Among manufacturers, especially closely-held companies in the $5 million-$50-million range, there’s a widespread belief among top and senior management that social media is irrelevant to them. Nothing could be further from the truth.
As a younger generation increasingly populates the executive and managerial ranks of manufacturing companies, those individuals want to get their information through LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter because they have “lived” online for most, in not all, of their lives. Put another way, Digital Natives are replacing Digital Aliens, and industrial marketers ignore this shift at their peril.
Digital Natives expect to be “educated” through blog posts and other online content rather than “sold” through the promotional appeals used to target their Digital Alien parents and grandparents. By providing informative content that’s updated frequently on the website, on LinkedIn and Facebook pages and on Twitter, manufacturers can initiate and maintain long-term relationships with the new generation of buyers, specifiers and influencers.
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