Manufacturers: You Can Engage Purchasers, MRO’s, and Engineers on LinkedIn
By: Bill Sterzenbach – Upward Brand Interactions Manufacturers are always surprised to learn just how many engineers, MRO’s and purchasers are actively using LinkedIn. When targeting engineers and procurement/purchasing professionals on LinkedIn, their advertising tool estimates your advertising will be available to over 1.5 million professionals on LinkedIn. In fact, at one time LinkedIn had dedicated account teams just for manufacturing. This means that you can get in front of the very people you need to meet using some effective LinkedIn strategies.How to Use LinkedIn to Generate New Business
Set Goals Determine what you’d like to accomplish in your first year of using LinkedIn. Your goals may include:- Generate new followers
- Generate new leads
- Create new connections
- Drive visits to your website
- Add prospects to your marketing automation program
Know What Your Readers Want
LinkedIn readers are often avid learners. They want to learn about their industry, better their career, and they often want to network with other professionals. Tailor your content to their needs and they will read it! For example, if you produce a revolutionary EOAT solution, create a short article on the latest advances in End Of Arm Tooling that includes your solution. Help your readers to meet their career goals while you introduce them to your products and solutions. Three things you can do each day – in less than 10 minutes- Post an interesting article about something in your industry (either your own or from trade publications). Find great articles using Buzzsumo.com
- Post information on developing as a professional in your industry. You can post salary information from GlassDoor, links to Lynda videos, Youtube, etc. You do not need to generate content to be of value to your readers
- SUPPORT YOUR READERS. “Like” their posts, share them where appropriate. The number one way to get the attention of your prospects is to support their online efforts by liking, mentioning, and sharing. Pick a few of your top prospects and follow their companies on LinkedIn. Also follow your target contact within each company. Do not connect request them just yet, simply follow them and support their posts.
Start Small, and Get Started!
To get started, first commit to regular activity on LinkedIn. You can commit to only 10 minutes per day, 3 days per week (and yes, one of those days could be Saturday). Identify or create a few assets (video, whitepapers, case studies, etc) that you feel would be of interest to your target customer. These can be assets that your company created, or they can be links to assets created by trade publications or other sites that represent companies that do not compete with your organization. Your Daily LinkedIn Activity List- Like or share a post from someone you follow – at least one per session
- Post at least one interesting or informative article (you don’t need to produce it)
- Search LinkedIn and follow 3 companies and the best contact within each company
About the Author: Bill Sterzenbach is a founding member and partner with Upward Brand Interactions, a full-service, interactively inspired marketing agency with 4 offices in Ohio. Bill specializes in helping large industrial/manufacturing businesses realize high rates of growth through performance-based online marketing, lead generation, and sales team optimization. Prior to Upward, Bill managed interactive groups for an international manufacturer and worked with several agencies running large SEO programs for enterprise b2b clients. Join Bill during FABTECH Session F85: Social Media and Branding 101, November 18, 2016 from 10:30 AM -12:00 PM. His presentation is titled, Using LinkedIn to Drive Amazing Manufacturing Leads. Learn more here.
