There's an outdated, and incorrect, stereotype of the Manufacturing industry. Long gone are the days of smokestacks and dirty shop floors. Walk into most manufacturing facilities and you'll discover high tech innovation. And along with the innovation found along the supply chain you'll also discover advancements in how manufacturers engage with their customers and partners. Manufacturers recognize that with the evolution of the subscription economy, customer satisfaction and relationship development is very important. Social media provides an excellent opportunity to engage with customers, prospects, partners, and thought leaders. Social media also allows for manufacturing partners and customers to engage with each other. It provides a community development platform. Many manufacturers are now leveraging this platform.
Effective social media requires commitment to a brand, content, and social strategy. Manufacturers understand that the best way to engage with their audience is by providing useful content. AGCO uses Facebook to bring a human element to the company. They use lots of employee photos and promote their involvement in the community. They even ran a t-shirt design contest and launched a “Caption This” campaign with photos of their equipment. AGCO has people and customers ask them questions on Twitter, such as where to find distributors and products, and they always respond. AGCO drives huge engagement across their posts. They’ve really developed a community of farmers and those that work in their industry. Likes on Facebook posts reach into the 500s. Facebook posts are always shared, with an average 5-15 shares per post. Twitter content usually commands 3-5 retweets.
Not only are manufacturers utilizing social media, but the manufacturing audience is engaging on social media. Avid does an outstanding job engaging with their followers on Facebook. They post content that starts discussions and allows followers to interact with each other. Avid’s Facebook posts have fun pictures of people using their equipment. Fun “sexy” pictures are part of their image. They also have Instagram and Pinterest accounts for this reason. There are lots of interactions in the comments and great responses to conversations from the Avid folks. "Likes" can reach the 100s and shares reach into the teens. Reweets average 3-13. Their content is focused on “how to” and leveraging the pros (thought leaders) that use their equipment. It's outstanding.
In the manufacturing industry no social media channel should be ignored. Videos and photos engage best on Facebook and Google+. Twitter is a great source for not just publishing content, but for curating content that can be leveraged across the other channels. LinkedIn is a great channel for engaging with existing employees and stepping up recruiting efforts. Schneider Electric has a great LinkedIn strategy around driving engagement and conversations. They don’t use a traditional company page, but a group page to drive conversations. Their videos are also environmentally focused which draw a strong passionate community.
Manufacturers that post questions, query for audience participation and input, and respond to the posts of their followers have significantly higher engagement. Manufacturing social tactics are developing advocates, communities, and potential opportunity.