For Moore Brothers Co., a midsized fabrication and engineering manufacturer in Bristol, the factory floor isn’t just a place to build custom composite parts for marine and aerospace clients anymore.
It’s also a stage for a digital audience.
A quick glance at the company’s LinkedIn account shows sweeping drone shots of its 45,600-square-foot facility, sleek angles of workers fabricating carbon composites, and photos of employees perched high above sailboats – all polished enough to rival influencer content.
And while the hustle and bustle of workers and machinery in traditional manufacturing may not seem like must-see fodder for social media, the company has turned its work into attention-grabbing posts, said Danielle Moore, director of marketing and communications.
“A lot of composite companies are midsize like us,” Moore said. “Without social media showing the color behind what we do and the personality of our employees and brand, we’re just the next one – like the next company in line for potential clients. It’s been a great way to differentiate.”
Moore Brothers is far from alone. The company’s social media push actually reflects a broader shift across the manufacturing industry.
In Rhode Island, where roughly 1,600 manufacturers operate across the state, it’s imperative that manufacturers have a social media presence, said Melissa Travis, president of the Rhode Island Manufacturers Association.
“I don’t care if you’ve been making things here for 50 years or just started yesterday – if you’re in manufacturing, you have to be on social media,” she said.
At Moore Brothers, founded in 2014, embracing that shift came naturally. About a year and a half ago, the company tapped a floor technician with a passion for videography to start producing in-house content.
Since then, the company has built a following of more than 3,000 across X, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn, with individual posts drawing tens of thousands of views each month.
Moore said the goal isn’t to go viral but to show the company’s personality and capabilities in a way a trade show floor never could.
“It’s less about chasing likes and more about telling the story of our company every day,” she said.
That focus on authenticity and cultivating a more curated audience engagement is exactly what manufacturers should strive to achieve, according to social media strategists like Sandra DoVale, CEO and president of Video Unlimited Productions Inc., which does business as VUP Media.
With experience managing accounts for a dozen manufacturing clients in Rhode Island alone, DoVale specializes in translating complex operations and company culture into content that resonates online.
And VUP Media is connecting clients and prospects in ways that were impossible more than a decade ago, she noted.
“Manufacturers are learning that showing a behind-the-scenes look at operations builds trust and connection,” Dovale said. “And video content allows manufacturers to extend relationships beyond the plant floor.”
For Maxson Automatic Machinery Co., a fourth-generation, family-owned manufacturer in Westerly founded in 1912, that shift has been particularly noticeable.
For decades, trade shows were the company’s primary source of leads, Vice President John A. Matthews said.
His father, Joseph Matthews, regularly traveled to domestic and international exhibitions, sometimes shipping full machines to the show floor for demonstrations.
“These machines are about 70 feet long and 20 feet wide,” Matthews said. “It was a big investment to do that.”
Today, that physical presence has largely been replaced by a digital one.
“With the internet and social media, you can see a lot of the equipment online with marketing videos we’ve created,” Matthews said. “In a sense, websites and social media have replaced those aspects of trade shows.”
Maxson now uses professionally produced videos to showcase new equipment and engineering upgrades, primarily through business-to-business platforms such as LinkedIn.
Matthews said the content is aimed at both attracting new customers and showing longtime clients how the company’s technology has evolved, especially since its industrial machinery products last more than 30 years.
“We now do mini virtual demos that show clients how a new model differs from one built in the 1980s,” he said. “It saves the hassle of shipping enormous equipment and lets clients and prospects engage on their own schedule. Social media has made those conversations much easier and more consistent.”
Even niche audiences and smaller followings can be extremely valuable, DoVale said.
“These audiences are highly engaged and actively seeking information,” she said. “Quality of connection outweighs quantity when it comes to followers.”
While LinkedIn remains the primary focus for expanding sales, Maxson and Moore Brothers also maintain a consistent presence on Facebook, Instagram and X, both companies said.
DoVale said that for many of her manufacturing clients, social media now works as much for recruitment as it does for marketing, allowing them to show both talent and clients what the company is really like.
Instagram works particularly well for recruitment at Moore Brothers, with Facebook playing a smaller role, Moore said.
“It brings our culture to the forefront,” she said. “It’s also a great team-building tool.”
And that’s exactly how legacy industries such as manufacturing adapt, DoVale said.
“Everybody’s on it,” Moore added. “If you’re not doing something on social media, you’re missing your audience.”
Original Source: [https://pbn.com/factories-are-finding-ways-to-build-a-following-on-social-media/]
