.

3. Implement 4Cs marketing mix strategy

(1) Target customer needs (Consumption). Logistics companies must first understand, research, and analyze customer needs and demands, rather than first considering what kind of logistics services the company can provide.

Nowadays, many companies have begun to build their own logistics centers, distribution centers, etc. on a large scale. However, some of the more successful logistics companies are unwilling to put too much money and energy into the construction of logistics facilities. They are mainly committed to the logistics market. Analysis and development strive to be targeted.

(2) The cost that customers are willing to pay (Cost). This requires logistics companies to first understand how much the logistics demand subject is willing to pay (cost) to meet the logistics needs, instead of first pricing their own logistics services, that is, how much money to ask customers. This strategy points out that the price of logistics is closely related to the customer's willingness to pay. When the customer's willingness to pay for logistics is very low, and a logistics company can provide it with very affordable prices but higher than this willingness to pay, the relationship between the logistics company and the customer Logistics service transactions cannot be realized. Therefore, only by analyzing the needs of target customers, tailoring a set of personalized logistics solutions for target customers, can they be accepted by customers.

(3) Customer convenience (Convenience). This strategy requires logistics companies to always start from the customer's perspective and consider what benefits they can bring to customers by providing logistics services. For example, time is saved, capital occupation is reduced, core work capabilities are strengthened, market competitiveness is enhanced, etc. Only when it brings benefits and convenience to logistics consumers will they accept the services provided by logistics companies.

(4) Communicate with customers. That is to put the customer as the center, implement the marketing strategy, integrate the services of logistics enterprises with the logistics needs of customers through interaction, communication, etc., thereby invisibly integrating the interests of both customers and logistics enterprises, and providing users with integrated services. , Systematic logistics solutions, establishing organic connections, forming a relationship of mutual needs, shared interests, and common development. On the basis of good customer service, logistics companies can gain more logistics market share, thereby forming a certain scale of logistics services and achieving economies of scale.

The 4Cs marketing mix strategy is oriented to customer demand for logistics, actively adapts to customer needs, uses optimization and systematic thinking to integrate marketing, focuses on the interaction between enterprises and customers, and establishes relationships with customers through Long-term and stable cooperative relationships connect enterprises and customers to form competitive advantages, adapt to my country's current logistics supply and demand situation, and achieve a win-win situation in which logistics enterprises, customers and end customers can all benefit. Therefore, this marketing mix will become the main marketing strategy used by my country's logistics enterprises now and for a long time to come.

4. Understand the potential needs of customers

Latent demand refers to people’s vague and hazy demand desires and awareness. It is the soil for the birth of products or services and the source of market creation for logistics companies. Potential demand and potential customers must exist. Potential customers are an important driving force for the development of modern logistics enterprises and the main goal of seeking development in fierce market competition.

Enterprises are facing market competition of survival of the fittest. If they want to take root in the market for a long time, in addition to stabilizing actual customers, they must also seek breakthroughs in potential customers in order to develop. To tap potential customers, logistics companies must be good at discovering the potential needs of logistics buyers, meet their needs in an all-round way, guide and create new needs for logistics services, and transform potential needs into actual market needs. In short, demand is the prerequisite for social development and the development of logistics enterprises. Correctly understanding the potential needs of customers is of great significance for promoting the sustainable, rapid and healthy development of logistics enterprises.

5 Scientific segmentation of the logistics market

Reasons for logistics market segmentation: First, through market segmentation, logistics companies can identify customer groups with similar needs and analyze the characteristics of these groups. and purchasing behavior to effectively provide professional logistics services; second, market segmentation can provide logistics companies with information to help them accurately seek logistics customers and formulate a marketing mix that meets the characteristics and needs of one or more target markets; third, The purpose of market segmentation is consistent with marketing, which is to meet the needs of customers while realizing the organization. Generally speaking, the market segmentation scale formed by the market segmentation plan must be large enough to ensure the development and maintenance of a specialized marketing mix, both to have more potential customers and to maximize the use of logistics resources.

Market segmentation is a powerful marketing tool that plays a key role in marketing strategy. Market segmentation can accurately define customers’ logistics service needs and demands, helping decision-makers to formulate marketing more accurately. The goal is to better allocate logistics resources. After logistics enterprises divide the entire logistics service market into several market segments according to certain classification marks, they will then base their decisions on their own conditions and external environment, the size and competition of the market segments, and the service needs, preferences and needs of customers in the market segments. Characteristics and other factors determine the market segment that the company focuses on, and strives to develop and occupy the marketing strategy of this market segment.

Since China’s logistics market needs vary by region and industry at present and in the future, the logistics market can be segmented according to regions and industries, and different regions and industries can be segmented. The market of the industry can be further divided into markets based on factors such as product timeliness requirements, the company's ability to accept service prices, and the customer's position in the supply chain.

6. Providing logistics combined services

Logistics Complex Combined Services refers to providing a service set composed of different logistics services, such as planning, supply, loading and unloading, and warehouse management. , warehousing, transportation and information processing and other service functions. Any logistics enterprise, no matter how large its scale and capabilities are, or how diversified its services are, cannot meet the overall needs of all customers, but can only meet the needs of a part of the market. Therefore, logistics companies must segment the target market according to certain standards, select some customers as target markets based on their own conditions, and determine appropriate logistics combination service strategies to better meet their needs and enable companies to compete in the fierce market. Survive and develop in competition.

7. Establish a relatively stable customer base

Customers are the objects of logistics services and the source of profits for logistics companies. Establishing a relatively stable customer base is the basis for logistics marketing. A stable customer base is manifested in: accepting and consuming the company's services for a long time, being able and willing to participate in the company's business plan, being able to understand the company's business adjustments, proactively communicating with the company about its own requirements, and under normal circumstances, having strong resistance "Incentives" from competitors of other logistics companies.

Of course, the stable customer base of logistics companies is created by their long-term provision of high-quality logistics services. In terms of extending the life of a logistics enterprise, the logistics customer base has a great impact on the operation, financial resources, management, and service quality of the enterprise. Therefore, logistics enterprises must manage customers as they do products to gain the trust of customers for business operations. Purpose. First, it is necessary to accurately judge the customer's desire for logistics services; secondly, it is necessary to accurately judge the customer's purchasing ability; on this basis, it is necessary to collect customer information, strengthen the systematization of services, and use relationship marketing strategies to meet customer needs. ;