If a website is your digital storefront, your social media is your online reputation. It broadcasts the current status of your company to the industry - customers, vendors, distributors, publications, potential hires, and even current employees. Done correctly, it paves the way for more productive interactions with these stakeholders, lowering costs and increasing sales.
After deciding which social media platforms are right for your business (Facebook, LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Instagram, Threads, etc.), it's important to come up with a schedule to ensure regular posts. Infrequently used or inactive accounts are not only not much less effective, they also give the appearance of financial instability. At a minimum, we recommend 3-4 posts a month to provide the appearance of activity and maintain top-of-mind awareness.
Bonus tip: Use a tool such as Hootsuite or Loomly to schedule and manage your posts in advance across all your accounts.
Here are 8 ideas you can use to map out your schedule:
- New Products or Product Enhancements
Don't let a new product or feature go unnoticed. Social media combined with PR is a perfect launching pad for your latest offering. If you spend money on R&D, it is worth marketing, even if it is something your competitors already have. - Unique Product Features that Give You an Edge over the Competition
With existing products, it's easy to assume that the industry knows all about them or can look them up on your website if they're interested. However, it's important to continually remind the industry what makes your products stand out. Social media allows you to do just that. Even if the competition can outperform your products in an area, with the right emphasis, you can state the case why the industry should care about your product features. This help qualify leads much more quickly. - Product or Company Anniversaries
Product and company longevity should be celebrated. Use social media to reinforce the idea that your company and its products and services are here to stay and support the industry for the foreseeable future. - Industries and the Corresponding Products that Serve those Industries
If you sell your product in different industries, don't assume that the industries know which products are for them. Also, the more that your marketing resonates with them, "Hey! That looks like me," the more effective it will be. It will also be more likely to be shared among industry-specific stakeholders such as distributors, OEMs, and end users.
- Customer/Distributor Highlights and/or Case Studies
Establish rapport with customer quotes, case studies, pictures, videos. At a basic level, this can be a post about a product leaving the factory. But, it's most effective when your customers directly explain why they chose you and the benefits they received as a result - either via a photo/quote or video. You can say whatever you want about your product or company, but it doesn't necessarily make it true or important to the customer. In creating customer testimonies and case studies, customers hear about you from someone just like them. As a bonus, you can often uncover unknown or undervalued benefits you provided. This is an opportunity to refine your sales and marketing initiatives to ultimately shorten sales cycles and generate revenue. - Company News/Facts/Values
Have a new product certification? Embarked on an expansion? Hit a milestone? Added a machine? Let the market know, and also frame it in terms of what it offers the customer or industry. - Holidays and Closings
Holidays, even industry-specific holidays (Ag Day, National Aviation Day, etc) are a great opportunity to check in with your vendors, customers, employees, and other stakeholders. Inform them of if you are open or closed and express your appreciation for them. - Tradeshows and Events
Attending a show or hosting a customer or training event? Tell the industry where you'll be. Remind individuals to stop by your booth and maximize your tradeshow ROI.
How can Stratimar help?
Developing an effective social media strategy for manufacturers can be difficult, especially for those with technical products. Why?
- It must be succinct. You have limited space and time to deliver a message with punch. It's a brochure boiled down to a paragraph and a photo or video.
- It must offer cohesive branding. Without similar branding across your posts, your post will get lost among competing messages. Unlike a website or brochure, you don't own the social media feed landscape and must quickly remind users who you are. Strong branding design will do just that.
- It must resonate with the market. For manufacturers, it is MORE important to understand the product and the industry than to understand social media itself. Content that is either too technical or not technical enough, will not only be wasteful but also send unintended messages of being out of touch or not the right fit.
- It must be strategic. Social media is your reputation. What you show and repeat online will shape how the industry views your company. How do you want the industry to view you and does your social media content align with this view? Make sure you are comfortable putting your company's reputation in the hands of whoever is managing your social media.
Our team can come alongside yours to do a market analysis, lay out a schedule that can be periodically repeated and tweaked, create branding templates, and produce high quality photo and video content to frame your company in the best light. Contact us today to learn more.
