Your competitors aren’t posting on LinkedIn for fun of it. They’re doing it because the candidates you want to hire check companies’ social profiles before deciding where to apply.
An inconsistent presence can cause them to go elsewhere. Those buyers circling your trade show booths? They’ve already spent time scrolling through your competitors’ content, watching facility tours on YouTube, reading employee posts, and forming opinions about who’s actually leading the industry.
Social media has become a key part of how both buyers and talent evaluate manufacturers. Yet when you’re new to this channel, using it effectively and consistently isn’t always easy.
In this article, we’ll touch on some questions to ask yourself, if you’re in manufacturing, whether you need social media, and we’ll share social media examples from 10 manufacturing businesses. We’ll walk through what they’re doing right, how these tactics can work for your business, and how to make social media management sustainable.
Whether you’re hiring or building your business (or both) a strong social media presence is key. Let’s take a look at the data.
Potential customers are searching for your business online
Potential customers start researching your company online long before they decide whether to do business with you. In fact, the average buyer spends 70% of their buying journey developing a short list of vendors or suppliers, according to the 6Sense 2024 B2B Buyer Experience report.
Since most buyers have already reached a preliminary decision before they even begin talking with sales, you can’t rely on sales alone to bring in business. Instead, your company has to be part of the decision-making process much earlier.
This means you need to build your business’s reputation online. If your company doesn’t turn up in Google searches or LinkedIn conversations, you can’t expect to factor into most buyers’ decisions.
But in most cases, appearing once or twice during the research process isn’t enough. Altogether, the average B2B buying journey involves over 800 interactions, including a combination of content and direct engagements.
To get on buyers’ radar and stay top of mind, you need to publish marketing content consistently. And if you don’t already have a social media marketing plan in place, you might be behind your competitors.
According to the 15th Annual B2B Content Marketing report, 89% of B2B marketers are already distributing content to social media.
In fact, social media is the most popular B2B marketing distribution channel—ahead of blogs, emails, and events.
Think of social media as your manufacturing company’s digital factory floor tour. It needs to look polished, controlled, and well-managed.
Prioritizing social media is essential for joining the conversation and connecting with buyers. Yet it’s just as important for connecting with great employees.
Top manufacturing talent is looking for you on social media
If your business is struggling to recruit or retain top talent, you aren’t alone. It’s the main business challenge cited by 65% of respondents in the National Association of Manufacturers 2024 First Quarter Manufacturers’ Outlook Survey.
Hardly a new issue, this challenge doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon.
By 2033, the net need for new manufacturing employees could reach 3.8 million, according to a Deloitte study.
In total, 1.9 million of these jobs may remain unfilled if manufacturers can’t address the applicant or skills gap.
All this is to say, your current recruiting struggles may be the tip of the iceberg—unless you take steps to make your business more visible to top talent.
For most manufacturing businesses, social media should be at the top of the priority list. When looking for work or considering opportunities, 79% of job seekers use social media in their research.
If you’re hiring for entry-level positions or seeking emerging talent, this percentage may be even higher. Two-thirds of students say they prefer to research employers on social media, according to Universum.
Job seekers are typically looking for engaging content, company culture and corporate values that align with their own, and the way employees interact with the content. But if your business doesn’t use social media consistently, you might not be on candidates’ radar.
The best engineers, technicians, and researchers judge companies’ culture and professionalism on social media before they apply. An inactive or inconsistent presence can lead to an immediate loss of top talent.
What do manufacturers need to consider?
Some questions that manufacturers need to ask themselves to discover whether social media is right for them:
- Are your potential buyers spending time researching vendors online? (The average buyer spends 70% of their journey developing a short list of vendors/suppliers.)
- Do you rely on sales interactions alone to bring in new business? (Buyers often make preliminary decisions before talking to sales, requiring an earlier online presence.)
- Are your competitors currently distributing content on social media? ( A whopping 89% of B2B marketers use social media, suggesting your competitors likely are.)
- Do you need a way to consistently publish marketing content to stay “top of mind” during the buying journey? (The average B2B buying journey involves over 800 interactions.)
- Do you want to build a digital reputation that functions like a “polished, controlled, and well-managed” factory floor tour?
- Do you want to drive traffic to existing long-form content like blog posts or your company website?
- Do you want to increase discovery and visibility for your business through video search (e.g., Google or YouTube search results)?
