Manufacturing. Social media marketing. We don’t often hear those two used in the same sentence, now do we? And yet, maybe we should.
Depending on your business goals, there are quite a few unique benefits and plenty of ROI to be generated from social media marketing. If you think your manufacturing company could benefit from a social media strategy—or even if you’re not yet sure—read on.
First of All, What Are Your Company Objectives?
When you consider your ideal social media marketing strategy, what comes to mind? Is it educating and engaging with your client? Are you hoping to attract a primarily B2B crowd? Do you have the time and the ambition to create varied content regularly? What medium would best showcase your brand and your products—text, image, video, or all of the above? Most importantly, how can a social media strategy dovetail with your existing marketing efforts?
It’s perfectly okay if you don’t have all of the answers quite yet! Your manufacturing company may very well not have the capacity to produce regular posts or implement a strategy that will generate results. You have a lot going on in every other aspect of your business, after all! But if you have the available resources, or you want to work with a digital marketing agency that can provide direction, social media marketing is definitely an avenue you should explore.
Platforms like Facebook and Instagram can seem daunting, impenetrable, and more trouble than they’re worth. But bear with us here—we’ll show you how some smart tactics can provide your manufacturing company with direct access to new customers and set you apart from competitors.
Benefits of Social Media Marketing for Manufacturers
Spoiler alert: social media marketing is a worthwhile investment. There are even more reasons than the ones we’ve shared here, but these are some of our favorites.
It’s a Chance to Connect With Like-Minded Professionals
Hesitant about starting your LinkedIn profile? Don’t be! This is the chance for you to collaborate with over 690 million industry professionals, plenty of whom are active within your industry.
On LinkedIn, sharing content is almost shockingly easy. There’s literally a “showcase” page where you can model all the unique benefits of your manufacturing business in one place. And if your connections have questions about any of the media you’ve shared, you can add all of your contact info there, too.
Of course, there are multiple ways for manufacturers to widen their audience on this unique platform. You can reshare articles about content that’s related to the products you manufacture. Connect with other businesses and individuals while you’re at it, and those connections can lead to sales contracts, ROI, and many a new hire.
It’s Inexpensive
Social media advertising comes with insights and analytics galore, all for a relatively low price. Facebook Ads’ $0.27 per click is pretty reasonable, after all, and if you target those ads, you’ll be sure to reach the most responsive audience. If you’re still worried about going over budget, you can set parameters for company spending: $5 a week or $500, whatever you choose.
Similarly, LinkedIn Advertising wants your manufacturing business to accomplish those marketing objectives. You can start your ad campaign with them and stop it at any time, targeting those in your network and far beyond. As a bonus, you can set bidding prices for clicks, keywords, and so on, and stop those whenever you please.
The takeaway in both of these cases? Social media advertising is cost-effective and you’re the one in control. With so many unpredictable factors in any given day, knowing just where you stand with your manufacturing social media strategy is a comforting place to be.
It’s a Chance to Tell Your Story, Visually
Technical jargon isn’t always easy to stomach, even for an experienced B2B manufacturer. Get your customers to truly engage with some expertly-curated video marketing!
Perhaps you want to tell your brand’s story. Why not develop a YouTube video about the history of your company—the who, what, when, where, and why of your business? Maybe you’ll offer viewers a sneak peek into your manufacturing process, a product demo, or a training resource for new and prospective hires. Sites like Instagram are great places to capture “a day in the life”-style videos and employee interviews. These clips can be anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes long.
Side note: make sure those visuals (and those social media platforms themselves) are mobile-friendly! There are 211 million mobile searchers in the U.S. alone, and many of us love a quick scroll through our phones to find some visual content. When in doubt, decrease video sizes and cache regularly to create the most mobile-friendly experience.
Our Favorite Social Media Success Stories
Still not convinced that social media and manufacturing are the perfect pair? Maybe we can sway you with a success story or two.
Consider Boeing, for example. The aerospace innovator’s Twitter page has over 590 million followers and shares company updates and testimonials at least 2-3 times a week. It takes what seems like sorcery to us mere mortals (the manufacturing of airplanes, rockets, etc.) and breaks it down in a digestible way.
Or what about Apple Inc., behemoth of a tech company that it is? We’re sure you can imagine their social media strategy to some extent, even if you’ve never seen a post from them—the sleek typography, the minimalist product photos, the numerous advances in AI. A visually-pleasing, memorable social media presence, streamlined across all platforms, helped make them the second-best manufacturing company in the U.S. this year.
Social Media + Manufacturers = The Perfect Pair
Are you a manufacturer who’s not seeing ROI with your current digital marketing strategy? Looking to develop a social media presence and unique voice for your business that’s both authoritative and engaging? We know just how to help. Drop us a line and see why Snap is a multiple award-winning agency. A superior social media campaign is not only within view—it’s yours for the taking.