PMPA's Social Networking--A Tool You Can Use

In just one year, we can document more than 65,000 page views on PMPA’s blog, SpeakingOfPrecision.com. We’ve used Twitter to help connect people to our blog content, and we’ve made hundreds of thousands of contacts using that tool.

Once a week, one of our selected blog topics gets uploaded to LinkedIn. There, it is seen and shared by more than 30,000 people that belong to LinkedIn groups in the machining, medical, defense and aerospace markets.
PMPA content has been presented to interested people more than 1.5 million times since we started our social networking program a year ago.

We’ve posted some pretty good content on our blog. Our posts on austenitic grain size, welding resulfurized steels, bar straightness, temper color and material impacts have all come up on Page 1 of Google search results, often in the top handful of non-paid links. Page 1 on Google is the gold standard for information in today’s Information Age.

These social networking tools have helped PMPA connect with members, potential members, your potential customers, suppliers and the larger market for precision machining. The out-of-pocket expense was very small — trivial really. And the staff time required once we set it up is just a few hours a week.

So why haven’t you picked up these social networking tools you can use? We’ve demonstrated that they can create a connection, start a conversation and introduce us to new clientele. Our getting topical Page 1 rankings on Google shows that the knowledge your shop has is just as likely to command attention in the marketplace of ideas online. Certainly you have special capabilities and expertise that, when properly shared and targeted, can help the people and companies that want to find you and connect with you.

For several years, we’ve been working on the idea of connecting. Recent member surveys always show networking as a highly valued PMPA deliverable. Networking is done by connecting.

We’ve just had a 1-year demonstration of what social media tools can do for an industry association. The numbers are as impressive as the costs are low. We hope you will follow our experience by using these new tools to connect with tomorrow’s buyers — those who haven’t yet figured out that you can help them and who also won’t take your salesman’s call if he finds them.

Social media tools make you bigger in your market. The 30,000-plus people who see a weekly message from us are a larger group than the few thousand who were already in the PMPA “tent.” They have conversations and network with people with similar wants and needs. Of course you want to reach them.

Consider social networking. Not just an e-mail blast of a newsletter, but a blog or enhancements to your website. At the very least, you should be on LinkedIn. Join relevant groups. Customer groups. Industry groups. Any group that might conceivably be related to your business. Develop content. Share it weekly with your new network. Do it now.

Take it from PMPA’s first-year experience. There could be a million-and-a-half of your potential followers, customers and maybe even potential employees out there waiting to find you. And, perhaps, 65,000 or so opportunities to teach those who are really interested in what you might have to say. The stuff that makes you an expert. Information they really need to know.

Social networking: It’s not about selling. It’s about cultivating your market, establishing your expertise and finding your voice.

Being found. Connecting.

Social networking: It’s tools you can use. Pick your tool. Give it a try.
To learn more about social media, contact Miles Free at mfree@pmpa.org/ Phone: 440-526-0300. To view the PMPA blog, visit: pmpaSpeakingOfPrecision.com.