My internship at Sonnhalter has been such a big opportunity for me. Not only have I gained experience in my chosen field, but I also got to hold a wrench that was nearly as big as me, so I guess it’s up to you which is more important.
One of the first things I was given to work on here was a press release on something I knew absolutely nothing about. It was definitely a challenge and far from the fake scenarios I used to write press releases for in my Intro to PR class, but I liked knowing that what I wrote was going to reach people and be used.
My favorite part of the internship has been writing blog posts, like this one. I enjoyed researching any given topic and putting it into my own words, as well as inputting my own personality into the blog posts. Writing these blog posts has also given me the opportunity to gain experience more about a variety of topics, such as the connection between toilet plungers and CPR.
I got the chance to experiment with graphics and creating videos, something that I didn’t have much experience with beforehand. I was even able to contribute a donation location to the annual tool drive, something I am particularly proud of.
Even though I am going to miss most of the Tool Drive since I move back to my college house at the beginning of August, I really liked knowing that I was working towards helping people in need. I enjoyed seeing things that I created go towards a greater goal of partnering with Habitat for Humanity.
With the experience and knowledge that I have gained from this internship, I feel confident in my capabilities going forward and I know that I will only learn more with every opportunity I get. I know that wherever I end up, I will have Sonnhalter to thank for starting me on my path.
In 2023, companies are taking the time and effort to access their opportunities and think about long-term impact, and short-term actions. This is inspiring marketers to be more strategic on platforms while working with the ever-changing algorithms.
Hootsuite released their 2023 Social Trends report and in this blog, we will discuss the future of social media marketing.
Influencers
“With the recession, with COVID, and just being more financially pinched… marketing dollars always get cut. When we’re strapped for resources, creators become a very appealing tool for marketers,” said Leah Gritton, director of integration strategy, Energy BBDO.
When working with influencers it’s important to do your research as you can discover a variety of influencers across different platforms. Understanding relevant influencers and their audience will help identify potential influencers to work with. Don’t be shy to work with influencers who have fewer followers as it’s essential to find a creator that can make content applicable to your product or service.
Return on Investment
Last year, 83% of marketers in Hootsuite’s social media trends survey reported having some level of confidence in the return on investment (ROI) of social media, up from 68% the year before. This year, they asked how confident marketers were that social media was useful for marketing to or engaging with their audience. A whopping 96% of marketers reported some level of confidence on how useful social media is.
All social media metrics can tell you something about whether you’re achieving objectives and meeting your goals. But tracking the right metrics is the key to understanding your social ROI. Run monthly, quarterly and yearly reports to understand how social is performing and what can be done differently.
As leaderships evaluate budgets and have deeper conversations about goals, make sure everyone is on the same page. Social media is a valuable channel for your audience and efforts should be maximized.
Social Media Platforms
More than 84% of TikTok users are also on Facebook and almost 88% of Twitter users are also on Instagram. People don’t only get different types of value from different networks, they explicitly use different social networks for different purposes.
As social media platforms introduce new features, make sure to reflect on your business goals. Focus on creating content that is well suited to the platform and your company, instead of trying to keep up with every new feature.
Some recommendations we have are conducting a social media audit to evaluate what audiences are on what platforms and how does your social media presence compare to your competitors. We also recommend making your content fit each platform. Having your social content reflect the platform it’s getting posted on allows you to more easily target your audience and build a stronger strategy.
Building a brand and connecting with your audience can be difficult, but developing goals, taking a deeper dive into your social strategy and creating an online presence, makes it easier! We hope with the look inside the top social media trends of 2023 that this helps to give you insight and ideas of what you should be striving for.
Over time, we have seen many social media platforms rise and gain in popularity. TikTok has risen to be the third-largest social media platform out of the big five worldwide (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Twitter). TikTokis a short-form, video-sharing app that allows users to create and share short videos on any topic. Many tradespeople have turned to TikTok to connect with existing and new customers to talk about their specific trade.
