It’s no secret that manufacturing struggles with its public image and perception. It’s one of the top reasons why the industry has a hard time attracting young people to its workforce. While solutions to the problem are multifacted and wide-ranging, one way that individual companies can work to improve the industry’s image is by brushing up their efforts in digital marketing and PR.
Your digital presence is your face to the world. That includes your customers, but it also includes potential future employees. Is your “digital face” making the right impression? Or is the virtual door shutting in your face more often than not?
At AMT’s recent GFMC event in Atlanta, I gave a workshop along with Mike McCloud of MMA Creative on ways to improve marketing through PR and social media. It was exciting to see how many AMT members are keenly interested in learning about this topic. But since many other members weren’t with us that afternoon, here are a few top takeaways you can implement to improve your messaging game.
Think differently for different channels. Each social channel has its own flavor, its own audience, and its own purpose. As Mike mentioned, Facebook is the king of crowd, Instagram is the king of wow, Twitter is the king of now, and LinkedIn is the king of know-how.
Facebook is great for telling stories and creating posts that are share-worthy. Make the tone fun or something that has an emotional pull.
Instagram is all about the images – and manufacturing is the perfect visual industry. Search #instamachinist if you want some fast inspiration.
Twitter is a place for “breaking news” and an excellent platform for pitching to journalists. Be sure to use hashtags and handles to reach the right audience.
LinkedIn is all business. Focus on using it as a place to show your company’s thought leadership and expertise. The LinkedIn publishing platform is a great place to connect and get your ideas out to the world. If you’ve got a corporate blog, repurpose your posts here to grow your audience.
In your PR efforts, be human and be helpful. Rather than blasting out press releases to a big list of journalists without another word, take the one-on-one approach toward building relationships with the editors and reporters you want to cover your company. Send a pitch through a one-on-one email, and include a story angle you’d like the journalist to consider.
One step further, let those journalists know when you liked something that they wrote. Share their articles that aren’t related to your company through your own social posts (be sure to tag them and/or their publication), and send them other relevant articles (again, not from your company) that are related to topics they cover.
Finally, if a reporter calls you, be sure to return the call right away. It’s likely they are working on a deadline, and if you aren’t prompt in your response, they’re going to quickly move on to find another source.
When you write a press release,think like a journalist. Are your releases filled with acronyms and industry jargon? Do you include made-up quotes that don’t sound anything like how someone talks in real life? This is a sure way to get a journalist to hit “delete” (and probably never read another of your releases again). When you send a release, think of it as a print-ready news story – with a clear news hook at the top. Holding an event or releasing a new product isn’t news, but inviting local students to your facility or developing a product that can do something that’s never been done before is closer to the mark.
Want to keep this conversation going? AMT is looking at ways to help members improve their digital marketing and PR efforts, including online communities/discussions (like a LinkedIn group), webinars, and/or live training and strategy sessions. If this is something you’d like to explore, contact me at pbrown@AMTonline.org. Let’s talk!
