How manufacturers market their business using social media

Manufacturing marketing has come a long way in the past couple of decades. Traditionally, most of it has been centred on face-to-face interactions at trade shows and exhibitions, and word-of-mouth referrals. The sector has changed a lot since then, and now virtually every manufacturing company needs a strong digital presence in order to succeed – including yours. Your website is obviously a cornerstone of your digital presence, and your social media is a big part of it too. 

When it comes to social media, there aren’t very many universal rules for success. Mostly, it comes down to setting your objectives and having a clear vision for what you want it to achieve for your business. And if you’re just setting out on that journey, one of the best places to start is by looking at what other manufacturing businesses are doing, and considering whether any of their techniques are worth incorporating into your own strategy. 

Organic and paid social is a big part of what we do here at Red-Fern Media, so if you need a bit of help to kick things off, you’re in exactly the right place. Here are the key things to bear in mind.

Setting a clear strategy

It’s a common pitfall for manufacturers to throw themselves into using social media on an ad-hoc basis, on the understanding that any activity looks better than nothing. That’s true to an extent, but the trouble with that is that when it comes to results, without a plan you’re not really going to get anywhere. As you might expect, the most successful social media strategies are the ones that have a clear idea of what success actually looks like. In other words, they have clear goals and objectives, and a plan for how to get there. That generally involves making a couple of key decisions. Here are the four biggest ones. 

What are the key objectives of the campaign?

This is the very first question that needs to be discussed at the outset of any campaign, as it’ll affect pretty much everything that’s done from hereon out. Some examples can include:

• Increasing brand awareness
• Driving website traffic
• Establishing (or building) industry authority
• Building stronger relationships with clients

Most campaigns are more effective the more targeted they are – in other words, not spread themselves too thin with too many competing aims. Most manufacturing businesses pick a single objective, or maybe two at most. 

Which social media platforms are best to use?

Most manufacturers rightly start on LinkedIn, since it’s the only mainstream social media platform that is specifically geared towards a professional audience. However, there are several other platforms that are worth looking into, too. Facebook and YouTube are popular options, and useful for slightly different reasons. YouTube is great for visuals such as product demonstrations and factory tours, while Facebook is one of the best platforms for community building. Some manufacturers do find success on Instagram and TikTok, but generally it’s not where professional audiences are spending time. 

Organic or paid? 

This is another question whose answer can be strongly influenced by the manufacturer’s commercial objectives. Organic posting can lend itself particularly well to building a loyal audience over time, emphasising those key qualities of trustworthiness and authoritativeness. Paid social on the other hand is useful for boosting conversions and delivering on specific commercial goals. That makes it the ideal way for a manufacturer to generate more leads and sales, as well as build their authority with consistent thought leadership pieces. 

Most manufacturing businesses tend to use a combination of the two, regularly setting aside a portion of their monthly marketing budget for paid social media. 

Set analytics and KPIs

Analytics and Key Performance Indicators are vital data for any manufacturing business, as they give decision-makers the clearest insight into how well the campaign is going. Without analytics and KPIs, there’s no firm way to know whether a campaign is hitting its targets or not, which is a worryingly good way to end up wasting a lot of time and money. Crucially, analytics and KPIs also help to provide insight on whether the campaign is successfully reaching (and connecting with) its target audience. 

Now that we’ve covered the broad strokes of what a successful campaign needs, let’s drill further down into the types of posts that can be particularly effective.

3 go-to strategies for manufacturing marketers

As we’ve touched on above, there are a variety of potential commercial objectives that manufacturing businesses can choose for their own campaigns – we’ve summarised three of the most popular ones below, so we can give you an insight into the types of posts that often perform well. 

Driving leads

This is without question one of the most popular goals for social media. Lead-generation social media campaigns are generally largely focused on paid LinkedIn Ads, but there’s still a valuable role for organic posts to play too.

• Targeted paid campaigns – The precision of paid LinkedIn campaigns make them perfect for connecting with specific demographics and decision makers, highlighting their pain points to maximise conversions. 

• Customer success stories – One of the most reliable ways for a business to drive leads amongst target audiences in the manufacturing sector is to demonstrate the outstanding results that its team have achieved for other customers, especially if they’re highly prestigious or recognisable names. 

• Industry engagement – The most successful manufacturing businesses on social media are largely the ones who are most actively engaged with other users and communities. For example, commenting on sector developments and responding to posts are great ways for brands to maintain visibility (and authority) with their target audiences, who may later enter a buying cycle. 

Building authority

Building authority with a target audience is another excellent long-term goal for almost any manufacturing business, as trust is such an integral factor in the sector’s typically long buying journeys. Establishing that authority at an early stage can help to attract new customers, and speed them along the buying journey. 

• Educational content – One of the quickest and easiest ways for manufacturing businesses to establish authority is by posting educational content about the sector, or about their own products or services. The posts that tend to perform best are often those that can offer some kind of unique or exclusive insight into a subject, rather than common knowledge. 

• Case studies and testimonials – 78% of B2B buyers rely on case studies when researching purchasing decisions, and 86% of businesses consider verified reviews “critical” to their purchase decisions, which makes them both vital for manufacturing businesses to build authority. 

• Product spotlights – Manufacturing products can be quite specialised, and platforms like YouTube or LinkedIn can provide great opportunities to demonstrate to potential buyers exactly what problems they’re designed to solve, and how they’re able to do so effectively. 

Building brand awareness

Visibility and awareness is another frequent goal of social media campaigns in the manufacturing sector, as it’s arguably an important first step in building industry authority, especially for newer businesses. Social media can be immensely valuable for that – lots of the most successful content around brand awareness focuses on providing an insight into the everyday reality of their operations. 

• Behind the scenes content – Posts often include short videos, factory walk-throughs, or snapshots of manufacturing stages, which provide viewers with a clearer understanding of the skill and precision that goes into the finished product or service – especially if any techniques or machinery are unique to the business. 

• Team spotlights – Lots of manufacturers take the time to introduce their engineers, technicians, project managers, or apprentices, to help audiences connect the company with the experts who run it. This can also make them more recognisable in other contexts, such as industry events or press articles. 

• Business milestones – Announcements about new facility investments, major contracts, long-service awards, industry certifications, or anniversary celebrations often generate strong engagement, keeping audiences up to speed with the company’s growth over time. 

Let’s get social!

If you’ve already got the seeds of a plan for your own social media campaign, that’s exactly where we can help here at Red-Fern Media. With more than 20 years of experience behind us, our team includes paid social media specialists, content marketers, and graphic designers (to name just a few). In short, all the award-winning expertise we need to help you enjoy social media success. 

Get in touch today – a 15-minute chat is all it takes to find out how we can help you take your business to the next level!