The Short Answer:
Shippers crave useful news and market information. The problem is there’s too much ‘free’ content out there on websites, so keeping them updated by curating information that is actually relevant to them is a great opportunity to strengthen your customer relationships.
The Nuance:
A problem with common shipping news sites is the articles are too wide-ranging. Your customers likely have a narrow range of interests that they care about, so they’ll avoid visiting sites like Freightwaves or JOC because they know they’ll need to sort through ten+ articles to find just one that is useful to them.
An example of the difference is how the market conditions for U.S. importers are usually different from those for exporters. Another is how some of your customers may be completely unaffected by problems in the Suez Canal but very impacted by what happens in the Panama Canal. The point is that it’s important to think about what matters to your audience… and not send information that isn’t helpful or becomes one more thing they need to sort through. They’ll quickly tune you out if that happens too often.
So, don’t underestimate the value of helping them to find what’s meaningful to them. After all, as their trusted forwarding partner, they should be looking to you for advice and ideas to improve their supply chain. The updates you send can be in the form of emails, blog posts, or even a weekly newsletter. Plus, sending curated news and market updates is a great ‘excuse’ to keep your brand in front of your customers.
