Let’s face it: when most people think about social media marketing, they aren’t thinking about B2B industrial companies and manufacturers.
Yes, engaging people through social media marketing campaigns is more challenging for industrials, but well worth the effort. When done right, social media for manufacturers can be great for lead generation and content promotion. Plus, it can be an effective tool for brand awareness, reputation management, and recruiting in talent-strapped trade industries.
Unlike all the content that AI is generating lately, social media is where thought leaders can share insights, personal opinions, and first-hand experiences — something AI can’t do.
Forming a strategy starts with understanding the possibilities and benefits of each major social media platform. We’ll go over each and share our thoughts on where your time (and money) are worth spending.
While Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram are the most popular social networks in the U.S., no platform provides more value to B2B manufacturers than LinkedIn.
LinkedIn boasts more than one billion users, with 141 million of them being active daily users, according to Hootsuite. LinkedIn is the only major social media outlet that caters to professionals and career-oriented individuals who want to network with other business leaders, with adults aged 30 to 49 most likely to use the platform.
B2B marketers report that LinkedIn produces the greatest results of any social platform. In fact:
82% of B2B marketers have reported their greatest success on LinkedIn -- Hootsuite
If you haven’t yet, create your company page and complete it thoroughly. Then use it to share useful industry content regularly. Since professionals frequently turn to LinkedIn to consume articles and industry news, being active and helpful is an effective way to get your company noticed. It also goes a long way in positioning your company as an industry thought leader. Long-form content published as a native LinkedIn article shortly after a blog post is published is particularly effective.
When it comes to making the most of LinkedIn’s lead generation capabilities, however, promoting content on your company’s profile page is only the tip of the iceberg. You should be encouraging — and even requiring — that your employees maintain a current LinkedIn presence and share thought leadership insights.
Through their personal LinkedIn networks, your sales and marketing team can build relationships with industry professionals and potential customers. And don’t stop there; everyone from HR to customer service can chime in. If you get your whole team involved, you'll essentially have a content promotion and prospecting army at your disposal! Industrial buyer journeys and the way prospects get their information are changing — and we’re finding that social listening and social engagement are increasingly relevant.
Tips To Get Your Team Involved
Some team members may struggle to know what to share on LinkedIn, and that’s ok. Here are some tips to get them comfortable:
- Encourage them to start by engaging with your brand’s posts, then with other subject matter experts and thought leaders.
- They should chime into comment threads or re-share your brand posts with their own insights and opinions.
- Did they tell you about a relevant industry article they read or webinar they attended? Encourage them to share their takeaways in a LinkedIn post.
- Perhaps they participated in community events or attended a conference. Share away!
There are many ways to become more active on LinkedIn, but the important thing is to just get started.
RELATED: Stop Selling. Start Evangelizing. The Key to Engaging Prospects.
As the largest social network in the world, Facebook commands a 77% share of social network usage. Facebook is typically among the first social networks companies think to create a profile on, but for manufacturers, it doesn’t typically provide significant lead generation value.
It’s a matter of audience. Facebook is typically used for personal reasons, so chances are slim that industrial buyers are doing business research on Facebook. Before you rule out Facebook completely, though, don’t underestimate its value in another type of “lead” generation — recruitment marketing!
While Facebook users may not be doing extensive buyer research, it’s a great place to show off your company culture. Why? Potential recruits, customers, employees, and industry professionals will follow your page to stay updated on the latest company news and events, including:
- Job openings, new hires, and work anniversary announcements
- Company and building expansions
- Milestones, such as celebrating a year without any safety incidents
- Local and national media mentions
- Photos from holiday parties, staff outings, and other company events
With Facebook, you have the opportunity to show the “human” side of your organization and make connections based on your company culture. We’ve found it invaluable for supporting recruitment efforts and showcasing community involvement.
Also consider using Facebook Groups to expand your circle of professional connections. These online communities are built around a central topic — your manufacturing specialty, for example — and bring people together to discuss issues and share experiences.
X (Formerly Twitter)
Not gonna lie — I don’t think I’ll ever get used to calling it X. At one time, 27% of the U.S. population used Twitter. Since its transition to X, the platform has seen a sharp 30% decline in active users — dropping to only a 19% usage rate. So, should businesses still pursue using X?
There are a lot of companies still active on the platform, with 66% of brands having a presence there. X’s social shares and ad reach aren’t the biggest, nor is the platform the right fit for all types of companies. But if your target audience is on X, chances are you should be too.
