This is the seventh installment in our on-going series on Social Media for Manufacturing.  This is an extension of a recent seminar Web Marketing Manager Carmen Fontana gave on the topic for the Cleveland manufacturing association, WIRE-net. While geared towards industrial companies, many of the principles can be applied to businesses of all types.

It’s time to get our hands dirty!  Well, in the Social Media sense of the word that is.  After you have spent a fair amount of time Listening and Learning and feel comfortable with the terminology, platforms and protocol, it’s time to Engage.

There are numerous ways to get directly involved in Social Media and it really depends on which channel you are exploring.  Here are a few ways to begin engaging in Social Media:

• Blogging – Start writing blog entries.  Shoot for 2-4 articles per month, 200-400 words in length.  Make sure to cover a variety of topics and, if possible, have a variety of authors.
• LinkedIn – Fill out your personal and company profiles.  Participate in group discussions.  Read Questions and answer the ones you can.  Update your (and you company’s) status updates.  Comment on others’ status updates.
• YouTube – Create and upload videos.  These do not need to be Hollywood quality feature length films.  A well-light two minute production with your personal video camera will probably be sufficient.  Make sure to integrate YouTube with your company Facebook page.
• Twitter – Tweet 3-5 times per week on a variety of topics.  Retweet interesting messages of others.  Don’t forget to respond to direct messages and directed tweets.
• Facebook – Update your company’s status 3-5 times per week.  Upload pictures.  Respond to comments on your page.  Comment on other people/company’s pages.

That’s a lot to do!  Don’t fret!  The next installment in the series, Step 4: Schedule and Streamline, will help you simplify your Social Media tasks.

This is the sixth installment in our on-going series on Social Media for Manufacturing.  This is an extension of a recent seminar Web Marketing Manager Carmen Fontana gave on the topic for the Cleveland manufacturing association, WIRE-net. While geared towards industrial companies, many of the principles can be applied to businesses of all types.

In the real world, you would never walk into a cocktail party shouting at the top of your lungs, “MY NAME IS JOE AND I RUN THE BEST COMPANY EVER.  BUY MY PRODUCT NOW,NOW, NOW!!!!”

Instead, you would probably quietly enter, grab some h’or dourves and carefully observe the room.  Once you had a feel for who was there and what they were talking about, then and only then, would you politely introduce yourself to fellow party goers.

A cyber cocktail party, be it Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, operates in the same manner.  You will be more successful, and a lot more liked, if you take a “Listen and Learn” approach before diving right into Social Media.

Principles to observe:

• Watch what others are doing.  What are they posting about?  How frequently?  Are they getting good response rates?
• Speak, don’t shout.  Social Media is a conversation between people, not a billboard for your latest specials.
• Promote, but discretely.  At the end of the day, you are trying to make money.  And that’s totally fine.  Just promote yourself in less obvious ways.  Less is more when it comes to selling in Social Media.
• You give as much as you get.  Give free advice.  Answer questions.  Post informative articles.  Good will breeds good will.

Here are a few ways to start listening and learning:

1. Sign up for Google Alerts.
2. Read industry blogs using a RSS reader.
3. Follow companies, read Answers and follow News on LinkedIn.
4. Watch relevant videos on YouTube.
5. Follow companies and hashtags on Twitter.
6. Like companies (both B2B and B2C) on Facebook.

Next installment: The Social Media Process: Step 3, Engage

This is the fourth installment in our on-going series on Social Media for Manufacturing.  This is an extension of a recent seminar Web Marketing Manager Carmen Fontana gave on the topic for the Cleveland manufacturing association, WIRE-net. While geared towards industrial companies, many of the principles can be applied to businesses of all types.

Even if you do not plan to engage in all (or any!) of the major Social Media channels soon, you should still claim your spot on them.

Why?  It’s simple.  If you don’t do it, someone else will.  “Someone” could be a competitor, an unrelated company with a similar name, or even just a well-meaning customer or employee. 
In the first two instances, it can be a long and painful process to establish your rightful ownership and regain your spot. 

In the later instance, you could lose control over the messaging and content.  In our experience, regaining ownership from an employee or customer is sometimes more difficult than regaining it from another company.