- Do you attend trade shows and need a way to easily broadcast your schedule, drop teasers for new tech, or share post-event recaps?
Curious how your team could use social media to build your reputation and attract top talent? Here are 10 manufacturing businesses that get it right.
1. CESSCO Fabrication & Engineering
The more you talk about your company’s capabilities, the more opportunities you create for buyers to learn about your business. Since it’s a professional social media network, LinkedIn is the ideal place to share this kind of content and improve awareness.
CESSCO Fabrication and Engineering posts awareness content regularly, informing buyers about capabilities, equipment, and projects. Here, the company shares a behind-the-scenes look at a major project, showcasing the process and the final product.
CESSCO also shares social proof. Here, the company name drops several customers—all industry leaders that are likely to catch the eye of any buyer at the same scale.
The company’s publishing schedule is a key contributor to its relatively large LinkedIn following. By posting relevant, engaging content several times a week, the company has attracted nearly 10,000 followers who see the company’s content in their social feeds.
2. Algoma Steel
Sharing customer names is just one way to distribute social proof and build trust on social media. Another option is talking about the awards your team has won. Algoma Steel does a great job of this, frequently shining a spotlight on individual team members.
For example, this LinkedIn post features the CEO of Algoma Steel, winner of the Globe and Mail’s corporate citizen award. The post highlights some of the ways the CEO has exemplified what it means to be an excellent corporate citizen.
Here, Algoma Steel shares an International Women’s Day event, celebrating the company’s many female employees. It also spotlights one in particular who led a panel discussion and provided advice for becoming a female leader in manufacturing.
3. Medical Device Manufacturing
If your company has already invested in a blog, you might think you have content marketing covered. But if you aren’t using social media, you’re missing out on a valuable distribution channel.
Companies like Medical Device Manufacturing use platforms like LinkedIn to promote blog posts. In this post, the team discusses a practical approach to sterilization, complete with thought leadership from the company’s principal microbiologist.
But instead of turning it into a long-form LinkedIn post, the team includes a link to a blog post, where buyers can read more. This is helpful for both sharing thought leadership and driving traffic to the company’s website.
4. Cargill
Showcasing innovations also works well on YouTube. In many cases, you don’t even need long-form videos or a purpose-built production space.
Manufacturing giants like Cargill publish short videos on YouTube that explore food manufacturing trends. For example, the company’s What’s Hot in Foods & Beverages playlist features short interviews with food scientists and other experts.
These short videos are helpful for sharing innovations that are likely to catch potential customers’ attention. Because YouTube has a robust search engine and its content often appears in Google search, these videos can also drive discovery for the business.
5. Specialized Fabrication Equipment Group
For many manufacturing companies, the bulk of new business comes from trade shows. As a result, you need to broadcast your trade show schedule and give buyers a reason to stop by your booth and have a conversation with your team.
Take a cue from Specialized Fabrication Equipment Group. The team frequently posts on LinkedIn about upcoming trade shows, giving followers a reason to attend and dropping teasers for new tech.
Here, the team shares a clear reminder with booth numbers and an engaging video that shows followers what they’ll see when they visit the booth.
Of course, not every buyer can attend every trade show. So, Specialized Fabrication Equipment Group also shares post-event roundups for everyone to see. Here, the team recaps the 10+ products the company launched at a recent expo, reinforcing the business’s reputation as a leader in the space.
6. Top Coat Fabrication
When you want to attract top talent, sharing your trade show schedule and your latest innovations can only get you so far. Sure, they show candidates that your business is on the cutting edge. But they don’t tell candidates what it’s like to work for your company.
Manufacturing companies like Top Coat Fabrication do a great job of showcasing company culture. Here, the company clearly states what the team doesn’t do, which is likely to resonate with candidates with a similar work ethic.
Top Coat Fabrication also has an ongoing Team Challenges series that spotlights various physical challenges, often heavy on the humor. These videos offer a helpful peek behind the scenes of the shop.
7. Nestle Purina
To attract great candidates on any channel, you have to create content that speaks directly to them. Nestle Purina takes that to the next level by creating an entire YouTube channel geared toward talent.
The Nestlé Purina Careers channel is packed with short videos about company culture, the history of the business, and tours of relevant facilities. But one of the highlights is the Nestlé Purina Departments playlist.
