Where once we relied on television, news and print media for news, entertainment, and product information, now we turn to laptops, tablets, and smartphones when we want to be in the know.
It’s information on demand, and it’s changing the way people shop, and how smart companies market. Your business can be part of this.
According to research, well over 80% of Americans have access to the web, and of those, a whopping 81% turn to good old Google when they want to research a purchase.
It stands to reason that if you want to capture the attention of the connected customer, you need to be in the places they look. And that means taking your media, advertising and marketing efforts online.
A great place to add in addition to your website is social media. It’s accessible, affordable, and you don’t need to be a technical whiz to create accounts.
Social media has changed a lot since the early days. Most people have never been on MySpace. Many don’t even know it exists.
But while Facebook wasn’t far behind the early pioneers, it is the one platform that has stood the test of time. While Facebook marketing has changed a lot over the years, it’s still the first and best choice for many.
With over a billion users, and with a host of targeting options, and advertising methods in addition to pages, groups and promoted posts, it’s still the number one way to take your manufacturing business social. It’s not a direct sales tool, but it’s great for awareness, branding,and engagement that can lead to sales later on.
Brightcove is a company that specializes in software solutions for creating video. They also conduct in-depth studies in video marketing. According to one of those studies, companies that sell to other companies (B2B heavy marketers) rank YouTube as their second most important social media outreach platform, after LinkedIn.
YouTube has the second highest search figures on the web, second only to Google, and it has about 1 billion hits per month. So it’s really a no-brainer. Whether you choose to use funny or interesting videos about your company or educational spots about your products (or the problems you solve), video is fast becoming the medium of choice for companies like yours.
Keep the videos short and sweet to appeal to shorter attention spans, and don’t limit yourself to YouTube. Once you’ve made the videos, share the across all of your networks. They don’t need to be professional! Start with a smartphone and $15 tripod to get going.
If you doubt the power of Twitter, watch your website traffic after you tweet. If you’re like most people, you will see a spike in visits.
Use Twitter to share company and industry news, and connect with influencers and potential customers. Don’t forget to tweet links to your blog posts!
Also, Twitter is becoming a support tool as well. With specific options to list your support hours, it’s a way to have real-time support available online.
LinkedIn has 300 million active accounts. It’s the top network for professionals.
Use LinkedIn groups to connect with like-minded individuals. Use the platform to recruit, and as a place to make professional connections. Don’t forget to make a company page too. Don’t just join groups, contribute to conversations too.
Instagram isn’t just for teenagers. It’s a great place to share images of your products and processes too. Make short videos too, and tap into the huge market for visual stories online!
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, video or images or text which one should you start with? There are lots of options and reasons to use each of these networks. Does all of this sound challenging? Need a strategy? How do you know where your potential clients are?
Need boots on the ground assistance to run your campaigns and analyze your results? I can help! Contact me.
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