Social Media Slow to Gain Traction in Industrial Sector

Even with all the hype about social media, there are certain sectors of the economy that aren't using it very much. According to a GlobalSpec survey, only LinkedIn has gained traction with 32% of the engineers, technical, manufacturing and industrial professionals who have an account. Of those, 82% belong to at least one group. And even though 42% have a Facebook account, it's "not used much for work-related purposes." This information is important, because social media only works for promoting a business when people are paying attention and want to get involved.

This slow adoption isn't surprising, since there are communication methods that have worked consistently for years. Before they invest resources in social media, industrial marketers want to know what they'll get out of it. The early days of the Web were no different.

A ThomasNet survey conducted in 2005, showed that when researching new products industrial buyers used:

• Search engines 23%
• Known suppliers (offline) 19%
• Industrial destination sites 17%
• Specific company websites 11%
• Personal contacts (offline) 9%
• Company catalogs (offline) 8%

A lot has changed in the past five years, and I imagine the behaviors will too, although as I've said, at a slower rate. Social media will gain traction as people realize it can enhance other marketing activities. LinkedIn is a good example, as people realize that it makes it easier to find leads and connect with business contacts. Other social activities will probably follow in ways demonstrated on the consumer side. We're seeing studies showing that consumers are starting to rely on social sites as much as company websites for information. It remains to be seen how quickly social media will catch on in the industrial sector.