Candidates can press play to hear from members of engineering, sales, and other departments. Through these videos, candidates can learn what makes the company truly unique—and decide if it’s the right fit for their career goals.
8. Boston Micro Fabrication
By now you’ve seen a lot of social media examples with short, punchy messages. So, what do you do if your team has a lot to say?
Social media—particularly LinkedIn—can also be a smart place to share thought leadership and unique insights from your executive team.
For example, Boston Micro Fabrication (BMF) uses a LinkedIn newsletter to share more in-depth content with followers. As a bonus, followers can subscribe to the company’s newsletter, which means they get notifications every time BMF publishes a new issue.
Plus, LinkedIn newsletters can offer benefits beyond social media. LinkedIn articles often appear in Google search results. So, they’re a helpful solution when you want to build your social media presence and your visibility in search.
9. Gretna Machine Shop
Not all LinkedIn content has to be written. In fact, some of the best B2B manufacturing posts we’ve seen are videos. Ever since LinkedIn rolled out a vertical video feed, it’s become even easier to create short-form content that gets views.
Take Gretna Machine Shop for example. Here, the CEO talks through operational waste, sharing tips to improve efficiency in the workplace.
The team also shares plenty of behind-the-scenes content that offers a glimpse into company culture at Gretna Machine Shop. Here, the CEO shows gratitude to the hardworking team by celebrating Hug a Machinist Day.
10. ArcelorMittal
YouTube is also a great place to share thought leadership and major projects in video format. It’s ideal for interviewing executives, talking with customers, and showcasing groundbreaking projects.
For example, ArcelorMittal produces a YouTube series featuring some of the manufacturing company’s most notable undertakings. Here, the team tells the story behind manufacturing and installing the Olympic rings for the 2024 event in Paris.
ArcelorMittal also uses YouTube to distribute the company’s podcast, Steel Talks. While these podcasts are audio-only, each episode lets an employee take the digital stage to talk about their latest innovations—from reducing mining operation waste to exploring the company’s approach to research and development.
These 10 manufacturing companies don’t just produce great social media content on a whim. They do so consistently, regularly publishing engaging content for their target audience—which includes buyers and talent.
Social media management doesn’t have to be complicated
Don’t worry. The solution isn’t hiring a massive marketing team, creating social media content around the clock, and posting every minute.
The most successful B2B marketers develop manageable content plans and focus on select social media. So, your marketing team doesn’t have to master Instagram, TikTok, and every other social network out there.
According to the 15th Annual B2B Content Marketing report, 85% say LinkedIn delivers the best value.
For many manufacturing companies, this is the most important network to focus on.
But YouTube also deserves your consideration. From 2024 to 2025, 31% of B2B marketers increased their use of YouTube marketing, making it the fastest growing network in this space. If your company has the bandwidth for video and a team that likes being in front of the camera, YouTube is a smart place to focus marketing efforts.
The simple way to streamline social media management
The only real risk with exploring social media marketing is attempting to manage it manually. When you take an ad hoc approach, you end up with a social media profile that’s all over the place.
Instead of giving buyers confidence, it creates confusion. And instead of attracting candidates, it encourages them to stay away.
This is why successful teams use a social media management tool. These tools manage your social media profiles from a single dashboard, so you can create new posts and schedule content in one place—no jumping from tab to tab.
With the right social media management tool, you can easily publish long-form videos to YouTube and thought leadership to LinkedIn. Plus, you can cross-post select content between social networks, helping your content reach a wider audience.
These tools provide analytics so your team can easily see what’s working. So, when you notice that your audience is really responding to that new video series you posted to LinkedIn, you can make an informed decision about which content to create next.
The best tools also provide ROI analytics. This way, you can go beyond vanity metrics to see the business impact of your social media content. When you see which social media posts lead to inquiries and sales calls for your manufacturing company, you can invest in the social media content that drives measurable outcomes for your business.
The manufacturing businesses that win talent and deals aren’t necessarily working harder. They’re working smarter, using systems that work without a massive marketing team.
The good news? You don’t need a massive team to make social media work. With the right tools and systems in place, even small teams can maintain the consistent presence that attracts both talent and business.
Ready to build a sustainable social media pipeline for your manufacturing business? Get your free trial of Agorapulse, and see how simple social media management can be.
