Social media has gone from being a novelty to become a key tool for industrial marketers.

Companies have become more productive with their social media efforts, discovering its true utility and turning that utility into an advantage over their competition.

Relatively speaking, the industrial manufacturing segment is untapped and wide open for companies to get ahead of their competition by getting social.

Andy Polansky, CEO of Weber Shandwick, a global public relations firm, notes that,

“Just as having a company website has become standard operating procedure over the past two decades, utilizing social media channels has now become an increasingly essential platform for companies to communicate their messages to the general public and other audiences.”

As social networks continue to enter every aspect of society, they are also changing the way companies do business. Gone are the days of tightly-controlled corporate environments, with control shifting away from C-level executives and into the hands of customers and employees.

And now, CEOs are getting into the game.

According to a recent Mashable.com post,

A new study released Wednesday by Domo and CEO.com found that nearly 70% of Fortune 500 CEOs have no presence whatsoever on any major social media channels, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Google+. Of the 30% that choose to engage in social media, nearly all of them (28%) do so through LinkedIn. And while the number of CEOs utilizing the other three networks is small, it appears that Twitter is the only other social channel Fortune 500 CEOs are moving toward (albeit, slowly).

Corporate communications, usually rigid and calculated, have given way somewhat to social communication. CEOs are now communicating through social media, relaying important information in a way that helps their company appear more human and accessible.

Take Richard Branson, for example. He’s widely regarded as the most social media savvy CEO out there, with over 3.5 million Twitter followers and 2.1 million LinkedIn connections. His approach to social media is straightforward.

“Above all, remember to be authentic and organic, answering questions in a straightforward manner — there’s no need to check with your PR team first. You know your products and services, and people will see through any effort to parrot slogans or broadcast a marketing message.”

Slowly but surely, CEOs are becoming more engaged on social media as it permeates throughout industry. They’re creating a two-way channel of communication that gives investors, customers and employees a closer look into the company while maintaining the appeal of one-to-one conversation.

Any industrial marketing strategy needs to involve the C-level executives in social media efforts. Manufacturers, typically slower to adapt new marketing technology, can take a simple step to get a leg up on their competition.

If you don’t do it now, then when will you? Before or after you get rid of the Telex machine?

Phot credit: ajmexico