A digital marketing guru has launched a service aimed at upskilling small and medium-size business owners in the logistics and trucking space.
Blythe Brumleve is the founder of Digital Dispatch, a company that creates web and marketing solutions for enterprise-level transportation businesses.
When the pandemic hit, upending the industry, Brumleve saw that many smaller carriers and 3PLs were at a loss when it came to marketing and getting leads. Also, for the first time, these businesses had time to think about branding.
A small business owner herself, Brumleve saw an opportunity to aid companies with one to five employees that couldn’t afford Digital Dispatch’s usual prices.
So last week she launched the Freight School Playbook, a membership platform that offers unlimited access to courses covering digital marketing and sales.
The School is a resource for businesses seeking to improve marketing to prospective customers, said Brumleve, who prior to launching Digital Dispatch spent more than a decade working in the transportation and trucking industry.
Start with the basics
The Playbook’s first two courses — how to audit your marketing and how to craft your marketing plan — “aren’t the sexiest titles,” Brumleve concedes. But small business owners who want to jumpstart their marketing efforts with a flashy podcast or a video channel should hit the brakes, she advises.
“You need to start with auditing your website from the marketing and tech side of things,” she said.
The vast majority of small businesses are not ready for “fancy API integration,” she added. “They just need a website that showcases who they are, what they do and why they do it well.”
Future Playbook courses — delivery via video — will delve into carrier/broker sales training, social media marketing and other relevant topics.
“When you get right down to it, a lot of businesses can provide the same LTL rates and same truckload rates,” Brumleve said. As content marketing explodes on LinkedIn and other channels, “what’s going to set you apart is you telling your brand story.”
Brumleve is closing membership this weekend to keep the program size manageable as it moves through a beta phase before relaunching next year. As of Wednesday, around two dozen people had signed up.
Playbook membership costs $45 per month or $425 per year.
Many mall businesses are at risk of closing, Brumleve said. “It tugs at your heartstrings. This is a cost-effective way I can help.”