Industrial and Manufacturing PR Relies on Content and Relationships, not Machines.

Today, PR moves at the speed of the Internet—unless your work involves industrial and manufacturing PR. Call it “low tech” or “legacy” PR if you want to, but whatever you call it, there are still sectors where traditional PR approaches and personal relationships remain king.

Manufacturing is one of them. In the industrial sector, trade media—including many print publications—are still the main focal points for getting your message across. In fact, most industries have somewhere between one and six trade publications that everyone in the segment reads, and in most manufacturing verticals, these media are the primary hubs for information.

As simplistic as it sounds, if you’re able to penetrate the key trade media deeply and frequently, you’ll not only build brand awareness, you can also appear as if your company is more aggressive marketing-wise than it actually may be. When everyone sees your name over and over, you come across as an industry thought leader, a company that’s virtually “everywhere,” tight budget or otherwise.

Trade media know this, and as a result, they’re broadening their scope of offerings. Don’t just look at industry trade media as a source for news distribution. Increasingly, top trade media offer webinars, targeted mailing lists, customized publications—even virtual trade shows—that allow you to build a deep footprint in your targeted vertical.

But don’t ignore the role social media play in industrial and manufacturing PR. Social media allow you to leverage your core campaign in ways that traditional approaches can’t—particularly in its ability to build ongoing conversations with your most important target audiences.

I’ve found that most manufacturing companies aren’t on the social media bandwagon—yet. Industrial and manufacturing PR campaigns should still have a social media component, even though it takes a back seat to traditional PR methods. Handshakes and digital communications should work together, not separately, to build relationships.