Skip to content
GullySales
Tell us what you need

Shipping companies · Digital marketing

Put search, site, email and outreach to work for lanes you want to fill.

Digital marketing for a shipping company is the joined-up use of your website, search, email, LinkedIn and WhatsApp to reach shippers and forwarders on named lanes. GullySales plans which channels serve which lane and which buyer, then builds and reads them together.

Tell us what you needor call +91 80958 58589

Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.

Realistic editorial illustration of freight and transport companies at work in India

What digital marketing means

Digital marketing is the combined work of search, social media, advertising and website channels running together rather than as separate projects with separate people. GullySales runs these as one connected system so a change in one channel, such as a new offer, is reflected everywhere at once.

Also for shipping companies

Sales and marketing for shipping companies, the overview.

Last updated 18 Oct 2026.

For shipping companies

Where it usually goes wrong, and what we would do.

  • “Channels work best when each has a job”

    Search catches the exporter researching a route, LinkedIn keeps forwarders aware, WhatsApp handles the live conversation. A plan that assigns every channel the same message wastes each of them.

  • “Paid search can be aimed at a lane”

    An advertisement for a named port pair and commodity, landing on a page for that pair, reaches someone ready to ask for a rate. A generic freight advertisement pays for clicks from people who cannot use your service.

  • “Capacity should steer the effort”

    If a lane has space on coming sailings, push it. If a lane is full, promoting it only builds a waiting list and disappointed shippers.

  • “Offline relationships still decide”

    Port visits, forwarder meetings and trade body sessions carry more weight than any advertisement. Digital work should support those meetings with pages and messages to follow.

What we do

What we deliver for shipping companies.

Every deliverable, what it covers for you, and the result it is there to produce. Nothing here is an extra.

  1. Channel plan by lane and buyer

    A plan stating which channels and messages serve each lane and each buyer type.

    Result: Each channel has a stated purpose.

  2. Search advertising for chosen lanes

    Campaigns and landing pages for selected port pairs and commodities, with budgets agreed with you.

    Result: A named lane search leads to a named lane page.

  3. Email to forwarders and shippers

    Notices of new services and guides, sent to people who agreed to receive them.

    Result: Contacts hear from you with something useful.

  4. Event and trade body follow-up

    Pages and messages for people met at a session or a port visit.

    Result: A conversation at an event leads to a recorded follow-up.

  5. Joined-up reading of results

    One view of enquiries by channel, lane and outcome, read with your sales head.

    Result: You see which channels brought bookings.

How the result is measured

  • Enquiries across channels
  • Cost per enquiry overall
  • Channel mix by contribution

Recorded as a baseline before work starts, so every later report has an honest comparison.

Read the full integrated marketing campaigns page

Searches your buyers type

Choose digital work lane by lane, starting from the capacity you have to fill.

container shipping service for a named lane
A lane page and a small search advertisement for a lane with space, turned off when the sailings are full.
freight forwarder partner for shipping line
A forwarder partner page and an email to named forwarders with the lane list, so the people who control the cargo see your lanes.
ship agent at a named port
A port page and a directory entry for principals looking for agency at that port, with a contact on the desk.
export documentation checklist
A guide that draws beginners to the site and links onward to the lane pages they may need.
shipping line tender submission
A tender information page for large shippers listing what you submit and who handles contract enquiries.

Who it is for

This is written for these shipping companies.

  • Container shipping lines serving Indian ports
  • NVOCC and consolidators selling LCL and FCL space
  • Ship agents handling port calls and husbandry
  • Coastal and feeder shipping operators
  • Bulk and break-bulk charterers moving commodities
  • Project cargo and out-of-gauge shipping specialists
  • Ro-ro and car carrier agents
  • Inland waterway and short-sea operators

Not for

It is not the right fit if.

  • Your capacity on the lane is committed, so extra reach would only raise enquiries the desk must decline.
  • You do not log where enquiries originate, so no channel could be judged by the bookings that followed it.

How it works

How the digital marketing work runs

The work itself, in order. How an engagement starts, from your brief to a written scope, is set out on our method page.

  1. 1

    Agree the one aim

    We settle what the campaign must achieve, such as enquiries for a launch or footfall for an event, and the date it must be live.

  2. 2

    Check what is ready

    We list the channels you already run, who runs them, and what each can produce in the time available. Anything that cannot be done properly is left out.

  3. 3

    Write the idea and the message sheet

    We draft the one-sentence idea, test it against each planned format, and fix the wording that all channels will copy.

  4. 4

    Brief every channel from the same sheet

    Your agency, freelancer or in-house person receives the message sheet and calendar. Their work is checked against the sheet before it goes out.

  5. 5

    Run on the shared calendar

    Channels go live together. If the offer changes, every channel is changed on the same day from the same sheet.

  6. 6

    Measure as one campaign

    Enquiries and orders are read against the baseline. The reporting schedule is agreed in writing with the scope.

Where this fits

Three pieces of sales work, in this order.

This work sits inside sales process design, at stage 0, foundation. The audit comes before it, and sales management keeps it running.

  1. Step 1

    Sales audit

    Find where deals are being lost and what to fix first.

    Start here if you cannot say where orders are lost.

  2. Step 2 · you are here

    Sales process design

    One written way to sell, from first enquiry to repeat order.

    Start here if every salesperson sells differently.

  3. Step 3

    Sales management

    A target, a review routine and someone who owns the number.

    Start here if the team has targets and no routine.

Tell us what you need Your brief is read before we call. Scope, fee and term in writing.

FAQ

Questions owners ask before they call.

Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.

Tell us what you need
Where should we start?
With the lanes where you have space and want cargo, and the pages that serve them. Advertising and outreach follow once those pages and the enquiry form exist.
How much should we spend on digital?
That depends on lane value and capacity, and we do not set a figure without seeing your numbers. Start small on one lane and read what the enquiries turn into.
Should we advertise to forwarders or to shippers?
Pick by the lane. On a lane where forwarders hold most of the cargo, reach them with email and a partner page. Where direct exporters cluster, such as an industrial estate near the port, search and trade body contacts reach them. Do not mix both in one campaign.
Do trade fairs still belong in a digital plan?
Yes, as a source. A fair gives names of buyers and forwarders, but the leads die without a follow-up. Add each contact to the CRM with the lane discussed, and send a message tied to that lane, so the fair feeds the same system as the website.
How long is the contract?
The term is agreed in writing after we have spoken, along with the fee and the reporting. It is never a default twelve months, and renewal is decided on the numbers against the baseline recorded at the start.
How soon will we see results?
It depends on the trade, the channel and what is already in place. After we have read your brief and spoken to you, we say what we would expect to move first and how it will be measured against the baseline. Nothing here is guaranteed.
Who will actually do the work?
The person you speak to before anything starts. We work from one office in Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru, with no account managers in between.
What do you need from us?
Your brief, and a conversation. After that, access to whatever this work touches, such as your website, your accounts or your enquiry record, and time with the people who handle your enquiries.
What if we are not happy with the work?
Tell us and the plan changes. Everything is reported against the baseline, so a number that is not moving is visible to both sides. The term is in your written scope, and the refund and cancellation policy sets out the rest.

More for shipping companies

Everything else we would do for you.

Closest to this: strategy and research

Also for shipping companies

Or start from the overview: sales and marketing for shipping companies.

Your next practical step

Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.

Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.

Tell us what you need