7 Winning Social Media Post Ideas for Manufacturers

The manufacturing umbrella covers everything from automotive and aerospace engineering to electronics, food and beverage production, pharmaceuticals and packaging. This space is not Instagrammable high fashion or stunning destination holidays, but social media for manufacturing doesn’t need to be dull. In fact, it is full of people, stories, and ideas worth sharing if you know how. In this article, I’m revealing seven social media post ideas for manufacturers to use right now.

1. Behind the Scenes Tours

You might not think your factory or manufacturing line is an interesting place. But that’s because you see it every day. For your customers, it can be insightful, entertaining and help them to see your company from a different angle.

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Walk people through your facility and show different stages of your manufacturing process. That could be the welding, spray painting, inspection and assembly in a car plant for example.

Conduct short interviews with different plant production employees. Ask them their best tips for spraying a car or their favorite car on the production line right now. Break the videos up into short 30-second segments which can sit on a YouTube playlist and will be great for TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. (Avoid the urge to film long videos, the average attention span is around 47 seconds.)

Did You Know: FactoryTok” videos showing behind-the-scenes in factories are big on TikTok. These show raw materials, assembly lines, painting, finishing, etc, often with little narration but with strong visuals and music.

Volvo Car Group recently shared a LinkedIn post about its Hoskote Plant in India, describing its full production process (cab manufacturing, welding, painting, trimming, axle assembly, final assembly). The photos were vibrant and showcased a professional and friendly organisation. They also gave prospective customers and partners confidence in their scale, quality, and consistency.

@labwearstudios on TikTok is right at the cutting edge of social media trends. They share insider clothing manufacturing tips, behind the scenes at London Fashion Week and Red flags to watch when working with manufacturers. Using their team members makes these videos authentic and engaging.

Don’t try to be too polished and perfect in your videos. In the age of AI, we crave authenticity and human connection so allow your employees to be themselves. Caught a blooper on film? If it isn’t related to safety, you can show it. For example, a funny cake packing fail could be shown with the hashtag #FridayFails or #ManufacturingProblems.

2. Case Studies and Customer Success Stories

At Contentworks Agency, our main route to acquisition is through case studies and customer success stories. That’s because more people trust the recommendations and experiences of others over the messaging put forward by marketers themselves.

Real world proof is persuasive, and this applies across all sectors. And it’s not just customers you need to persuade; it’s shareholders, investors and regulators, too. Case studies look great in a slick and well-presented whitepaper, but how can you make them work for social media? For social media, you can share case study videos from your customers or internal team. You can also create ads in Carousel image or video format for Instagram and Facebook.

Midea Group highlighted their iron battery storage systems and AI-driven innovations, showcasing how these solutions are making measurable impact. This is a great example of a short but tech packed case study put forward by Jeffrey Shan, senior engineer. Jeffrey clearly articulates his research, how it applies to different scenarios and the benefits for vehicles. At just 1:37 the video is short enough to sit in social media feeds and engage viewers.

Use on screen captions and pop ups to highlight key features and more technical details. Not only is this accessible for hearing impaired viewers, it also makes it accessible for everyone else. A large majority of people watch videos with the sound off, with statistics ranging from approximately 85% for social media platforms like Facebook to over 92% overall for mobile videos. There are many Reddit threads discussing the reasons why people like to keep videos on silent.

3. Meet the Team & Team Stories

Without sounding cliche, the real cogs in your manufacturing machine are your employees. And few things are more engaging than meet the team posts and team stories on social media. Employee-generated content (EGC) significantly outperforms traditional brand posts.

Content shared by employees receives up to 8X more engagement and is reshared up to 24 x more.

Team stories on social media not only promote brand awareness and customer engagement but also drive up employee retention, and recruitment.

But what kind of stories should you share? Here are some ideas to get you started:

Employee Spotlights
Highlight individual employees, their role, and what they love about working at your manufacturing company.
Day-in-the-Life Posts
Follow an employee through their daily routine and show what goes into making your products, from start to finish. Include factory workers, cleaners, marketers and directors.
Promotions
Share stories of employees who started in one role and grew into leadership or specialized positions. You could also share photos of training days and seminars.
Highlight team accomplishments
Celebrate completing a major order, hitting production targets, or launching a new product.
Behind-the-Scenes Fun
Post lighthearted content showing your team having fun, celebrating birthdays, or having a day out.
Volunteer & Community Involvement
We will come back to this one in a minute!
Cultural & Diversity Highlights
Celebrate cultural events, festivals, or initiatives that show the diversity of your workforce. Have your senior management learn how to prepare a Diwali meal for example.
New Hires
Welcome new employees with a short bio, photo, and fun fact about them.

Mars Pet Care US nails it with these employee animal pics on Instagram. As an animal-centric brand, it absolutely makes sense to include these selfies on their social media pages. They also ask their fans to send in their pet pics and turn them into gifs which is a really great idea.

Animals are absolute engagement boosters for your social media accounts. Take advantage of days like #LoveYourPetDay and get your team to take photos with their furbabies.

