The last-mile and home delivery industry is undergoing rapid transformation, driven by emerging technologies and escalating consumer expectations for fast and convenient commerce experiences. Trends like micro-fulfillment centers, sustainable last-mile fleets, and autonomous delivery solutions are reshaping the landscape – making it essential to differentiate your company from the competition.
With Home Delivery World 2024 just around the corner, it’s the perfect opportunity to showcase how your company stands out in the crowded last-mile space by building relationships with attending media.
A planned, strategic approach, however, is vital for success. To maximize your media relations impact and elevate your company’s narrative at the event, consider these five key strategies:
1) Offer a unique perspective:
Media will be saturated with talk of faster delivery times and optimization through technologies like automation and routing software. Stand out by offering a fresh perspective on disruptions happening in last-mile logistics. Keep a pulse on relevant trending topics and events that can serve as creative news hooks. Provide insights on sustainable delivery models, regulatory impacts on drone/robot deployment, or the evolution of the current workforce.
2) Leverage proprietary data:
Media crave access to proprietary research and data analytics that can validate industry trends they’re covering. If your company has conducted original studies or surveys related to delivery performance metrics, consumer preferences around shipping, or even workforce data, package these insights.
3) Showcase customer success stories:
Facts and figures provide important context, but human stories resonate. Prepare case studies spotlighting customer success stories that put a face on your solutions’ impact across last-mile delivery, freight/parcel shipping, reverse logistics, inventory management, and more. Ensure your speakers are media-trained to vividly illustrate these stories.
4) Use social media for real-time engagement:
Social media can amplify your presence at the event and extend your reach beyond those physically attending. Live-tweet key sessions, share behind-the-scenes content, and engage with the event’s official hashtag (#HomeDeliveryWorld).
Encourage your team to post insights, photos, and videos, tagging relevant media and industry influencers. This real-time engagement can attract the attention of journalists and industry professionals who may not have planned to connect with you initially.
5) Stay ready for desk-side opportunities:
In the perfect scenario, your PR teams would reach out to reporters ahead of the event to secure one-on-one briefings, but if that’s not possible, it’s important to know that some of the most valuable media engagements happen spontaneously at events.
With this in mind, ahead of the event, identify key reporters who are attending like Total Retail, Global Trade Magazine and DC Velocity. Arm your team with concise briefing materials and have a suite of multimedia assets (i.e., data sheets, videos, etc.) ready to share at a moment’s notice. When a reporter swings by unexpectedly or if your team drops by the Media Zone, you’ll be poised to deliver an engaging briefing on your delivery solutions.
From The Wall Street Journal and Forbes to SDC Executive and Retail Brew – our supply chain and logistics team is consistently securing top-tier media coverage for our clients that elevates their brand. If your PR strategy needs optimizing, we can help you amplify your unique narrative through our deep media relationships and expertise.
Interested in learning more?
We’ll be at Home Delivery World next week – and our own Brittany Bevacqua will be chairing the Returns Track on Day 1 and moderating the “Democratizing technology: A vital part of the digital transformation” panel on Day 2.
Let’s set up a time to connect before, during or after the conference.