Here are a few tips to get you started on claiming your spot in the Social Media space:

• Blogging – Check with your company’s web master to see if your website software platform already has blogging capabilities.  If not, sign up for a very economical blogging package such as WordPress or Tumblr.  Either way, make sure your IT team sets up a custom URL for your blog. For example, blog.acme.com or www.acme.com/blog
• LinkedIn – If you do not already have a personal account, set one up.  Once that’s done, set up an account for your company at set up an account for your company
  
• YouTube – Set up an account on YouTube.
• Twitter – Set up an account on Twitter.  If possible, try to use your full company name.  If it’s too long or already taken, try a common abbreviated version.
• Facebook – If you don’t already have a personal account, set one up.  Once that’s done, create a "Company" page .  After you have 25 “likes” you can request a custom Facebook URL.  For example, you can request that your company Facebook URL be www.facebook.com/acmecorp instead of the default www.facebook.com/dsfksdfh?/efksdfsdf/acmecorp/asfcksf.  Not only is it easier to remember, it looks more professional on printed materials.

Next installment: The Social Media Process: Step 2, Listen & Learn

This is the fourth installment in our on-going series on Social Media for Manufacturing.  This is an extension of a recent seminar Web Marketing Manager Carmen Fontana gave on the topic for the Cleveland manufacturing association, WIRE-net. While geared towards industrial companies, many of the principles can be applied to businesses of all types.

Social Media is still evolving, as is the process to implement it.  However, most experts agree that it is something that should be done deliberately.  In other words, don’t just start doing a bunch of social media things without giving thought to what makes sense to your organization.  Take your time in order to do it right.

With that in mind, we recommend the following process for implementing a Social Media campaign. 

Step 1: Claim
First and foremost, make sure you have established yourself on Facebook, Twitter, etc.  if you don’t claim your name and spot, someone else will

Step 2: Listen & Learn
Watch what your counterparts and competitors are doing.  The best way to learn the nuances of Social Media is by observing those who do it well (or not so well).

Step 3: Engage
Once you feel comfortable with the tools and protocol, start getting yourself out there with blog posts, tweets, etc.

Step 4: Schedule & Streamline
After just a short time “Engaging”, you will realize that Social Media can be a major time drain.  There are shortcuts and methods to making it more streamline.

Step 5: Integrate
Social Media does not exist in a bubble.  Make it part of your overall marketing strategy.

Step 6: Evaluate
As with all business initiatives, take a hard look at what’s working and what’s not. 

The next installments of this series will delve deeper into each step providing action items, caveats and helpful tips and tricks.

Next installment: The Social Media Process: Step 1, Claim

This is the second installment in our on-going series on Social Media for Manufacturing.  This is an extension of a recent seminar Web Marketing Manager Carmen Fontana gave on the topic for the Cleveland manufacturing association, WIRE-net. While geared towards industrial companies, many of the principles can be applied to businesses of all types.

There are tons and tons of social media channels out there.  From the common to the not so common, it can be overwhelming understanding the differences between all the different platforms.  

Here are a few of the most common social media outlets used by manufacturers:

• Blogs – An extension of your website, blogs allow you to share extended thoughts, ideas and commentary about your business and industry.  They are usually between 300 and 500 words, which requires a serious time commitment in order to be produced on a regular basis.  If you can find the time, they can really be worth it.  The content produced adds to the usability of your site and positions your company as a thought leader.  And it is great for search engine optimization!
• Facebook – The biggest social media platform of them all is seeing a lot of action from manufacturing companies.  Since many marketers already have a personal account, it is an easy transition to setting up a corporate one for their company.  That said, Facebook is not always the best route for industrial companies.  One, there is still quite a few companies that block Facebook on their internal networks, leaving your company’s corporate Facebook page inaccessible.  Second, there is a perception that Facebook is a “playground” of sorts and not appropriate for B2B companies.  This may change as more and more B2B companies break ground on Facebook.
• Twitter – A “microblogging” site, Twitter users converse in 140 character “tweets”.  Since it is less time intensive than blogs, many companies are turning to Twitter to converse with their “followers”.  However, it is still fledging in the industrial world and only time will tell if it gets universally adopted by this group.
• LinkedIn – The more “professional” social networking platform, LinkedIn allows individuals and companies to connect and share information in a more formal atmosphere.  No vacation pictures or videos of funny dog tricks here!
• YouTube – This well-known video sharing site is growing in popularity among industrial marketers because it allows companies to show (versus tell about) their product.  This is especially important where product installations may be particularly large or custom.  Additionally, videos cut down the language barriers that many international manufacturers contend with.  As the old adage goes, a picture (or in this case – a video) is worth a thousand words!

Next installment: How does Social Media fit into your manufacturing marketing plan?