Over the year’s we’ve spoken with various manufacturing businesses who don’t believe their business can benefit from PR. Instead, it has been viewed as a tactic of choice for celebrities or retailers to achieve sales, not available to the likes of manufacturing or construction firms.
We’re going to let you in on a secret, some of our best-performing results have been for this sector, enabling the clients we work with to more than double their turnover.
We’ve worked with a variety of businesses in the manufacturing and construction sectors, including our long-standing clients, glass manufacturer, Specialist Glass Products (SGP) and security manufacturer, Heald. Based on the lessons we’ve learnt over the years and the results achieved, we’re going to share with you how PR can support your manufacturing business to achieve its goals.
Get in front of the audience you want
One of the easiest ways to expand your customer base is to get your name out there and increase brand awareness.
Whilst word of mouth is excellent; it will only get you so far. This restriction is particularly concerning if you are a manufacturer providing goods across industries or worldwide!
We combat this by comparing the target audience you want to attract with who you are currently getting in front of. When working with a new client, we will conduct a social listening and PR audit of past coverage and brand mentions online.
Say a manufacturing client is getting plenty of orders from smaller residential customers, but they want to focus on larger commercial projects. We would research relevant publications among key target audiences such as architects, designers and commercial property businesses and create campaigns that would appeal to them.
Highlight what makes you unique
A key part of PR messaging is understanding your unique selling point; if you can offer or create something your competitors can’t, you should be shouting it from the rooftops!
An apparent reason why customers should come to you is a crucial element of business success. These messages should be clear and consistent across platforms, such as website content and social media, and be highlighted in any press releases and PR campaigns. At the same time, you must ensure these messages aren’t too salesy or repetitive, making you seem like a one-trick pony.
We aim to incorporate USPs across content organically and look for opportunities to tie in client services or capabilities with recent news or updates for the relevant industry.
For some businesses it can be difficult to pinpoint that USP, you might be offering the same thing at the same price your competitors do, but dig deep to understand why your customers shop with you and you’re on to something.
Give your business a face
We reiterate across all our clients the importance of putting a face and personality to your business. Although it’s essential to focus on your products and services, showing a personality across your platform personifies your brand and helps create further trust between you and your customers.
This face is of particular benefit for family-run businesses or companies with unique stories about its creation and growth. If your business has a wealth of expertise from years in the industry, make sure your customers know about it and that you are a business they can trust.
Position yourself as a leading expert
While improving brand awareness is important, it is equally vital to position yourself as an expert in your field that people will be willing to trust. A simple way to do this is to look for reactive opportunities where you can provide comments.
Journalists will often use Twitter or other social media platforms to put out requests looking for expert comments to support an article they are writing. Keeping these monitored or signing up for software, such as Response Source, that will flag relevant opportunities will help you respond quickly and secure mentions and links in leading publications.
Improve SEO with referring links
Speaking of securing links; this is a crucial method in supporting Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and improving the online visibility of your website.
If you have no idea what that means, don’t worry! In basic terms, Google and other search engines rank your site depending on the quality and relevancy of on-site content and backlinks from referring websites and publications in order to decide where you position in search results.
Having links to your website from high authority sites such as industry and national news websites can improve keyword rankings and position you higher in results, leading to more people visiting your website. Referring links are also a great way to drive people to your website who may not have found you organically.
Rank high for keyword positions
Another solution to get your website ranking higher in search results is to optimise your keyword positioning. These keyword positions are where you would rank if someone were to search for a particular term. For example, if someone was to search ‘manufacturing in leeds’ and your website was the 15th result, your keyword position for that term is 15, which is on the second page of Google search results.
Google only shows ten results per page, and the chance of a searcher visiting anything after the first page is extremely low, so ranking in that top ten is key. Although, ranking number one for your target keywords isn’t that straightforward and can take some work, as you will be competing with competitors for the highest spot.
We monitor our client’s positions monthly to track any significant improvements or drops. If we notice any drops or keywords they should be ranking for, we can plan PR campaigns and on-site content around this and optimise existing keywords to get those rankings higher. Some plug-ins can assist with this by providing suggestions. However, using external support experts can be of great help, and you can see some significant improvements fast.
Make space in your award cabinet!
Award entries are a speciality of ours, and we have a pretty good success rate! There are a variety of awards across all business and industry sectors, which are a great way to improve brand awareness and grow the credentials of your business (and who doesn’t love a trophy to show off!).
We conduct award research for all relevant clients focusing on awards in their industry sector and location, as well as any specific to the business leaders and individual awards. If these are of interest, we can then draft an award entry based on business insight and research, so all they have to do is wait for the shortlist, attend the ceremony if they wish and hopefully give an acceptance speech!
Secure appearances on television and radio
Getting appearances on national television may seem like a near-impossible task, but it can be done with research and effective communication.
Our manufacturing client SGP had nearly back-to-back appearances on Channel 4’s Grand Designs and BBC Breakfast News, thanks to heightened visibility in industry and regional publications, including The Manufacturer and The Yorkshire Post.
Journalists will often use regional and industry news to find businesses to interview or comment on a story they’re looking to run, reiterating the importance of press coverage in leading publications.
Alternatively, journalists and producers will pitch out for businesses willing to film, depending on the opportunity. This pitching is sometimes done across social media or other platforms like response source. By checking regularly and having alerts set up for key search terms, you can make finding these opportunities easier.
Presence at industry events
Whilst expanding your brand awareness online is vital, meeting potential customers face-to-face is always a beneficial move. Plus, search interest for ‘manufacturing expo’ has increased by 247% in the last six months, so the potential audience at these events is definitely on the rise.
Industry-focused expositions are held worldwide, especially ones focused on the manufacturing sector. Our client Heald recently attended the International Security Expo in London to share their services with an audience of leaders in the security industry.
These exhibitions may not guarantee immediate sales or profits. However, the connections you can make from these events and the awareness you can build in such a strong target audience could lead to much more significant sales in the future.
Get in touch if you’re a manufacturing business looking to raise your brand profile and increase website traffic and sales! We’d love to hear about your WILD ambitions and discuss how we can help you reach them.
Find out more about our PR work here or check out some of our reach client work on our blog.