Social Media for Manufacturers

Social Media for Manufacturers

Carmen Fontana

Introduction

• Carmen Fontana– Web Marketing Manager– Google AdWords Certified Professional– BS Systems & Control Engineering– ME Engineering Management

• Charlie Meyers– President and Founder of WRIS– Started company in 1996

• John Strathern– Client Services Director– Experienced in web development and sales

Agenda

• What is Social Media?• Why Social Media?• Social Media Channels

– Blogs– LinkedIn– Twitter– Facebook– YouTube

• Social Media & Manufacturing• Choose Your Channels• Social Media Process

– Claim– Listen & Learn– Engage– Schedule & Streamline– Integrate– Evaluate

• Questions

What is Social Media?

“Forms of electronic communication (such as Web sites for social

networking and microblogging) through

which users create online communities to share information,

ideas, personal messages, and other content (as videos)”

– Merriam Webster

Why Social Media?

– Communication• What are you doing?• Why are you doing it?

– Brand Development• What does our company

stand for?• What is our product about?

– Relationship Building• Create new connections• Reengage with others

Why Social Media? (continued)

– Thought Leadership• Demonstrate your knowledge

– Knowledge Gathering• What are your competitors

doing?• What are people saying about

your company?• What are people saying about

my industry?

– Search Engine Optimization• SM signals influence Google

rankings for your website

Social Media Channels

• There’s a lot• They’re

always changing

• Today:– Blogs– LinkedIn– YouTube– Twitter– Facebook

Social Media Channels: Blogs

Social Media Channels: LinkedIn

Social Media Channels: YouTube

Social Media Channels: Twitter

Social Media Channels: Facebook

Social Media & Manufacturing: Adoption

LinkedIn YouTube/Video Twitter Facebook0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Manufacturers Small Businesses

Sources: GlobalSpec & Merchant Circle, Feb 2011

Social Media & Manufacturing: Notes

– Social Media has not been adopted as quickly in manufacturing as other businesses

– Right now, Social Media is a complimentary item to industrial marketing

– But, undoubtedly will continue to grow

SOCIAL MEDIA IS STILL EVOLVING FOR

MANUFACTURERS!!!

Choose Your Channels

– Blogs• Best SM way to demonstrate “thought leadership”• Great for Search Engine Optimization• Time intensive

– LinkedIn• Most “business” of all channels• Some pieces helpful, some not


– YouTube• Great for demonstrating your product• Helpful for foreign sales• Can be time intensive• Blocked on networks

– Twitter• Simple way to communicate message, interact

with others• Some learning curve• Not universally used by manufacturers


– Facebook• Most universally used on personal level• Not always considered “business”• Blocked on many networks

YOU DON’T NEED EVERY CHANNEL!!!

Social Media Process

Claim Listen & Learn Engage Schedule &

Streamline Integrate Evaluate

YOU DON’T NEED EVERY STEP!!!




1. Claim

– Blog1. Ask your web company if your website has blogging capabilities

2. If not, create one at wordpress.com or blogspot.com

3. Get a URL like blog.acmecorp.com or www.acmecorp.com/blog

– LinkedIn1. www.linkedin.com

2. Create a personal page

3. Create a company page

1. http://www.linkedin.com/

company/add/show

– YouTube1. http://www.youtube.com/create_account

1. Claim

– Twitter1. www.twitter.com

– Facebook1. www.facebook.com

2. Create a personal page

3. Create a “Company” page– http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/create.php

4. After 25 “Likes” you can get a custom URL– www.facebook.com/acmecorp instead of

www.faceboook.com/fssdif?dsjcbsd– www.facebook.com/username




2. Listen & Learn

• Watch yourself and others• Speak, don’t shout• Promote, but discretely• Give as much as you get

2. Listen & Learn

– Alerts• Allow you to see

mentions of your company on the web

• Emailed to you on a regular basis

• Two biggest ones:– Alerts.google.com– Socialmention.com– Both FREE!

• Sign up for competitors too!

2. Listen & Learn

– Blogs• Find relevant blogs

– Trade magazines» http://

www.chemicalprocessing.com/voices/plant_insites.html

– Competitors» http://

www.triangleoshkosh.blogspot.com/

– Associations– Blog Directory

» Blogcatalog.com» Blogs.botw.org

– Search Engines» i.e. “lean

manufacturing” blog• Use a RSS reader

– Aggregates everything into one place

– Reader.google.com (FREE!)

2. Listen & Learn

– LinkedIn• Review Updates

– Who’s doing what?• Follow Companies

– Company version of the status update• Groups

– Trade Organizations (Recommended: WIRE-net)– Alumni Groups (Don’t always need to be an alumni)– Media Outlets (Trade magazines, Crain’s)– Special Interest (Recommended: Industrial Marketing Mavens)

• Answers– Crowdsourcing Q&A– What are people asking about? What can I answer?

• News– Aggregated way of getting news feeds

• Advertising– Target by industry, job description, even employer!

2. Listen & Learn

2. Listen & Learn

2. Listen & Learn

– YouTube• Search for relevant topics• Watch videos from both large and small

manufacturers– Corning

» http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cf7IL_eZ38» 12,856,845 Views!!!