TikTok first launched in 2016 and started to grow rapidly in 2020, mostly due to the Covid-19 pandemic as people were stuck at home and needed entertainment. Over the past couple of years, not only has TikTok continued to grow, but we can see a variety of content on the platform. On TikTok, we see videos about plumbing, tools, construction, automotive and much more! With TikTok still on the rise, it’s important for the trades to be highlighted and for companies to be promoting their products. In this blog post, we will discuss why you should be on TikTok and the pros and cons of doing so.
Cons:
Content Limitations
Like every social media platform, you do have some limitations when it comes to posting and the type of content you can post. TikTok is video platform that utilizes videos from 15-seconds to a minute. Since TikTok only allows videos to be posted and not static photos then you can’t use the platform like other social media sites. Because of this, you will need to reuse or produce videos, which your company might not have the budget for.
Labor and Quality of Videos
Short form videos are easier to produce than long form videos. When producing videos, you will need to think of everything this entails from potential scripts, shooting the video, editing and publishing it. Your videos are a form of storytelling, which means they need to be high-quality videos that are engaging with your audience. If you’re worried about shooting videos then check out our other blog post where we discuss five tips for video. Although TikTok has content limitations, it allows users to be creative in their content. The way TikTok has transformed over time, it provides a great way to experiment with your videos.
Third-Party Ownership
One con for some businesses might be the China ownership of the TikTok app. With ByteDancebeing the parent company of the app, they are able to access the basic information on each user. Although nothing has happened between the parent company and the US, this is definitely one piece of information to keep in mind.
Pros:
Increase Your Audience
On social media, one of your goals should be to increase your followers so you have more people viewing your content and engaging with it. TikTok mainly targets a younger audience so you can increase your brand awareness with younger people in the trades. TikTok content also feels more organic. It’s an effective way to increase brand awareness without feeling salesy.
Increasing Sales
Because we can closely connect with our audience, it’s easier to get your content in front of people who are interested in it. As a company, you can freely post any appropriate video which means you can have endless possibilities to promote your products or services. In fact, 49% of TikTok users have purchased something because they saw it on the app.
Less Competition
While TikTok has grown and a lot of businesses have joined the app, you still have less competition than Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Other popular social media apps have been around for a while and have become supersaturated with other brands. Because of this, it’s much harder to grow organically on these platforms. Due to TikTok’s algorithm, it’s much easier to target your audience and grow your business.
Although you want to be careful before jumping on the latest marketing trends, TikTok is definitely a platform you will want to consider. Sit down with your company and review the pros and cons and see if TikTok is something you are willing to invest in. Sonnhalter believes now is the time for manufacturing companies who target the trades to join TikTok to grow your brand and marketing strategy.
Certainly, you are aware that we are in the midst of a manufacturing skills gap. Currently within the industry, manufacturing jobs remain empty and companies are unable to find workers who have the knowledge.
Not to mention, the pandemic also contributed to manufacturing jobs vanishing, and now the manufacturing field will be set back decades from the loss.
Propel developed an article and a resource tool to give some insight into the issue and how we can solve it.
The top four causes of the manufacturing gap include:
The false job perception
Lack of technology skill sets
Retiring baby boomers
Blue collar work avoidance
When it comes to manufacturing, many people have varying perceptions of what it entails. With these perceptions, people have an idea of what a manufacturing job looks like, but it’s not always accurate. Perceptions of the job can lead to young people not wanting to work in the manufacturing field.
After the perception comes the lack of technology skills. In today’s job market, companies are wanting workers who have several skills to bring to the table. In most cases, workers who are already in the manufacturing field can’t afford to learn additional skills.
A lot of baby boomers are starting to retire, which leads to jobs being empty, and it doesn’t help that younger people don’t want to work in blue collar jobs. Today, there is a stigma surrounding blue collar jobs and most people view it as people who are less educated, however, that’s far from the truth.
Check out the complete article from Propel to learn more about the manufacturing gap and tools to help.
Does the industry affect SEO? This is a fundamental question to answer because it may seem like SEO is universal, no matter what your website is about. While that is correct to some extent, there are also substantial SEO differences from one industry to another. This is mainly because the essential ranking component of SEO is content. Since content will depend on the nature of your business, it becomes clear that industry does play an important role. With that in mind, we want to talk about SEO tips for industrial companies in 2022 and how they can help you reshape your business!
