Digital channels play a crucial role in the success of companies by providing them with numerous opportunities to connect, engage, and transact with their target audience.
In the fast-paced world of manufacturing, a strong online presence is vital for companies to stay ahead of the curve. Social networks, particularly LinkedIn, offer a lot of opportunities for companies to connect with industry professionals, showcase their expertise, generate leads, and build meaningful collaborations.
By embracing the features of LinkedIn, manufacturing companies can amplify their brand visibility, drive business growth, and thrive in the digital era.
Digital channels in manufacturing
There re many digital channels that can be used to transform and improve company’s digital presence.
One of the most essential digital channels for manufacturing companies is of course the website, which serves as their virtual storefront and a central hub for showcasing products, services, and brand information. E-commerce platforms enable manufacturing companies to expand their reach and sell products directly to customers globally, providing a convenient and streamlined purchasing experience. Furthermore, e-mail marketing remains a valuable tool for manufacturers to communicate directly with their customers, providing personalized updates, promotions, and nurturing customer relationships.
Additionally, social networks offer manufacturing companies a powerful platform to build brand awareness, engage with customers, and foster relationships within their industry. Through social media channels, companies can share industry insights, product updates, and engage in meaningful conversations with customers and industry professionals.
By leveraging all digital channels effectively, manufacturing companies can establish a strong online presence, enhance brand visibility, drive sales, and ultimately stay competitive in today’s digital landscape. Will go through each of these channels (and more) in our upcoming articles.
Employing the benefits of social media
For manufacturing companies, several social networks are important for establishing a strong online presence and engaging with their target audience. Here are some of the most crucial social networks for companies:
- LinkedIn: As a professional networking platform, LinkedIn is highly valuable for manufacturing companies.
- Facebook: With its vast user base, companies can create a business page to share product updates, industry news, and engage with customers through comments, messages, and live videos.
- YouTube: As a video-sharing platform, it is ideal for manufacturing companies to showcase their products, provide tutorials, demonstrate capabilities, and share industry insights.
- Instagram: While predominantly visual, Instagram can be a valuable platform for some companies to showcase their products, manufacturing processes, and behind-the-scenes glimpses.
- Industry-specific platforms: Depending on the manufacturing niche, there might be industry-specific social networks or forums where professionals and enthusiasts gather.
It’s important for companies to evaluate their target audience, industry trends, and the social media preferences of their customers when deciding which social networks to prioritize.
LinkedIn as a social power tool
Having a LinkedIn presence is essential for manufacturing companies for several reasons. Firstly, it provides access to a wide network of professionals, allowing connections with industry peers, partners, and customers to expand the company’s network.
LinkedIn also offers a platform to showcase expertise and establish thought leadership. Additionally, LinkedIn serves as a powerful tool for business development and lead generation through targeted searches and connections. It also facilitates recruitment and collaboration through industry-specific groups.
Additionally, LinkedIn supports online reputation management by engaging with the audience and shaping the company’s image.
But how will this bring me more customers?
Some of our clients who don’t have experience with using social media for business purposes are sceptical. They are not sure whether LinkedIn can really help increase their sales. With social media, the value is not only in reaching customers, but also establishing credibility with potential customers, connecting with potential partners and recruiting new talent.
Let’s list some of the LinkedIn’s benefits:
- Expanded Reach: LinkedIn provides access to a vast network of professionals, including potential customers who may be actively seeking manufacturing solutions or products. Through strategic networking, engaging content, and targeted outreach, the company can attract the attention of new prospects and generate leads.
- Industry visibility and thought leadership: Demonstrating expertise and thought leadership on LinkedIn can have a significant impact on attracting new customers and partner, as well as employees. Prospects looking for solutions or expertise in the manufacturing field are more likely to trust and choose a company that consistently demonstrates thought leadership.
- Professional networking: LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform, with millions of professionals and industry experts actively using it. Having a LinkedIn presence allows the company to connect with industry peers, potential partners, and potential customers. It provides a valuable opportunity to expand professional network and build relationships with key stakeholders in the industry.