– WS Tyler» http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a68odZsvjJE» Example of a video on a budget» “Show” versus “tell”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cf7IL_eZ38

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a68odZsvjJE

2. Listen & Learn

– Twitter• “Follow” people

– Competitors– Industry News– General Manufacturing– Local Organizations– Need ideas? See wris_oh lists for Manufacturing, Cleveland

• Look for hashtags– Way to group like comments together– Manufacturing hashtags: http://ow.ly/4GkhG– Many conferences/tradeshows have a dedicated hashtag

#pittcon• More on etiquette & lingo: http://bit.ly/dKtTyp

http://ow.ly/4GkhG

http://bit.ly/dKtTyp

2. Listen & Learn

2. Listen & Learn

2. Listen & Learn

– Facebook• “Follow” companies

– Not as many manufacturers on Facebook– But a lot can be learned from watching B2C companies

2. Listen & Learn

BABY STEPS!!!




3. Engage

– Blogs• Blog 2-4 times per month• Variety of authors, variety of subjects• Sample topics:

– Product – general (“3 Things You Didn’t Know about Widgets”)

– Product – real life applications (“Widgets in Action at Customer Corp”)

– Trade Show Presence (“Visit Acme at the Widget World Fair”)

– Staff profiles (“Meet Acme’s Plant Manager”)– Commentary on industry (“What Does the Automotive

Downturn Mean for the Widget Industry?”)

3.Engage

– LinkedIn• Fill out Company Page• Fill out Personal Profile• Participate in Groups• Read & Answer Questions• Status Updates

– YouTube• Upload videos

– Show your product in action– Does NOT need to be professionally produced

• Favorite videos• Integrate with Facebook site

3. Engage

– Twitter• Tweet at least 3-5 times per week• “Retweet” others’ messages• Respond to direct messages, and directed tweets• HINT: Use shortened URLs (bit.ly)

– Facebook• Update status at least 3-5 times per week• Comment on other pages • Respond to comments• Upload pictures




4. Schedule & Streamline

• Create a plan– Develop a

content/channel schedule

– Use tools– Delegate!!!


WRIS SOCIAL MEDIA SCHEDULE

Channel Frequency Topic/Activity

Twitter 5x per week •Respond to others•Retweet•Tweet•M: Mfg Related•T: WRIS Promo•W: General Web Related•R: Link to blog•F: Education Related

Facebook 5x per week •Respond to comments•Post photos•Status update•Same schedule as Twitter

YouTube Bi-monthly •Create/post video

LinkedIn 3x per week •Read/Answer Questions•Read/Respond to Groups•Find new connections

Blog 1x per week •Varies•Staff Profiles•Client Projects•Industry Trends•Instructional


ACME WIDGET CORP SOCIAL MEDIA SCHEDULE

Channel Frequency Topic/Activity

Twitter 5x per week •Respond to others•Retweet•Tweet•M: Widget Industry News•T: Acme Promo•W: Widget FAQ•R: Link to blog•F: Widget Applications

Facebook 5x per week •Respond to comments•Post photos•Status update•Same schedule as Twitter

YouTube Bi-monthly •Create/post video

LinkedIn 3x per week •Read/Answer Questions•Read/Respond to Groups•Find new connections

Blog 1x per week •Varies•Staff Profiles•Client Projects•Widget Industry Trends•Instructional


ACME WIDGET CORP TWITTER SCHEDULE

DAY TWEET

Monday Via @widgetworldnews: Widget sales slow in 2010, but expected to increase in 2011 http://bit.ly/plok789

Tuesday Headed to the Widget North America Showcase? Stop by Booth 456 and say hello to the Acme team! #WWS2011

Wednesday Widgets were first patented in 1823. More fun facts: http://bit.ly/std567

Thursday Latest from the Acme blog: Meet Machinist and 30 year employee John D. Operator http://bit.ly/ersd123

Friday Widgets are now being used for solar applications: http://bit.ly/plokods


– Best times to Tweet/Blog/FB• Everyone has a different opinion• Depends on where your customers are (West

Coast, international?)• What we do:

– Blog on Thursdays, 5AM– Tweet daily at 4PM– Facebook daily at 10AM


– Blogs• Most blogging software allows you to schedule

posts• Write a bunch at one time but schedule over

months

– HootSuite & TweetDeck• Tools that allow you to schedule posts to Twitter

and Facebook• Do a week’s worth of posts at one time• Must have for regular social media engagement• FREE!!!


You can even do short URLs!

Schedule your tweet for whenever!




5. Integrate

• Integrate– Integrate into your website– Promote on your literature




6. Evaluate

– How much time are you spending doing Social Media?

– Are you seeing increased traffic to your website?– How many followers do you have on

Facebook/Twitter?– How many views are your videos getting?– How often are your blog posts read?– How many worthwhile connections have you made on

LinkedIn?– Are leads mentioning they saw your

blog/tweets/videos etc?

HARD DATA

ALWAYS WINS!!!

Carmen Fontana

[email protected]

216.245.4152

Technology

Social Media for Manufacturers