The Challenge: Rebuilding From (Almost) Nothing
When Tim Bish (Strategic marketing, training, and AI specialist) joined Vantage Plastics, a conglomerate of five different companies in the plastic manufacturing industry, the company’s internal social media team was virtually non-existent. Instead, an outsourced agency posted identical PowerPoint templates twice weekly on Facebook and LinkedIn, always at 9 AM on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The operational landscape was equally difficult. Tim was responsible for marketing, training, web design, photography, video, and AI initiatives, yet he lacked a unified system. He struggled with disconnected native platform logins and had no content strategy or analytics to guide his decisions.
The results? One or two reactions per post. Minimal brand awareness. And leadership who questioned whether social media mattered at all for B2B manufacturing.
“I’m a team of one,” Tim explained. “I handle all our photography, video, web design, and social media marketing—it’s all me. I wear many hats.”
The Breaking Point: When Manual Management Became Unsustainable
Tim immediately ramped up to five posts per week with diverse content — videos, images, written content. But managing four social platforms natively quickly became overwhelming.
The key challenges:
- Scheduling chaos: Different platforms had different native scheduling capabilities, some allowed scheduled posts, while others required real-time publishing. This meant Tim couldn’t plan ahead consistently and often had to post manually at specific times.
- Analytics nightmare: Pulling data from four different platforms, each with different metrics and algorithms, which made it nearly impossible to demonstrate value to leadership or make data-informed decisions.
- Time constraints: With training department responsibilities and AI initiatives added to his plate, Tim desperately needed efficiency gains.
“I had to be able to multiply myself as much as possible, and using tools to do so is obviously one of the easier ways of accomplishing more in less time.”
After consulting trusted marketing colleagues, Tim chose Agorapulse. Unlike other platforms he evaluated, Agorapulse offered the right combination of features at the right price point.
What stood out immediately:
- Advanced scheduling capabilities across all platforms
- Unified reporting that consolidates disparate platform metrics
- Mobile app for on-the-fly content creation and publishing
- Customizable reports for weekly and monthly analysis
“I love the data,” Tim emphasized. “My favourite part is the reporting — the ability to customize exactly what I need. I have one report that generates every week and another for monthly analysis. That’s been phenomenal for both my work and presenting to leadership.”
The Transformation: Real Metrics, Real Impact
- 175% engagement growth (January-July 2025)
- 2.5x overall growth on Facebook and LinkedIn in 18 months
- Engagement jumped from 1-2 reactions per post to dozens or hundreds
Time and Efficiency Gained
The adoption of Agorapulse allowed Tim to move from reactive chaos to proactive planning. Instead of posting manually in real-time, he gained the ability to plan and schedule content days in advance. This operational shift did more than just organize the calendar; it recovered valuable time for Tim to focus on his other high-priority responsibilities within the company. It even provided necessary work-life balance, giving him the ability to go on vacation without worrying about gaps in the company’s social media presence.
Business Impact and Data-Driven Strategy
The impact on the business extended far beyond simple engagement metrics. Vantage Plastics saw a tangible transformation in brand awareness, moving from a minimal presence to measurable market impact, which directly correlated with increased RFQs (Request for Quotes) coming through the website. Furthermore, Agorapulse’s reporting insights enabled a sophisticated, data-driven content strategy. Tim used this data to tailor formats to specific audience preferences: leveraging video content for younger buyers who prefer quick, visual information, while reserving long-form posts with images for older decision-makers who prefer detailed reading.
Winning Over Skeptical Leadership
In B2B manufacturing, social media often struggles for executive buy-in. Leadership teams built their careers on trade shows and sales calls—the ROI of “likes” can seem nebulous compared to leads and revenue.
At Vantage Plastics, this skepticism was clear. They worried Tim was on Facebook rather than driving business results.The turning point came when Tim began presenting Agorapulse’s visual reports. By tying social media engagement directly to website analytics and RFQ increases, he made the connection tangible, not just vanity metrics, but clear evidence of correlation between social activity and quote requests.
“Once I started handing them these reports from Agorapulse and showing user engagement and tying that directly into website analytics and the RFQs going up, it changed everything,” Tim explained.
The shift was dramatic:
Before: “How much time are you spending on social media?”
After: “Hey, can you post this on LinkedIn, because this might be really useful.”
The Ripple Effect: From User to Advocate
Tim’s transformation of Vantage Plastics’ social media has extended beyond his own company, turning him into a genuine evangelist for the platform. His advocacy is driven not just by its current utility, but by Agorapulse’s commitment to constant evolution; Tim notes that he values how the team is “constantly adding new features or taking existing ones and making them smarter,” preventing the feeling of stagnation he dislikes in other services.
This trust has led to tangible advocacy: Tim has already signed up at least five other businesses for Agorapulse and recommends the tool exclusively when asked. Looking ahead, he plans to upgrade to higher-tier plans to leverage advanced features like social listening for an upcoming direct-to-consumer brand launch.
Key Takeaways for B2B Manufacturers
Tim’s journey demonstrates that even in traditional industries like manufacturing:
- Consistent, strategic content beats sporadic posting (even if you’re starting from near-zero)
- Visual data wins over skeptical leadership better than verbal explanations
- The right tools multiply a small team’s impact without requiring headcount
- B2B buyers are diverse and the right tool can help reach out to them effectively so, adjust content strategy accordingly
- Content diversity matters — mix video, images, and long-form to reach different learning styles
- Platform-specific reporting helps identify your actual audience, not just your assumed one
“We’re not a big company. We have about 400 employees. We’re niche and we understand that,” Tim reflected. “But for us, it’s been a very large amount of growth.”
Want to see what Agorapulse can do for your manufacturing business?
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Frequently Asked Questions
How did Vantage Plastics improve social media with limited resources?
Tim Bish, a one-person marketing team, used Agorapulse to schedule content across platforms, consolidate analytics, and demonstrate ROI to leadership, achieving 175% engagement growth.
What social media challenges do B2B manufacturers face?
Many B2B manufacturers struggle with skeptical leadership, limited marketing resources, and proving social media’s business impact. Vantage Plastics overcame these by using data-driven reporting to connect social engagement to website RFQs.
Can social media drive leads for industrial/manufacturing companies?
Yes. Vantage Plastics transformed from PowerPoint templates posted twice weekly to strategic, diverse content that increased RFQs and brand awareness among B2B buyers, many of whom are younger than expected.
