Marketing is about telling stories, and the point where you truly engage your audience begins at the place you tell that story—your blog. Add in sites like Facebook, Twitter, and more, and you’re giving your brand a boost that only a smart social media mix can offer.
A soon-to-launch manufacturing website will be experimenting with how blog stories interact throughout an entire website. Every page will have blog headlines appearing in a sidebar as reference materials. If you go to a product page, a series of headlines will link you to related posts. We created a little tool that will automatically upload that headline on the proper page by using tags. This allows detailed information that the reader wants, when they want it. In other words, our client is constantly updating their entire site by updating their blog posts. Now that is time-saving.
To make this type of site effective, here are a few simple concepts to follow:
So what kind of Social Media strategies are there for Business-to-Business and Manufacturers? Shannon-Rose Design likes to begin with a thought-out blog and search engine formula.
Post titles
The most important searchable term is the title of each post. I love creativity, but the article should be searchable as a topic. It may be a little boring, but the point is to drive traffic to that post.
Defining Categories
Defining your categories is a strategy in itself. They are a roadmap for writing a variety of articles that define your business. Stories can range from products, services, life at the office, jobs in progress, all packed with searchable terminology that potential clients may use to find your company.
Tag the content
Another great feature is including tags that highlight each article’s features. Include product names, cities, and individuals. This also serves as a thread to other blogs that may have listed similar tags, giving you related content while also making your content more visible on other blogs around the web.
Name your photos
Get rid of the automatic numerals your camera uses to name photos. Google and Yahoo image searches are big, and they lead a lot of viewers to your site. Name your photo for what it is—this step takes time, but it is worth it.
Update regularly
Now for Twitter and Facebook fans, which are a focused audience of buyers and interested parties in the media. Send out posts driving them to the newest blog story. Link well, and link often. Social media becomes the new PR.
Allow Comments
Don’t be afraid of what people have to say. You will learn a lot from people’s comments, good or bad. If they are insulting, you can edit or eliminate the comment. Honest comments may begin a conversation that works to the benefit of your company.
Tags: business to business marketing · How to use a blog more effectively · Marketing strategies for Manufacturing