Sheryl is VP of Marketing & Comms at Plus One Robotics. She’s won many industry awards and was named 'Global Best Partner' while at Apple.
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As consumers head into the holidays, it’s peak season for the supply chain which is under unprecedented pressure to deliver the goods. As we emerge from the pandemic, consumer online buying behaviors that once seemed temporary now seem here to stay. More people are shopping online, expecting shorter delivery windows and visibility into parcel tracking. “According to data from the Federal Reserve, e-commerce sales increased by 40% in the US between January 2020 and January 2021,” cited research from Interact Analysis.
This extraordinary increase in demand is leaving companies stuck as the holiday shopping – and shipping – season looms. The supply chain issues haunting ecommerce and logistics businesses may see some reprieve soon, but this is unlikely to be in time for the holidays. The Los Angeles Times captures the “perfect storm” well: “Labor, transportation and logistics costs are up, there’s reduced capacity because of the problems all along the supply chain, and there’s a finite amount of resources across the board, including the number of containers and amount of manufacturing capacity.”
The supply chain is an ecosystem, and with the impact of labor shortages, manufacturing constraints and shipping delays, customers may not get what they want, when they want. B2B and B2C marketing teams can adapt strategies to react quickly to an ever-changing situation which ultimately requires top-notch marketing finesse, tight execution and a customer-centric approach. Here are three ways marketers can prepare for the upcoming season:
Keep customers up to date.
Whether you're waiting on new SKUs, delayed packaging or production, or facing labor shortages, it’s critical to deliver timely, honest updates to your customers. As counterintuitive as it may sound or feel, transparent communication is key to building the trust that leads to long-term customer relationships.
For example, take a company launching a new product line in the cosmetics space. The outsourced packaging coming from China is currently stuck on a boat, impacting production and therefore arrival by the promised delivery date. This not only impacts the company, but also the retailer where the product was heading to be sold. At the retail site, the reserved shelf space is now empty, and the overall visual display plans are disrupted.
In this case, the company must proactively communicate through the line to distributors and retailers. Avoid the urge to “wait and see”. Hope isn’t a strategy where logistics is involved. If it doesn’t arrive, the company is jeopardizing the retailer – their customer – putting them in a bad position that could potentially damage relationships and tarnish brands. Taking an up front approach gives customers the maximum time to prepare and builds a foundation of trusted partnership.
Deliver on what you say. Your company’s actions speak louder than words. If there are delays, let your customers know. If new SKUs are held back, provide estimated delivery dates. If you promise to provide weekly status updates, provide them. Clear, transparent communications are crucial to a truly customer-centric approach, and customer success that pays more than just dividends in the future.
Make Your Website Work For You
Your website is your most important digital asset. Think of it as a hub for your customers and partners, and a place to educate, inform and update. It’s not a static online business card. Your website is your digital sales rep working 24/7. A well-run website is critical not only for marketing efforts, but to growing your business overall.
Do you have a chat service on your site? Live chat platforms such as Drift or HubSpot offer advanced features. The days of auto-responding bot messages are over. Let customer success or business development representatives staff the chat during office hours to respond to inbound requests in real-time. This not only provides a personal touch to customer queries, but helps gain valuable insights from the frontlines while building authentic experiences with customers and prospects.
Use forms to capture emails on your site. These can be for newsletter signups, access to gated high-value content, and requests for product or demo information.
Your website has many jobs, and growing your email list is one of them. Email marketing is key, and having a clean, segmented, up-to-date list is a business imperative. Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn may change their algorithms, but your relationship to your email list is all yours.
Pivot your content strategy.
In these times of crisis and uncertainty, customers and clients like to hear from the leaders. An email or blog post penned by your CEO or a C-suite executive addressing the challenges in the industry and speaking specifically to what your company is doing to fix it can help alleviate concern. This thought leadership commentary positions your executives as knowledgeable experts in the supply chain crisis, updating customers and educating prospects in the process - an ancillary benefit to drive demand.
Do you have a weekly or monthly customer newsletter? Consider changing the frequency to keep your customers in the loop. Or add a section that speaks directly to shipping and distribution issues, so your customers know where to find the latest information. Make sure to include links to thought leadership content on your blog, LinkedIn and elsewhere.
Don’t be afraid of the phone! People use the phone less and less these days, but picking up the phone is a shortcut. You just might get a human on the line. In a crisis or constantly changing situation, it’s the perfect time to pick up the phone and call your customers to update them on what’s going on.
Finally, use your high-value content in advertising to reflect how your company is responding to the macro supply change climate and how you’re taking action.
Supply chain issues are global issues, and as businesses around the world head into the holiday season, it’s important for B2B and B2C marketing teams to employ the right strategies to address customer implications.
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