Influencer marketing is the dark horse for a successful campaign in the manufacturing industry
Think influencers are only for the fashion and beauty industries? Think again! With the career skyrocketing in popularity over the last few years, it is no wonder there are influencers for almost every industry! But, how do you utilise a manufacturing or building product influencer to your marketing advantage?
What is influencer marketing?
In the manufacturing industry, it isn’t surprising if you haven’t taken much interest in influencers and influencer marketing. You probably thought you’d never need it, unless you have a drastic industry move! But, influencer marketing is proving to be an essential asset for businesses across all industries, so here’s a break-down of what it actually is, and why it can help you and your business to grow. You’re going to want to include this in your marketing budget!
If you’re a marketing pro, you’ll know all about celebrity endorsement. Influencer marketing isn’t too dissimilar. Brands and influencers collaborate on content, generally for social media, targeting it at a specific audience with a specific aim, generally increasing sales.
So, why not just opt for celebrity endorsement?
As a general rule, influencers are a more economical choice for a partnership. However, their audience is often more specific, and engaged. Influencers have built their audience because their followers care about their opinions, so if an influencer is promoting your work, then their followers are likely to be interested in it too.
Granted, there are less manufacturing focused influencers, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing! By selecting the right influencers for the job, you can own that space in the manufacturing industry!
Suitable candidates
Finding the right influencer will take time. When you find the ones you like, make sure you follow them for a little while, see what they are posting about, how their followers are interacting with their posts. Does this match up with your strategy and goals?
The influencers you choose don’t have to be manufacturing influencers! It completely depends on your target audience and your aim for the campaign. Are you in the B2B market? Yes? Then an industry-specific influencer might be the perfect fit. If you’re B2C, then it might be that a more general influencer works better. Are there any influencers that are currently having work done on their house? Are they creating a brand and need a temporary office space? Think how you can help them, fit into their content, gift products etc. Help them to help you!
Allison Grealis is the founder of Women in Manufacturing, a national association dedicated to supporting, promoting and inspiring women to pursue, or who are pursuing, a career in manufacturing. She currently has over 1,700 followers on Twitter.
Jim Tompkins is an expert in global supply chain, logistics, material handling, and business strategy, as well as being the Chairman of Tompkins International and Tompkins Ventures. He currently has 11.6K followers on Twitter.
Creating the right content
Picking the right influencer and creating the right content go hand in hand. It isn’t just about picking the influencer with the most followers (although sometimes it works out that way!) it is about choosing the influencer that is going to create the right content to suit your brand and campaign. The campaign should be creative and engaging for the audience, but also honest! The point is for your target audience to be influenced by the campaign, that’s not going to happen if the content isn’t authentic.
With so many rules and regulations around influencing, choosing the right way to work with an influencer is key. #Gifting an item is a great way to show your partnership with an influencer before you begin working with them. You can ask them for their thoughts and opinions, but they are under no obligation to share that with their followers, if they do, bonus!
#Ads are great for long-term partnerships with influencers. Showing their audience that the influencer is interested enough in what you sell/do to work with your business on a long term basis.
Create your own manufacturing influencer!
Why not make your Technical Manager, or one of your building product managers an influencer? Posting #TopTips, behind the scenes or before and after videos will grow their audience, and help business growth, all-in-one! Although this is a rather niche subject area, they will still need to have an edge about them. Why should people follow them? Why should people outside of the industry follow them? Who are you trying to target?
Influencer marketing is the underdog for marketing in the manufacturing industry
According to StarNgage, 71% of consumers in the UK are more likely to make a purchase based on a social media reference. That doesn’t just have to be the case for the industries that typically use influencer marketing. No matter what your profession, most of us spend way too much time on social media, and the people we follow (whether we admit it or not!) influence our decisions. Just like a friend would. Whilst the manufacturing and construction influencer markets are still small, take advantage of the underdog!
For more information on becoming, finding or engaging with manufacturing or construction sector influencers, please drop us a line at hello@dragonflypr.co.uk or give us a call 0114 349 5341.