One of the most effective types of social media content manufacturers can share is community or charity involvement. Whether it’s sponsoring a local event, donating equipment to a trade school, or organising a volunteer day at a food bank. All these posts show the human side of your company and remind followers that behind every machine and process are people who care about making a difference.

Studies show that companies highlighting social responsibility see engagement rates up to 25% higher than average brand posts.

More importantly, it builds trust and emotional connection.

Oshkosh Corporation team members packaged food staples for families in Northeast Wisconsin. They partnered with 18 sponsors and over 1,200 volunteers to package more than 224,000 pounds of rice in just 12 hours!

The company’s Facebook posts absolutely nail it in terms of spreading awareness for a vital cause and being selfless about it. If you don’t know where to start, try reaching out to nearby charities, food banks and animal shelters and asking how your company can help. You can also create a good tie in between your brand and the charity. For example, a manufacturing plant processing pet food can donate to an animal shelter or help host a fundraising day.

When you post about community partnerships, don’t be braggy about your company or plaster your logo over everything. And don’t sponsor posts about your donations, nobody wants to see that. Instead, show your team in action, tag the charity, and tell a short story about why it matters. It’s a win-win because your audience is engaged by your posts but you’re also helping an important cause. Remember to share updates on how the charity hit its targets or upcoming events in the future.

5. Thought Leadership Posts

Manufacturers should get into thought leadership on social media because it’s a great way to show they know their stuff. Instead of just pushing products (yawn), they can share what’s really happening in their industry, That might be new trends, cool innovations, or how they tackle challenges.

Thought leadership can show up in lots of ways on social media. It might be quick explainer videos, tutorials, or even webinars and events. Sharing useful and authentic content not only grabs attention but also makes people see your manufacturing brand as honest and knowledgeable.

Mazda leads the automotive industry on TikTok with a remarkable 12.5% engagement rate, significantly surpassing the platform’s average. Their success is attributed to their responsiveness to fan feedback.

For instance, they created an ASMR-style video featuring the MX-5 Miata after a fan’s request, resulting in a 127% engagement rate. But on LinkedIn they’re more about thought leadership and education.

With 75K followers, the brand leans into employee initiatives, ideas and successes. This cleverly positions the brand as one that’s hiring top talent and therefore manufacturing top cars. Mazda understands that publishing different posts on different social media platforms is necessary to meet the needs of different audiences.

Consistency matters when it comes to social media posting. Don’t just post a great thought leadership post, lap up the engagement then go silent for a month. Plan out a series of regular thought leadership pieces and schedule them ahead of time. Maximize their reach and impact by embedding social posts and videos into your blog and landing pages too. Remember, your fans might ask questions on employee thought leadership posts. Be sure to answer them and perhaps even use them as inspiration for future posts.

6. Humor (Within Limits!)

We touched on humor earlier, on so let’s circle back to it again. Humorous posts generate higher engagement rates. For instance, meme-based posts have been shown to receive more likes and shares, leading to increased consumer interaction. And there are other perks, too.

90% of people are more likely to remember funny ads and 75% of consumers would follow a brand on social media if it were humorous.

On TikTok, funny content results in the highest engagement rates, with 76% of Gen Z users expressing a desire to see more of it!

With 117k followers on Instagram, Cambro Manufacturing must be doing something right, and they are! With trending memes and soundbites overlaid with staff pics and manufacturing videos, they’re winning all my social media awards.

But they also understand that manufacturing can’t all be silly, so they also link to a very insightful blog, case studies and other channels with different content. Their Facebook page for example, features business of the week videos, upcoming trade shows and trending days like #NationalFoodServiceWorkersDay.

Be very sure you understand your audience because humor in one region/industry might misfire in another.

You should also take care to share things that viewers will genuinely find funny. Examples might be a naughty cat in the factory, a paint machine misbehaving or a light prank between coworkers. Avoid joking about anything that could endanger customers like the brakes on a car, faulty mechanics or food hygiene.

7. Anniversary Milestone Posts

Celebrating history, growth, anniversaries, product lines evolution is a great idea for manufacturers on social media. Doing this cements your history and reiterates your evolution from older practices to more modern ones. You adapted, and not only survived but thrived in your industry. I personally love to see photos and videos of old technologies and a little history lesson behind them and it’s especially fitting for a #TBT Throwback Thursday post.

Ball Corporation recognized certain plants as 2024 Plants of the Year for their production efficiency, excellence, and safety. Their Facebook post celebrates the winners and highlights the contributions of these specific plants and their teams, strengthening the overall Ball Corporation team and benefiting their customers and stakeholders.

If you’re celebrating an anniversary or milestone, why not turn it into a social media promotion. My local bakery chain offered 50% off all bread for the weekend to celebrate 50 years in business. You could also host a community party, factory tour, concert or prize giveaway. If you promote it right and pop in any necessary contest rules, it’s sure to be a social media success.

The manufacturing sector is warming up to social media, but there’s still plenty of room for creativity. From behind-the-scenes factory tours to showcasing team members and sharing industry insights, manufacturers have a huge opportunity to connect with audiences in new ways.

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