No.2 in the Marketing for Growth series |

In the first article in this series, the focus was on avoiding fragmented, reactive marketing and replacing it with a plan that supports real commercial growth. The next step is to define what a modern marketing plan actually looks like for a freight forwarding or logistics business.

For many forwarders, marketing still gets treated as a set of disconnected assets: a brochure, a website, a few trade ads, the occasional LinkedIn update, and maybe an exhibition stand when budget allows. The problem is that none of those things, on their own, make up a marketing plan. A modern plan is not a collection of materials. It is a joined-up commercial programme that helps the right prospects notice you, understand you, trust you and remember you at the right moments in their buying journey.

The challenge is that logistics sales cycles are rarely straightforward. A target customer may only formally review providers every few years, but long before that point they are forming impressions about which businesses look credible, relevant and capable. They are noticing who appears visible in their sector, who seems to understand their supply chain pressures, and who presents themselves like a serious commercial partner rather than just another interchangeable service provider.

That is why a modern marketing plan matters. It gives forwarders a practical structure for turning visibility, expertise and customer understanding into commercial momentum.

Why old-style marketing no longer works

There was a time when many logistics businesses could get by with what might be called “brochureware” marketing: a polished printed brochure, a basic website, a few standard sales sheets, and relationship-led selling doing most of the heavy lifting. That world has changed. Buyers now expect to be able to research partners quickly, compare their credibility online, and see evidence that a provider understands their market before they commit to a conversation.

That does not mean relationships are less important. In logistics, relationships still matter enormously. But relationships are now increasingly supported, shaped and sometimes even initiated by what customers see before they ever speak to you: your website, your messaging, your digital visibility, your case studies, your people on LinkedIn, and the consistency of your commercial communication.

The risk with older-style marketing is not simply that it looks dated. It is that it leaves too much to chance. It assumes prospects will take the time to work out what makes your business different, when in reality most will move quickly toward providers who communicate relevance more clearly and more confidently.

Clarify who you want to grow with

A modern marketing plan starts with sharper choices about audience. Many forwarders still describe their target market too broadly, using phrases like “importers and exporters”, “SMEs”, or “companies that need freight services”. That may be true at a high level, but it is not useful enough to guide marketing activity or messaging.

The businesses that market more effectively tend to define two or three priority segments in specific, commercial terms. For example, “UK-based mid-market manufacturers shipping time-sensitive components to North America” is far more actionable than “SME exporters”. It tells you something about urgency, geography, complexity, likely decision-makers and the kinds of issues that matter to that audience.

This is where ideal customer profiles, or ICPs, become useful. In practical terms, that means identifying the types of customers you are best placed to win and grow, based on a mix of profitability, strategic fit, operational strength and commercial opportunity. A good ICP for a forwarder might include sector, shipment profile, trade lanes, service requirements, pain points and internal stakeholders involved in the buying process.

Once that level of clarity exists, marketing becomes far easier to focus. You can write more relevant content, build stronger case studies, attend better-suited events, and help sales teams approach the right accounts with more confidence and better context.

Map the buying journey

The next step is to understand how those prospects move from being unaware of your business to becoming customers. In logistics, buying journeys are often longer and less linear than in many other sectors. Prospects may stay with an incumbent provider for years, tolerate mediocre service for longer than expected, and only actively review the market when a trigger forces them to do so.

Typical triggers might include service failures, poor communication, disruption on a key trade lane, growth into a new region, changes in sourcing strategy, new customs complexity, or pressure from leadership to reduce risk and improve visibility. That means your marketing plan should not assume buyers are “ready now”. More often, it needs to keep your business visible and credible until the moment a need becomes active.

A useful way to think about the journey is in six stages:

• Awareness
• Problem framing
• Shortlist building
• Evaluation or tender
• Decision
• Expansion of the relationship

At the awareness stage, buyers may not be looking for a new provider yet, but they are noticing which companies appear knowledgeable and relevant. During problem framing, they are trying to understand the nature of their issue and what good support should look like. In shortlist building, they begin comparing possible partners. By evaluation and tender stage, they are seeking proof, reassurance and low-risk decisions. After the initial win, the journey continues through expansion, where ongoing communication and value demonstration help turn an account into a longer-term customer relationship.

Turn the journey into a programme

This is where many plans fall down. They identify a target audience and write down a few marketing ideas, but they do not translate that into a structured programme that supports different stages of the buying journey.

A more modern approach is to assign one or two practical tactics to each stage.

For awareness, that might include thought-leadership posts, commentary on market changes, or selective event presence in sectors you want to grow within. The aim is not to flood channels with content. It is to show up consistently enough that target audiences begin to associate your business with useful insight and sector relevance.

Social channels, particularly LinkedIn, play a key role here. Used deliberately, they give your brand and your people a low‑cost way to stay visible with the right contacts – not just by publishing company posts, but by having your commercial and operational teams comment intelligently on customer, sector and supply chain topics your prospects care about.

For shortlist building, your website becomes more important. Sector pages, strong service pages, clear messaging and relevant case studies all help prospects decide whether you look credible enough to consider. Buyers do not want to guess what kind of work you are best at. They want to see signs that you understand businesses like theirs.

At evaluation stage, your materials need to do heavier commercial work. This is where detailed proposals, well-structured tender responses, proof points, service explanations and customer success stories all matter. Good marketing at this point supports sales by making your value easier to understand and your claims easier to believe.

Buyers are looking for signals of credibility and low risk. Your shortlist and win‑rate can be improved by third‑party proof: trade awards, independent accreditations and industry recognition. Used correctly, awards are not just logos on a slide; they are shorthand that tells a busy evaluation team that others in the market have already scrutinised and validated aspects of your performance.

For expansion, the plan should not stop once the customer is won. Ongoing communication through customer newsletters, quarterly business review packs, operational insights and account-specific content helps reinforce trust and creates more opportunities to grow the relationship over time.

The important point is that marketing should not be treated as one stream of generic activity. It should be designed to support movement through the commercial journey.

Governance and ownership

Even a strong marketing plan will drift if no one owns it properly. In many logistics businesses, marketing is expected to somehow “happen” around operational priorities, sales demands and day-to-day firefighting. Unsurprisingly, that usually results in inconsistency.

A more effective model is to give the plan a clear commercial owner, often a managing director, sales director or commercial lead, with marketing acting as the specialist partner responsible for execution and coordination. That keeps the plan tied to growth priorities rather than turning it into a side project.

Governance does not need to be heavy. In fact, it works best when it is simple. A monthly 30-minute review is often enough to keep the plan moving. That meeting should look at what has been delivered, what is getting traction, what feedback sales is hearing, and what needs to be adjusted. The goal is not to reinvent the plan every month. It is to keep it active, accountable and connected to commercial reality.

A simple CRM setup is also part of modern marketing governance. The goal is not a huge software project, but a reliable way to track target accounts, contacts, stages in the buying journey and touch-points across marketing and sales. Without some form of CRM discipline, it becomes almost impossible to tell whether your marketing plan is working anywhere beyond top‑line activity metrics.

A modern marketing plan gives structure to your growth activity, but structure alone is not enough. Once you know who you want to reach and how you want to engage them, the next question becomes more fundamental: what do people actually think and feel when they encounter your business? That is where branding comes in.

In the next article, Branding Beyond Logos, the focus will be on why branding in logistics is not just about visuals or design. It is about trust, clarity, consistency and perception — and how forwarders can build a stronger brand presence without needing a global budget.