Even if studies have shown that, so far, industrial professionals have been a relatively passive social media audience, their presence and social media usage is far from negligible.
In a recent study, “2014 Social Media Use in the Industrial Sector,” IHS GlobalSpec found that 44% of technical professionals spend more than an hour per week on social media for work-related activities.
The study indicates that technical professionals maintain social media profiles on LinkedIn (74%), Facebook (61%) and Twitter (17%).
In addition, 47% of them spend time on LinkedIn reading product or industry news while 26% research suppliers.
69% of technical professionals with a Facebook profile follow businesses or groups within their industry and 38% research or read work-related content.
These statistics are far from negligible and show that industrial marketers need to take a serious look and consider integrating social media in their marketing mix.
The return may not be immediate and as high as their other more traditional marketing initiative but the potential is there for those who get early on on the bandwagon.
- At a time when traditional marketing vectors are crowded and customers/prospects are bombarded with messages and ads, social media is still a relatively virgin territory in industrial markets
- Social media allows them to find, identify, reach influencers like industry analysts, consultants and other industry thought-leaders
- Through social media they can connect and build relationships with influencers
- Social media is the medium of choice of the new generations, reaching them is key to future growth