July 2014 - Social media use among B2B companies has skyrocketed by nearly 81 percent. Are you still scratching your head looking for its practical application to your welding and fabrication business?  

With more than two years of trial-and-error testing behind us, here’s what we have learned: 

• Social media really does hold the promise of impacting the bottom line.

• Implementing a winning strategy requires a significant amount of time and effort.

• We offer three social media strategies that deliver concrete benefits for B2B marketing efforts.

Fill the Funnel with LinkedIn

The power of LinkedIn became apparent to me when our company was in the middle of an expansion project. A former colleague called me hoping to introduce a friend who sold office furniture. While driving home from work, my colleague’s friend noticed our building project. He looked our company up on LinkedIn to see if anyone in his network either worked at or knew someone who worked at our company. On discovering the connection, he called his friend, who called me. He avoided “gatekeepers” and connected with a decision-maker in our company to make the sale.

Using LinkedIn, just a few dozen contacts can grow exponentially. It proves the people you want to reach are only a few acquaintances away. I recommend joining relevant groups on the site, which will allow you to position yourself as a knowledgeable industry source by answering community questions. Responding to a technical question might help you win business that would have otherwise flown under the radar.

The power of video

One of our top salespeople once said, “If I can get a customer to tour our facility, the order is as good as booked.” He may have exaggerated but there’s also a thread of truth in the assertion. Getting a prospect in to tour your operations is difficult but an inexpensive video posted to YouTube can offer prospective customers a virtual tour.

We filmed our workers and equipment turning out quality products and posted the video to YouTube and our website. In our first week, one customer doubled their business with us after watching a video that featured a service they were previously unaware we offered. We continue to produce and post videos in order to highlight our skills.

Get Found!

People shop online. For everything. This is the predominant method our customers use to find the metal they need.

Gaining top billing at search engines is every business owner’s wish. Unfortunately, achieving that prized position is a bit of a black art. But publishing regular, relevant content to social media outlets cuts through the clutter. Don’t stress yourself out writing volumes of content—social media is oriented towards brief bites of industry news and comment.

The search for services like welding, fabricating and machining has moved from heavy printed directories to key taps on a cell phone or mobile device. Face the new day! Find new customers and keep existing ones by implementing a whole new set of marketing strategies. 

Scott Fasse is the vice president of marketing and business development at United Performance Metals.