Manufacturing businesses may have been waiting on the sideline to see how they could incorporate social media into their marketing. As social networking becomes the norm for businesses others, like manufacturing companies and trade services may not initially see how they can use Social Media for their company since the connecting topics may seem dry.

Whether manufacturing and trade companies would like to build customer relationships, offer better customer service or help educate their audience there are a few tools that help these companies jumpstart into the social Internet world.

Blogging

Companies can add a blog to their current website if it is not already built into the site’s framework depending on the programing or consider using a seperate blog. We do recomend keeping your blog on your website, but if this is not available the later choice will still help.

By creating a blog, the manufacturing company has the opportunity to create and share content that can be archived and organized for visitors. By offering content about advice, tips and education, the company can provide a valuable resource for potential customers in learning how they may like to use the service or product.

Blogging for your company offers your brand the opportunity to become the expert and voice for your business.

Videos

YouTube is a great visual information sharing tool that is often overlooked by the manufacturing and trade industries. Without marketing your product “In Your Face” style, these comapanies can offer how to and helpful tutorials on specific products and introdue new release information.

Yes, you can hire a professional videographer for special recordings, but you can also use simple mobile and hand held devices to share quick impromtu recording that can quickly be uploaded to YouTube and posted on your various online mediums.

Don’t over estimate how a branded YouTube Channel can both bring your brand and product to your audience’s eyes and ears.

Facebook/Twitter

Why not extend your website and blogs reach while also driving traffic to your site. Another way to share your brand and keep your company in the loop is to also provide an additional way to connect with your company and intereact via a Business/Fan page on Facebook and open chat on Twitter.

Mico blogging has become an easy way to provide ongoing, quick customer service while also sharing the content created on YouTube and your website. The key is that you want to share content, interact and promote very little.

Each of the tools are great for brand awareness and when they are used together, increase your presence on the internet. By branding your manufaturing and trade industry online you help brand your company, drive traffice to your site and ultimately increase your sales. Remember, as well as all these tools are by themselves or together, too much push marketing instead of interaction and sharing can sabotage the best social strategy. Be sure to have a plan in place so your strategy does not get hung up on unknowns and defaults to pushing out promo updates.

Allographics & Design specializes in web, graphic and social media design and consulting. If you would like to learn how we can strengthen your online branding and marketing or to book a workshop to better understand the major social media tools available for your business, contact us for more information.

Web Design and Social Branding Solutions – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Based on the Ignite survey of social media use around the world, men and women use different social networks from one another. Although this Inforgraphic does not break things down by country, it is interesting to see that Facebook did not fall into the top 10 for men and curious how the numbers would be if the survey was conducted only in the United States.

Also interesting is that Xanga and Myspace fell into the top catgories for women too, indicating these earier social networks may still be popular with women if not as much in the US, at least around the world. And where is Twitter? How did it not fall into either list?

What conclusions do you walk away with when reviewing the information below in The Current State of Social Networking Infographic.

It’s an overwhelming online world out there, isn’t it? We take the good with the bad…we love information, new advancements, new technology….but we hate all the information, new advancements and new technology, right? Why is that? It’s because with so much noise out there, it’s difficult to decipher what we need specifically for our own business.

You hear how you need to be building your website, blogging, get out on Facebook. Yes, you should be on LinkedIn, Twitter and now Google+, start an email campaign and so on. BUT wait….you say “I don’t really know what I need!!! HELP!”

Here are 5 Tips to know when it is time to get yourself a strategy and action plan for your online marketing and branding.

1. EVERYTHING feels like a priority! You are not sure what you need to focus on first nor what takes precedent before you implement a project until you started it and realized you should have created some other project first for support.
2. You do not know where you need to me in 6-12 months. If you start or build it, they will come and that’s all there is to it, right? This is not always the case and understanding that you need to plan out a process to see where you want to be down the road is necessary so you can filter out all that noise.
3. You are confused on how the different tools work together. Just because the tools exist, doesn’t mean you need to use everything, let alone at the same time. Understanding when is the best time to combine elements together for your specific business needs and personality can also help filter out the noise.
4. You are trying to chase your competition. Very common action, but this can lead to starting projects, chaos all over the place or jumping into something too soon when you have not setup the right elements first. While it is a good idea to be familiar with your competition, you should evaluate whether what you see the others doing fits into your plans and meets your goals.
5. You are stuck in the rut of push promotion. Relationship marketing has been around from the beginning, but we have been using it in the traditional sense. It can be confusing to move it online and seem unnatural and awkward. Online marketing has become about your social networking abilities, and there are some adjustments that should be considered before jumping in and pushing out a bunch of ads and promos without a plan. The last thing you want to do is annoy your clients and following with too much promotional information all the time and not enough helpful tips and advise.

Allographics & Design specializes in web, graphic and social media design and consulting. If you would like to learn how we can strengthen your online branding and marketing or to book a workshop to better understand the major social media tools available for your business, contact us for more information.

Social Media & Online Marketing Training – Oklahoma