Social Media for Your Manufacturing Business? Yes.

Today, all you hear is about the importance of maintaining a strong presence on social media to promote your brand. You might be thinking to yourself, “Our business has never generated leads this way so why would using a social media platform work for us now?” Before we explore why having a presence on social media is necessary for your company’s success, we must first examine why social media for b2b business is a misunderstood marketing strategy.

Social Media Marketing Vs. Traditional Marketing

One key reason manufacturers think social media isn’t a useful tactic for marketing their business is habit—they have a difficult time letting go of traditional marketing. Although the days of face-to-face interactions, phone conversations and simple handshakes are not gone, your social presence is the best virtual salesperson you could have. Let go of the idea that social media is for personal use rather than professional use. Maybe seven or eight years ago the assumption that social media isn’t a productive marketing tool was mostly true. However, times have changed and so has the world of marketing.

How Can Social Media Change Your Business?

According to HubSpot, 90% of marketers reported that social media has generated more exposure for their companies. With statistics like this, it’s almost impossible for a professional in any industry to argue that social media is incapable of generating leads. Social media is a great digital marketing tool for B2B manufacturers because once a prospect or customer interacts with your content, that person’s network is ultimately opened up to your company. This digital “referral” system allows companies to reach out to their target audience in a way that isn’t disruptive.

Key Social Media Strategies for Manufacturers

1. Join Industry-Related Groups

When sharing content into the world—whether it’s an eBook, video or eye-catching graphic, etc.—you must consider what audience you’re trying to reach and how you’re going to reach them. Similar to speaking at a conference or a trade show, joining groups allows you to educate and market your business in a much simpler way. By sharing your company’s blog posts on LinkedIn Groups related to your industry, you’re putting yourself in the shoes of your potential customer and increasing your target audience’s brand awareness.

2. Social Monitoring

In order to maintain your presence on social media, make sure you’re interacting with your audience as much as possible. A great way to do this is by monitoring your social sites daily so that you can increase engagement within the industry to grow and evolve your business. This can be as simple as responding to a user, thanking them for sharing your post or even liking posts related to your business. This shows users that you’re dedicated to your industry and are interested in forming relationships with other businesses.

3. Stay Up-to-Date with Posting

If your company likes the idea of using social media for business purposes, it’s important to know that sharing remarkable content on a regular basis is the only way to effectively increase your reach on social media. For example, if your company’s website is the first salesperson a prospect engages with, your social media presence should act as the megaphone that salesperson uses to further encourage readers to consider your business. On the other hand, if your followers are seeing dull/irrelevant posts or no sharing of content at all, most likely they’re going to hit the unfollow button and forget about your business altogether.

Using social media is a great marketing strategy for generating leads and eventually reaching the ultimate goal: closing customers. For manufacturers, social media is an effective tool that can easily amplify any marketing strategy. It helps to get the right messages and content in front of the right target audience. Why wouldn’t you integrate social media into your business’s marketing strategy?

Has social media changed your business? Share in the comments below!

Madison Ripich is an Inbound Marketing Intern at SyncShow for Summer 2017. She will be a third-year digital marketing student in the Carl H. Lindner College of Business at the University of Cincinnati. She is a lover of hot yoga and all things Cleveland. In her spare time, she enjoys receiving new certifications, traveling, and going out to brunch.