Social Media: Here’s a Manufacturer That’s Getting It Right

by | Mar 16, 2010

For those of you who haven’t “bought into social media,” or haven’t gotten around to implementing programs, here’s an example of a  traditional manufacturing company that’s “doing it right.”

The name of the company is RIDGID and they are a manufacturer of hand and power tools for several industries including Plumbing, HVAC/R, Utility, Industrial and Electrical markets. (Disclaimer: We have been the Ad Agency for RIDGID for almost 25 years and other than helping them with a few back-end details, they have done all this in-house under the guidance of the brand director.) By the way, they’re doing a great job.

RIDGID is a traditional manufacturer that realized that social media was allowing them to have another avenue to reach current and potential customers worldwide. They entered social media gradually and are getting good feedback from existing customers and potential ones.

Web site – When they redesigned their site, they made sure that as social elements were added, they included links to Twitter and Facebook, and to view their latest video, they added a link to YouTube, or to look at their product photos, they added the link to Flickr.

Forum – One of the first things they did was to introduce a forum to begin building a strong online community. They have several threads including plumbing and construction.

RIDGID not only promotes new products like RIDGIDConnect with social media, they promote industry events as well as their annual Reputation Roadshow. Tactics they use to engage their audience are elements such as catchy contests on Twitter or giving incentives to those who join their Facebook Fan page.

They’re doing everything right. But it was a process. They, like the rest of us, when entering the social space, had to re-think how to approach the medium because it’s different from “traditional marketing.” Whether it was Facebook or Twitter, they walked before jumping in with both feet.

I’d suggest that if you’re still on the fence about diving in, click onto some of the links I’ve supplied and follow them to see how RIDGID is doing it. It’s not rocket science, just good old fashioned marketing using a different medium to reach their core audience.

I’d like to hear from you if you have any other examples of manufacturers doing it right.

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