Social Media and Manufacturing

Thanks to npg for sending this to me.  This is an interesting article by Michele Rempel at media vine marketing with an articled titled:

             Social Media? But We’re a Manufacturing Company!

Here is a snippet:

"Jim Carr, President of CARR Machine and Tool Company in Elk Grove, Illinois, has been successfully using social media for a while now and believes that social media will be leading the way in helping small and larger corporations reach out to a new customer base. When his company experienced hardship during the economic downturn, Carr turned to a marketing company to design a strong web and social media presence. He believes that, going forward, corporations need to embrace the online culture because that’s where their next generation of customers already exist.  Source "

The primary points I agree with are the following from Michele Rempel's article:

Give value. If you just think of social media as a place where you are just going to sell your products, your efforts will drop like a lead balloon. Instead, think about information you can share with your potential customers that will be beneficial to them- as well as remove barriers to the buying process. Good content makes prospects notice your company. Blogs and videos accomplish this goal very well.

Encourage interaction and be prepared to listen. Many manufacturers are using social media as a forum to connect with prospects and receive feedback that can be used to improve product quality, stay current, and improve customer service.

Let your products tell stories. Like many manufacturers, your products probably end up becoming part of another product, and so on. Use photos and videos to tell a story of how your products become part of something larger. And if you can connect your products to people’s lives, so much the better! Most people have little information about how their favorite products come to be. Although you probably don’t sell directly to consumers, you can still connect with prospects in a unique and strong way when they are in the information-gathering phase.

 

Yet Another Reason Why You Go To The Track

There are a million reasons why you don't race on the streets. Pay the small amount of money and go to the track so you can do it safely.   Look at these two knuckleheads - one in a C5 (5th generation Corvette) and the other in a C6 (6th generation Corvette):