5 Ways to Improve Your Social Media Presence

It has been more than 10 years since Facebook became available to college students. Not long after its introduction, access was opened to anyone with an e-mail address. The new medium quickly grew into an active digital community with over a billion monthly users. During those 10 years, social media continued to expand and changed communications forever.

This evolution was slower to take hold in manufacturing and industrial businesses, but today companies of every size are adapting their marketing strategies to embrace the web as an information source. Brands across every industry are recognizing and harnessing the potential audience of millions that can be reached through social media.

A presence on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn is helping bridge the accessibility gap between small job shops and international corporations. Creating a business page is free on the most popular social networks, and managing those pages well can make a measurable difference in a company’s web traffic and offline reputation.

Here are five social media practices to help manufacturers that manage their social profiles in-house.

1. Put Your Best Face Forward

Images are very important. Whether you already have social media profiles, or you're in the process of creating them, include relevant, colorful, high-quality photos for your profile and page cover/header. Think creatively. This is the public face of your company for the digital audience, so you want to catch their eye in a good way.

A company logo or a photo of a spokesperson works especially well for the profile picture. Cover photos can reflect a current holiday or promotion, or just a visually appealing area in the office or on the shop floor. It is OK to change these periodically to reflect seasonal changes or company updates. Many successful companies use up-close and personal photos featuring their final products or a piece of equipment in action.

2. Make Sure They Can Find You

Just like your company, social networks are always working to improve the way they do things. Sometimes these changes receive a lukewarm reception from users (have you enjoyed the last three iterations of the Facebook news feed/stream?), but it almost always means an opportunity to update something on your platform.

Double-check to be sure your website, physical address, contact e-mails, and phone numbers are filled out completely in the “about” section. Curious online visitors may search these areas to contact you directly, and you want them to find what they are looking for. Also, be sure to use key search terms relevant to your potential customers in the fields that allow you to explain who you are or what you do. If you offer custom fabrication, laser cutting systems, bending automation, or machining, include those terms in your description. Facebook’s algorithm will search these fields to connect relevant users to your page.

3. Connect With Existing Contacts

Find as many of your customers, clients, and regular contacts as you can and "like" or follow their brand or business. This will populate your feed with the things they post so you can keep track of what they have going on and share it with your own audience if it's relevant. They are more likely to follow and share you this way. If they don't, send them a private message on that social site, asking them to like or follow your company.

Benchmarking the competition is also an important benefit to social media marketing. You can keep up-to-date on their announcements and see what works for them by comparing the engagement their posts receive with your own and following suit.

4. Two-Way Communication Is Key

Engage consistently with the people and brands you follow, and they will be more likely to comment on or like what you post. This amplifies your content and shows a digital audience that you are personable and sincere about communicating with them.

If you receive a comment on a post, whether from another page or a social media user you've never met, respond on your page to continue the conversation or thank them for the comment. Comment threads on a social post can blossom into conversations about current trends, issues, or experiences that will attract more people. Participating in these conversations allows you to establish your company as an authority on the subject, and it shows your audience that you’re listening. Private messages are especially important to respond to because the person sending them is reaching out to you directly.

5. Give Them What They're Looking For

Post consistently using a mix of content types. Consider what’s going on in the industry that your customers, employees, and partners might want to know. Posting doesn't have to be every day, and it doesn't always have to be original content, but it should almost always include a high-quality image.

Remember that the social media audience is huge and diverse. For every one or two promotional items you post, there should be three or more pieces of in-depth or entertaining content. Links to relevant news, company updates, or local events should be accompanied by an image from the linked article or a relevant photo. A photo with a caption is a great way to update your audience on a new product, company event, or an employee’s anniversary. Even simple text-based posts should be an occasional part of the mix, but always check your writing for accuracy and grammar before going live. By providing a stream of information and imagery to engage social media audiences, you can attract followers that will stick around when you share targeted promotions.

The digital social landscape changes every year, so it’s prudent to re-evaluate your page look and content strategy periodically. Keeping these suggestions in mind, you can relatively painlessly keep your online presence optimized.

Mary Diamond is social media lead at the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association Int'l., 815-227-8275, www.fmanet.org.