- Business development and lead generation: LinkedIn is not just a networking platform but also a powerful tool for business development and lead generation. Through targeted searches and connections, the company can identify potential customers, suppliers, and partners. LinkedIn provides access to a vast network of professionals, including potential customers who may be actively seeking manufacturing solutions or products.
- Referrals and recommendations: Positive reviews and recommendations on LinkedIn can greatly influence decisions and build trust. These testimonials serve as social proof, showcasing the company’s capabilities and quality, which can lead to new customer acquisitions.
- Engaging with prospects: LinkedIn offers a platform to engage directly with potential customers and partners. Building relationships and addressing inquiries promptly can nurture these prospects into becoming loyal customers.
- Targeted advertising: LinkedIn provides advertising options that allow companies to target very specific professional demographics, industries, job titles, and more. By leveraging LinkedIn’s advertising capabilities, a company can reach a highly relevant and targeted audience.
- Recruitment and talent acquisition: LinkedIn is widely used by professionals and job seekers, making it an ideal platform for recruitment and talent acquisition. The company can create a strong employer brand by sharing company updates, job postings, and highlighting their work culture and values.
Where to start with LinkedIn?
To start building a successful LinkedIn presence, there are usually some general steps to follow:
- Optimizing the company profile: Creating a compelling and complete LinkedIn company profile is the first step. It should include a clear and concise company description, relevant keywords, and a visually appealing banner image. All the necessary information, such as contact details, website link, and industry categorization must be up to date. It should be clear just by glancing at the profile what exactly the company does and what value they bring to the market.
- Defining the target audience: Identifying the target audience is extremely important and often left as an afterthought. Determining the industries, job roles, and geographic locations of the potential customers they want to reach will help tailor content and engagement strategies to attract this audience.
- Developing a content strategy: This strategy is based on the target audience and it should align with the company’s goals. It usually involves sharing industry insights, thought leadership articles, case studies, product updates, and relevant news. Aim is to provide valuable and engaging content that educates, informs, and solves problems for the target audience.
- Engaging with connections and groups: Company should actively engage with connections, industry peers, and relevant LinkedIn groups. This involves commenting on posts, sharing insights, answering questions, and initiating discussions. This approach helps build relationships, demonstrate expertise, and expand the company’s network.
- Consistency and regular posting: Maintaining a consistent posting schedule on LinkedIn is one of the most important and time-consuming tasks. Regularly sharing content, whether it’s daily, weekly, or biweekly, keeps the audience engaged.
- Actively seeking and encouraging recommendations: This refers to requesting recommendations from satisfied customers, partners, and colleagues on LinkedIn. Positive recommendations can boost the company’s credibility and attract new customers. It also involves encouraging employees to add their work experience and skills, and endorsing their colleagues to create a supportive work environment.
- LinkedIn advertising: Strategic advertising campaigns on LinkedIn can amplify the impact of organic efforts, increase brand awareness, and generate valuable leads. It is important to allocate a portion of the marketing budget to targeted LinkedIn advertising to maximize the client’s manufacturing company’s potential for success on the platform.
- Monitoring and measuring results: Regularly monitoring LinkedIn presence and measuring the performance of posts and engagement enables improving and tailoring the content even more. LinkedIn’s analytics provide insights into post reach, engagement rates, follower demographics, and other valuable metrics. Using these insights refines the content strategy and optimizes future efforts.
By following these steps, a company can gradually build a successful LinkedIn presence that attracts a relevant audience, establishes thought leadership, engages with connections and groups, and generates new business opportunities.
However, this is is an ongoing effort which takes a lot of time. That is why many companies outsource marketing activities to agencies which can do it more efficiently, while letting the client spend more time on their core business.
In conclusion, the significance of social networks for manufacturing (and other) companies cannot be overstated. LinkedIn is a powerful platform for professional networking, industry visibility, thought leadership, business development, talent acquisition, collaboration, and online reputation management.
In digital age, leveraging LinkedIn and other social networks is not just an option; it is a necessity for companies aiming to thrive in a competitive market. Embracing the possibilities of social networks can unlock numerous opportunities for growth, innovation, and success in the manufacturing industry.