Define Your Targeted Audience
As a B2B company, your targeted audience is not the same as for B2C businesses. The entire business model is entirely different, and you need to consider that when doing SEO.
One of the best ways to approach this process is to try to imagine your perfect customer. Ask yourself, what would you like to see in a client?
This is a good starting point, but it is not the only step. Once you have outlined your ideal client, try to look at your business from a client’s perspective. What would you, as a client, want from an industrial company? Many businesses fail to present their offers properly, which is one of the top deal killers for B2B buyers.
Once you understand the needs of the business and the needs of the customer, you can develop a specific customer profile that you need to target with SEO.
How to Define the Right Keywords
The industrial industry has its own set of important keywords. Once you define your targeted audience, determining the keywords will be much easier because you already know what the clients want.
Although, there is a word of caution here. We need to explain the definition of “knowing what the client wants”. Your client may want a few different things when it comes to a B2B industrial business. That is why you will need to define a range of their interests.
Let us say you are selling some machinery. For example, your clients might want to:
purchase a machine;
inquire about the use of a machine;
differentiate various types of machines;
learn how to maintain machines;
find repair services;
maybe even resale machines;
This is your range of customer needs and the base for creating keywords. Each of these points may be a different targeted group of customers.
When it comes to actual keywords, you need to create both short-tail and long-tail keywords.
Short-tail keywords are very useful but also harder to come up with. This is mainly because other companies in the industry use the same keywords.
On the other hand, long-tail keywords that usually consist of three to five words are more precise. You can specifically formulate the way clients search for a specific product.
Furthermore, long-tail keywords can also include the location and specific intent of the client.
Here are some SEO tips for industrial companies when coming up with keywords:
An example of a short-tail keyword might be industrial machinery.
And an example of a long-tail keyword might be industrial machinery for sale Cleveland.
In the second example, you are clearly defining the product (industrial machines), the type of service (purchase), and the location (Cleveland).
Use Videos to Boost Your SEO Efforts
Search engine optimization is just one step in creating a perfect buyer’s journey. This is how a client will discover your business. Since we all know how important first impression is, you want to ensure that it impacts the customer.
One way to do this is through the power of video. It is no secret that people watch video instructions much more than read them. Furthermore, a video does not require 100% attention, meaning the user can listen to it while doing other stuff. Another huge benefit, especially for industrial companies, is that a video perfectly explains how machines work, the maintenance process, and so on.
You can improve the buyer’s journey and boost your SEO efforts by implementing videos. Google simply loves the use of videos. Just remember to include your keywords in the video titles.
Do Not Forget About Meta Descriptions
Metadata is a crucial element of SEO. When a user does a search query, they get a link to a page and a short description of that same page. That is a meta description. It is a brief summary of what users can expect when they click the link.
A meta description should be punctual, concise, and engaging. It should directly tell the customer what to expect. The best tip is to keep it short and sweet, so you inform your clients and, at the same time, intrigue them. The meta description should help them decide to click on the link.
Make Sure That Your Website is Technical Without Errors
Even though SEO and digital marketing play a crucial role in advertising, it is equally important that your website is up and running without any issues. Slow loading speed or 404 errors are the quickest way to lose clients.
Also, websites that load fast rank much higher on Google. That is because the backend code is written correctly, and all the elements are optimized to improve the loading speed.
You Must Have a Mobile Version of Your Website
This should go without saying, but you need a mobile website version. This is the first thing that Google checks, and mobile websites rank higher than desktop versions.
Furthermore, clients use smartphones more often and need a mobile version.
SEO Tips for Industrial Companies in 2022 Made Simple
And there you have it. There are many ways to improve your SEO efforts, but these SEO tips for industrial companies in 2022 will make your life easier. Understand that SEO is a process that requires constant audits and maintenance. With that in mind, take your time to do it the right way!
Stella Russel is an experienced blogger and copywriter. For the last six years, she’s been writing articles for various clients, mostly in the field of online business development, SEO and digital marketing. In her free time, she likes to travel and experience new cultures.
