Many manufacturing companies are skeptical about the benefits of social media for their business. But they should dig deeper into its benefits.

According to an Adweek survey, 88% of companies with 100 or more employees are using social media for marketing purposes.
That is a pretty meaningful statistic. Do you fall within that 88%? And if so, are you effectively using your social media platforms? Are you hitting your customer demographics? Are your messages resonating with them?

Whether your manufacturing marketing plan embraces social media or avoids it may be as much a matter of attitude as strategy. It’s time to start expanding your comfort zone and exercise more critical decision-making in your media selection.

What, exactly is social media?
If nothing else, it’s a moving target. For the purposes of a manufacturer eager to drive sales, let’s define it as Social Networks (Facebook, LinkedIn), Blogs, Microblogging (Twitter) and Photo & Video Sharing (Instagram, Snapchat, etc.)

What can social media do?
Social media can put you in front of a lot of people you might not reach with conventional tools. Among other things, it’s effective for:

Building brand awareness
Creating community
Driving visitors to a website
Targeting companies/messages across multiple visitor experiences

How do you make social media work for you?
This depends on so many. You need to analyze:

What kind of media has worked for you in the past, and why? What hasn’t? Change for its own sake isn’t always good. It is important to capitalize on success and fix failures.
What is your goal? Your budget? Your audience? Social media can be a highly cost-effective solution if deployed properly, for the right targets.
How can you achieve the proper proportion of traditional vs online marketing to build your brand and drive sales?

Getting social takes work

Just having a social presence is no guarantee that you’re reaping potential benefits. With so many variables, you might want to rely on experts who are on top of the current media environment and marketing tactics for the manufacturing industry. Experience counts, both in your market segment (manufacturing) and in the shifting universe of new media.

AJ Ross is a full-service marketing agency that has worked with manufacturers for decades to deliver the results they need to stay ahead of the competition. Whether you’re just beginning to think about your place in the world, or looking for fine-tuning of message vs media, we can help. For more information on our marketing services or to set up a meeting, call 845-783-5770.