How to Grow Your Manufacturing Business with Facebook

Facebook is a wonderful tool for businesses to reach out to their target audiences and drive sales. For manufacturing businesses, Facebook can be an especially effective marketing tool because it allows you to connect with a large and diverse group of potential customers. In this blog, we will discuss some of the ways you can use Facebook marketing to grow your manufacturing business.

2.96 billion people use Facebook every month. Let that sink in! With billions of people regularly coming to Facebook, your chances of connecting with customers are made easier. By marketing your business on Facebook you have the ability to gain more than 2X the amount of leads gathered from your website page alone.

The best part? It is fast and easy to begin growing your business with Facebook.

After setting up your Facebook business page, you will have access to a variety of free marketing tools. Tools used to monitor and respond to customers’ questions, gather leads to connect your business to possible customers, and understand your overall market strategy to a greater degree with powerful analytics.

Moving your marketing strategy forward with Facebook can set your business apart from other manufacturers and grow your book of business.

How to Create a Facebook Business Profile for your Manufacturing Company

Creating a Facebook business page is a straightforward process. You probably already have a Facebook account that you use regularly. However, if you do not, you have the opportunity to create a personal profile that you can connect to your business page. Creating a Facebook profile is done by navigating to Facebook.com and signing up with your personal information or using your business information.

Once you have set up your Facebook account, you can connect your chosen account to a Facebook business page. Let’s get into how you can create a Facebook business page:

1. Log in to the account you would like to connect to your Facebook business account.
2. Find the Menu to the right side of the page.

3. Select the “Pages” section.
4. Click “Create new Page.”
5. Add your page name and category. This category is the type of business your Facebook business page is associated with. If you need more information on which category to choose, try looking into your competition’s Facebook category.
6. Add your business page’s bio (the more succinct the better) and click “Create Page.”

On the same screen, you will have the option to add in any banner or profile images that you wish to use for your business page. Make sure that you are using high-resolution images to fully showcase your business. Facebook provides a guide on image sizes to use here in case you run into any issues. They do not need to be expert quality, but should be clear and focused. Your smartphone can likely do the job!

Free Facebook Marketing Tools

After creating your page, you can use different marketing tools to start gaining leads for your business, such as:

Messaging

Messaging is very important when it comes to connecting to your customers. Facebook business messaging tools are fantastic for small to midsize businesses, as they allow you to communicate with customers and prospects instantly through the platform. By directing customers and prospects to utilize messaging on your business page, you may not even need to monitor separate email inboxes – saving you time and money!

• Lead your customers to your website with automatic responses through Messenger.
• Include common FAQ responses within your business page.
• Gather lead information to accelerate the sales process with forms held on your page.

Business Tools

Facebook includes a number of marketing tools that are beneficial when it comes to showcasing content and gathering leads in an automated way:

• Host video content from YouTube on your page to showcase your business.
• Create a “Jobs” page to show your work to possible customers.
• Advertise reviews from previous customers to win more jobs.

Scheduled Posting

Once your business page is created and includes all the necessary information for your business, you can begin posting content, and start connecting with customers within your market:

• Schedule your content to automate posts and properly track engagement.
• Bulk upload video content to reach across Facebook and connect your business to other profiles.
• Connect your scheduled posts to other social media platforms, such as Instagram, LinkedIn, or other Facebook groups that you own.

Creating Content that Drives Customers

Now that you’ve set up your Facebook business page, let’s get into what content will help drive more traffic to your page to convert prospects into customers. How can social media help a business grow? By using your Facebook business page, you are able to directly connect with valuable prospects and advertise your business offerings for free.

Listed below are some tips and tricks when it comes to creating content:

• Use eye-catching visuals: Posts with images or videos tend to get more engagement than text-only posts. Make sure to use high-quality, relevant visuals that grab the attention of your audience.
• Keep it short and sweet: Attention spans are short on social media, so keep your posts concise and to the point.
• Use a call-to-action: Encourage your followers to take a specific action, such as visiting your website or the MFG page to learn more.
• Share valuable content: Offer your followers something of value, whether it’s a helpful tip, an informative article, or industry updates.
• Ask for engagement: Encourage your followers to like, comment, and share your posts. This helps increase visibility and reach across Facebook to connect your business to other customers.
• Be consistent: Consistency is key when it comes to building a strong social media presence. Aim to post regularly and consistently (there are automated tools that you can use on Facebook.com).
• Monitor and respond to comments: Engage with your followers by responding to comments and messages in a timely manner. This helps build a sense of community and strengthens relationships with your audience. Engagement like this creates a warmer lead for your business.

Creating a content strategy is not rocket science. You can start small and build from there. Think about who your audience is and why you want to communicate with them. In the case of marketing for manufacturing, you are speaking to customers who need to manufacture certain products/parts, and you want to communicate that you are a trustworthy partner in order to gain their business. Breaking down your strategy from there will make the process of building content easier.

Staying Connected with Customers

Now that you’ve set up your Facebook business account, you may be asking yourself the important question of how you will manage your page moving forward. This is a pitfall for most businesses – the inability to keep up with their social media accounts. However, don’t let this discourage you. Keep these key pointers in mind when using Facebook as a business tool for your business, and you’ll see success.

In summary, growing your business by using social media marketing such as Facebook can be a fast and effective add-on to your overall marketing strategy.