Through experienced planning for expertise-driven firms, we utilize the START Planning Process to deliver Digital Marketing Success Plans®, search marketing, and websites focused on ROI. We skip the fluff and outdated KPIs and work toward real business outcomes.
SUPPLY CHAIN & LOGISTICS
We know this industry.
Within the wide world (figuratively and literally) of logistics, not all providers are the same. Whether your expertise is in freight forwarding, customs brokerage and trade compliance, warehousing and distribution, transportation management, or end-to-end supply chain solutions, you sell differently than your competitors and peers and have a unique angle for your third-party logistics marketing. We’ve worked with firms on a global scale and with localized solutions, including MIQ Logistics (before and after it became part of Noatum Logistics), Scarbrough Global, and eShipping. 3PL marketing is nuanced and has to be right. We get it and enjoy helping 3PLs see their marketing go from activities to outcomes.
THE SOLUTION SALE
Why logistics marketing is different.
In the 3PL marketing space, many integrated firms sound the same. They have websites that claim global solutions, customer-centric approaches, staff with specialties, leading-edge technology, and end-to-end solutions. When you take away the logo and just look at the claims, they are hard to tell apart. That means proof carries weight that claims can’t, and this changes the job for marketing.
Whether you’re talking with, pitching, or selling to a VP of Supply Chain, Director of Logistics, procurement team members, or a CFO, your challenge is unique, but you have the solutions to their supply chain and logistics problems.
When you’re not competing on price, there are some urgent needs and areas where you can get quick wins rescuing a new customer from a bad situation, but many relationships take time. It isn’t easy to move to a new 3PL. That means for the deal you’re closing today, you’re thanking your marketing and sales work from months and maybe even over a year ago.
When providers become undependable, unstable, lose personal connection, fall behind in technology, can’t keep up with your pace, or can’t stay in line with your cost and pricing needs, shippers need to find a new partner. Deals fall apart when the right people aren’t in the room, when price is the only variable, when the barrier to switch providers is too hard to overcome (or commit to), or when timing just isn’t right.
Everyone likes stability, and being a trusted partner who is relational and not just transactional is the key to mutual success.
The AI search shift
Be found in search and AI tools, or fall back into the sea of sameness.
In an industry that AI is disrupting (and evolving) operationally, it is also impacting relationally. Your prospects may still be attending the same trade shows, participating in the same trade associations, and know your sales team. However, as more 3PLs seemingly pop up, claim the same services, and try to compete, buyers are vetting providers in search and AI tools too. So, that means your expertise is either standing out, blending in with everyone else, or not showing up at all.
More leads are important, but targeted and high quality leads from diversified lead and referral sources are what will drive your business forward to growth goals. VOLTAGE is deep in the details on how AI is changing the way people search and find information, from the technical and on-page factors that matter for both SEO and LLMs to the quality content that fuels search.
Services
How we help logistics firms.
We are not a full-service agency and we’re not doing cookie cutter things. We have dedicated processes and systems that have been proven and validated with award winning, ROI producing work. However, that’s the result. Our focus from the start is to leverage the two things we contend that we do as well as anyone in North America: websites and search marketing for ROI. Your buyers don’t choose you because you’re the cheapest option, and our clients don’t choose us that way either.
Search Marketing
For 3PLs, search marketing fuels new lead opportunities, supports business development, and brings visibility for your brand and expertise to new prospects (while keeping you top of mind with existing audiences). That includes paid search and organic visibility, both built with AI search in mind.
We often start with our flagship planning process, START, which leads to your own Digital Marketing Success Plan® in 90 days or less. But, we’re flexible and focused on the right way to partner with our clients, whether that is a full plan, targeted channel, or combination of our two core services.
Websites
A 3PL site has to make sense of a lot of different, separate service offerings. These offerings can be engaged and purchased standalone. Or, they can be part of an end-to-end solution. Entry points can greatly differ based on the prospect and their needs at the moment. However, the site has to be able to balance being a wealth of distinctive information while also not being distracting, confusing, or losing people who don’t immediately find the content that resonates with their problem, their need, and your solution.
It also has to serve more than one audience (shippers, carriers, and future employees), give your technology and certifications a real home, and offer different paths for prospects at different stages, from a quote request to a conversation with your team. And, like any modern site, it has to be accessible, respect user privacy and consent, and be built so search engines and LLMs can understand it.