RELATED: WHY & HOW TO CONDUCT AUDIENCE RESEARCH FOR INBOUND MARKETING
X’s content-sharing and conversation-starting capabilities are what make it a valuable social channel for manufacturers. If your company has a blog or short-form video content (and it should), you can broadly promote your content by using hashtags and @ mentions of industry thought leaders to help it get seen by your target audience.
Pro tip: You should also use social monitoring tools to keep tabs on industry hashtags and engage (comment, retweet, etc.) with trade groups/publications that your audience follows.
Though it’s not the best channel for generating leads, it can be a fantastic channel for brand awareness — it certainly has an audience that is ripe for content consumption and industry news. Plus, with X being a place to engage in short but meaningful conversations, manufacturers can cultivate industry thought leadership by consistently participating in industry discussions and threads.
Instagram is part of the Meta family (which also owns Facebook) and ranks as the third most popular social media platform. Two billion people have accounts, and 85% of its audience is younger than age 45.
Instagram spans generations and is particularly popular with Gen Z and millennials — the latter who are increasing in B2B purchasing power as they are now more mature in their careers.
As of 2022, Millennials are the largest generation in the workforce. In fact, Forrester’s Buyer Insights Report found that 64% of business purchase influencers were born after 1981, with Millennials serving as the largest cohort at 57%.
While Instagram may not be sought after for its lead-gen possibilities, similarly to X it can be an effective brand awareness channel to engage these younger buyers who follow topics like sustainability, career advice, and more on the platform. It comes back to knowing your audience and meeting them on the platforms they’re already using.
What Content is Right for Industrials Using Instagram?
Video is a powerhouse for brands, and Instagram captured lightning in a bottle. Users spend roughly 12 hours a month on the app, so there’s no arguing that visual content draws attention.
Instagram’s popularity is well worth leveraging by manufacturers and B2B marketers. Those who can get creative with video content could gain a respectable following, even with unpolished, live videos. In fact, the more unscripted, the better when it comes to Instagram.
YouTube
B2B marketers frequently overlook YouTube as a viable lead gen channel, making it one of the most underrated, underutilized social networks by manufacturers today. However, it is the second-most popular social media platform and also ranks as the #2 search engine behind Google. Since Google owns YouTube, it’s easy to see what a powerhouse it is.
With its addition of YouTube Shorts to compete with other social platforms, a lot of manufacturers don’t realize just how helpful it can be when it comes to getting found by prospects.
In the manufacturing industry, customers can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a single order or purchase, and they want to know that the service or product will work exactly how it’s supposed to, when it’s supposed to, every time.
Rather than just taking your word for it, a video can show your team and production capabilities in action, allowing prospects to get a better feel for the solutions your team provides. From product demonstrations and virtual facility tours to videos with your engineering experts, there are lots of helpful videos you can make to generate more leads and convert more leads into customers.
In addition, there’s a lot of YouTube search engine optimization tactics available to maximize effectiveness. Headlines, file names, tags, descriptions, and target keywords within the video transcripts can all be used to boost search rankings and raise visibility.
Like most social platforms, you can run ads on Reddit to reach a niche audience. Much of its marketing value, however, can be found in engaging with various subreddit communities and participating in conversations that take place.
For example, there are subreddits for manufacturing, robotics, technology, automation, ERP systems, mechanical engineering, and a host of other topics. The key is to give value if you want to get value, and to not come across as a sales pitch. Users of the platform can easily spot sales tactics and disregard promotional content, so don’t be that guy.
Participating in forum discussions requires a bit more dedication and time from your subject matter experts, but when you share insights that help another user solve a business problem, they’re more likely to engage and trust that what you have to offer is a solution they’re looking for. Just as important is “listening” to conversations to understand pain points and preferences, informing product improvements and ways to improve customer service.
Where to Start?
With so many companies having an active presence on social media, manufacturers may feel pressured to join all of them to keep pace — but that's not always the best move. The key to making sound decisions about where to participate is to know where your target audience already is. You can use audience research tools (our favorite is Sparktoro) to prioritize the channels that align with your personas.
It’s also critical to consider your lead gen strategy. Is brand awareness the most important goal of your social media presence? Or is it something else like community building, product-led marketing, or thought leadership?
Marrying the objectives with the audience intelligence will give you the best direction on where to start, or double-down, or even withdraw from platforms you’re currently using.
Another way to get a pulse on industrial sales and marketing is to reference our State of Industrial Sales & Marketing Report. You’ll learn what other manufacturers experience, how long their sales cycles are, average deal sizes, and a lot more. Access it today, and let us know if you’d like help forming your social media strategy.
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