Ideas, insights and inspirations.

As a leading social media agency for manufacturers and industrial companies, we are frequently asked to share our best practices. This is part of a series of posts to explain how social media audit can serve their interests. A social media audit involves a comprehensive review of a industrial company’s primary social media channels, profiles, activities, and performance. The goal is to assess the effectiveness of the current strategy and identify areas for improvement. After gaining access to a manufacturer’s social media management software or accounts, we conduct a twelve-point social media audit to assess the following: 1. Profile Information AuditWe assess all official social media profiles to ensure accurate and consistent information is presented, including logos and colors, profile pictures, cover photos, about information, and contact details. 2. Platform Presence AuditWe identify all social media platforms where the manufacturer has a presence. This includes major platforms like YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), Pinterest, etc. 3. Content AuditWe … Continue reading

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In serving more than one hundred manufacturers in our thirty year history, our agency has developed a repertoire of best practices in manufacturing marketing. To commemorate the manufacturing month, we’re sharing them with you: 1. Invest in Branding: The best manufacturers distinguish themselves and liberate profits by building powerful brands, becoming thought leaders and aligning themselves with causes that matter to them. They play to win. 2. Celebrate Heroes: Manufacturers are increasingly challenged by a national talent shortage for the new jobs they’re creating. They are also losing an entire generation of baby boomer buyers who are being replaced by Gen-X, Millennials and Gen-Z. To offset these macro-trends, smart manufacturers are celebrating the talent of their workforce and their best customers alike. 3. Marketing, Sales and Customer Experience Alignment: Successful manufacturers ensure that not only their earned, owned and paid media align, but their marketing, sales and customers experience mutually enhance each other. 4. Produce High-Fidelity Content: Top manufacturers maximize their … Continue reading

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In serving more than one hundred manufacturers in our thirty year history, we have helped our clients overcome the following eight business challenges they were consistently facing. Fortify Brand Reputation In the sea of sameness, brands win. Branding allows manufacturers to charge a premium and for financial markets to value them higher. Manufacturing marketing agencies create a unified commercial brand for their clients. They infuse the brand in every touch point including websites, social media channels, Wikipedia entry, email signatures, newsletters, tours, webinars, and all sales presentations, trade show booths. They celebrate star customers and employees because they, not the company, are the real heroes of a company’s story. They secure Google page 1 rankings for both tactical and strategic buyers, ensuring the information that appears on search engine results is persuasive and inviting. They position a manufacturer as a thought-leader in its space. They tell stories of product innovation. They help establish and deepen relationships with trade media. Since … Continue reading

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Ranked as one of the best B2B marketing agencies, we are frequently asked to share our thoughts about emerging marketing trends. We see three main forces impacting the B2B environment: First, Gen-Zers are entering the job market. In the past few years, there has been a generational shift from Boomers to Gen-Xers and Millennials. By 2025, 75% of the global workforce will be largely comprised of Millennials and Gen-Zers. Second, social justice movements with themes of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) are growing and increasingly fused together. Third, the release of Forrester Research’s 2023 Planning Guide for B2B Marketing Executives lays out new market trends. To grow their brand’s share of mind, voice and market, successful marketers are focused on the following initiatives for 2023: 1. Purpose First Since Millennials and Gen-Zers care deeply about corporate values, they are gravitating towards companies that embrace environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards and embody corporate social responsibility … Continue reading

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The path to global marketing success is fraught with peril. There are hundreds of potential pitfalls…and a few right paths. The Internet has lowered the cost of entering new global markets. However, unlocking global demand requires a new global mindset, toolkits and dexterity for industrial marketers. Here are some common marketing mistakes we see industrial companies make: 1. Not creating country-specific websites. Great global marketers strategically focus on specific countries to maximize their multi-language investments and logistical costs. They recognize that the world is tribal. As a result, they don’t create one website in French for France and all French speaking countries in Africa, or one Arabic website for all Arabic speaking countries. They create custom experiences that are mindful of local dialects and customs. 2. Not investing in market research in target countries. Successful b2b companies study and understand the local industry trends, competitive environment, channel partner dynamics and brand perceptions. 3. Failing to adapt the product to the … Continue reading

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I hope this gets your gears turning. Find out more about how Elliance is helping B2B and Manufacturing Marketers here.

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Manufacturing Day, an annual event held on the first Friday in October, “is a celebration of modern manufacturing meant to inspire the next generation of manufacturers.” Each year, hundreds to thousands (this year 2,200 and counting) of manufacturers open their doors to students and educators to showcase their business and to develop relationships with the community. A few goals of the nationwide initiative are: to display the potential in manufacturing, to generate interest in manufacturing careers, and to set right public perception of the industry. In his 2014 presidential proclamation addressing National Manufacturing Day, Barack Obama declared, “With ingenuity and a determined spirit, hardworking Americans are creating products and unlocking new technologies that will shape our Nation and grow our economy.” In honor of these innovators of the future, we’re featuring several Manufacturing Day champions from the rust belt that are opening their doors and putting a face on the industry. Read on to learn about these organizations, and the common threads … Continue reading

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Each year Inc. magazine posts its Inc. 5000 list, which ranks the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the United States. The companies are assigned numerical positions in accordance with their growth rate over the past three years. This renowned list celebrates innovators and opportunity-makers across 30+ industries from Advertising & Marketing to Travel. This year, 165 of the ranked organizations, or 3.3 percent of the 5,000, were self-categorized as manufacturing companies. Berkley, a molded fiber and custom packaging company out of Carson, California, was the highest ranked manufacturer coming in 17th place with a three-year growth rate of 9,249 percent. Key Safety Systems, ranked 4,261st, had the highest revenue of manufacturers on the list, coming in at $1.5 billion. Ranked 3,734th, Novae has been featured 11 times on the Inc. 5000 list, more than any other manufacturer. California had the highest representation of Inc. 5000 manufacturing companies with 29 of the total 165; Florida had the second-highest concentration with 15. … Continue reading

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It used to be that a face-to-face meeting and a classic hand shake was all it took to seal the deal. Nowadays, manufacturing marketers realize that it takes a bit more to land a lucrative contract and is why digital is playing such a large part in manufacturing marketing strategy. According to The Content Marketing Institute (CMI), digital content marketing which includes social media, video and email newsletters has become the fastest growing segment of results driven manufacturing marketing and sales. In 2015, CMI told us that manufacturing content marketers relied heavily on the following three digital marketing channels: YouTube was the top social media tool for manufacturing content marketers in 2015. Manufacturing content marketers named the following social media platforms the most effective for their 2015 campaigns: So this year, hop on the manufacturing marketer trend wagon by elevating your social media, video production and e-newsletter output. Learn more about manufacturing marketing strategy and how to improve lead generation … Continue reading

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Recently I was reading an interesting SME article about 3D printing technology and its emergence in the medical industry. Stryker Orthopaedics, a leading medical technology company, is partnering with hospitals to manufacture a 3D printer that will allow for the creation of customizable implants for patients. The long-term vision is to have 3D printers in hospitals, where 3D “print engineers” will have the ability to receive patient data, design a unique implant, print it in six hours, sterilize it, and send it off to a surgeon for implementation. How cool is that. A customized, patient-specific implant designed to comfortably fit a person’s body. I imagine this adaptive solution will lead to a more effective product and a more satisfied recipient. This got me to thinking about Elliance and how, similar to custom implants, our most successful manufacturing marketing campaigns are those that are user-specific. We know that marketing is more effective when it “fits” a person’s digital activity and lifestyle. … Continue reading

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