We’re not an “all or nothing” firm. If your current website, customer portal, or TMS integrations can deliver incremental wins, we’ll build on those investments before suggesting a rebuild (although we enjoy taking things down to the studs when it’s warranted).
Results
Real numbers, from a real logistics partnership.
72%
increase in organic sessions, year over year
46%
increase in international quote requests, year over year
320%
increase in organic clicks, year over year
MIQ Logistics (now part of Noatum) was a spin-off of YRC Global. It had unique needs with a small marketing team, separate sales team, disconnected CRM, and needing to generate leads for global business on an aggressive scale. VOLTAGE worked through what is now known as START Planning and Digital Marketing Success Plan® to ultimately take ownership of the martech stack, content strategy, digital channels, and drive to business impacting marketing goals. That work included building out Incoterms content and the site architecture behind it, which led to the year-over-year gains above.
Why firms trust us
No junior people. You work with experts.
The VOLTAGE team is deeply embedded in the digital marketing industry including writing for industry leading publications (Search Engine Journal, Search Engine Land, Forbes), writing a best-selling book, speaking at industry conferences, serving on the global trade association board, founding a search marketing conference, judging industry awards, being recognized by our peers (over 75 local/global awards in past decade) and producing our own site’s thought leadership content.
That starts at the top with our CEO and leader, Corey Morris, but doesn’t end there. We’re a team of senior-level people with a balance of experience in our subject matter as well as in working with firms in your industry.
Further evidence of our depth of expertise is that a significant share of the work we do is in partnership with other agencies who have sought us out for our specialization in search marketing and/or websites.
What happens next
No sales process. Just a real conversation.
You won’t be put into a sales process, talked at, or pitched with slide decks when you talk with us. You’re not getting handed off to a sales team and will be talking directly with our senior level staff and leadership. Our focus is on understanding your goals, culture, and making sure that we fit what you’re looking for. We are as good at working ourselves out of a deal as we are demonstrating that we are the right partner. We want mutual wins that start with a solid strategy that leads to ROI.
When you fill out our form to reach out to us, we’ll prepare for our initial conversation. We do our homework to prepare as we’ll ask a lot of questions, give you the opportunity to do the same, to get a sense for how we think, and to also fairly evaluate the fit of us for your team. No pressure, no obligations.
01
You fill out the form
02
We do our homework before we talk
03
A real conversation — no slides, no pitch
04
We both decide if it’s a fit
FAQ
Questions logistics firms ask us.
No. We work with a range of types of companies in the supply chain and logistics space. While we talk a lot about 3PLs, our work has included managed asset transportation firms, container and storage, loan and leasing fintech transportation, and some distinctive 3PLs in a range of shapes and sizes and all with unique goals.
Yes. Even if your business comes from sales and business development activities, pursuit, and events, a certain level of website and search presence investment is necessary. Even if you don’t expect direct lead generation through your contact form, your firm is still being evaluated and vetted in AI and search tools. Being invisible or inaccurate is a detriment to the rest of your marketing, relationship, and business development efforts.
A Digital Marketing Success Plan® for a logistics company will be custom no matter how similar firms and competitors are. It will be robust, built through START (strategy, tactics, application, review, and transformation). It will focus on where fresh leads matter, thought leadership to generate awareness and work through the process of landing the leads, and what types of account-based marketing (ABM) and other nurturing that can be done to support sales and marketing teams along the way.
It depends, and we’ll tell you honestly. Our goal is for you to put dollars in the areas that can lead to the greatest possible return. We are honest about the pros and cons of your current website (and how it connects to your customer portal). If it makes more sense to retrofit and incrementally update it, great! If it will be a barrier, we want to help you determine if it is worthwhile to address now versus later. Regardless, we’re here to focus on what matters and make decisions as if we were spending our own dollars and marketing budget.
It depends, and we’ll show you real numbers before we start. Many agencies (especially search marketers and SEOs) will hedge when asked this question. We have an “it depends” answer as well to set appropriate expectations. But, at the same time, we’re not scared to get deep into your business, your metrics, and give you a deeper understanding of potential impact, expected impact, and what we plan to achieve together in terms of real numbers and outcomes.