If you’re a manufacturer, you probably know that today is National Manufacturing Day. It’s intended to be a day to celebrate those who create the things we use in our everyday lives. Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey proclaimed the first official Manufacturing Day in 2012, and then President Obama signed the Presidential Proclamation in 2014 as a day to inspire young people to pursue careers in manufacturing and engineering, and to celebrate all those who work in the manufacturing sector.
At Slightly Mad, we celebrate our clients and friends who are in manufacturing. After all – we’ve been working with manufacturers for over 30 years, and we’ve made a lot of friends along the way.
Read, watch or listen to any news and you'll be bombarded with a lot of rhetoric about how manufacturing in the US is on the decline, but many areas of the country (like ours here on Long Island) are experiencing a thriving manufacturing sector. Yay for us!
This uptick is surely a positive, but many manufacturers tell us that they continue to face marketing challenges, lamenting that traditional marketing tactics are less effective than they used to be. Just a few years ago, it was pretty straightforward - hire a few sales folks, send them to trade shows, put a few ads in trade publications, between shows do some cold calling, and leverage relationships... but these activities just aren’t working like they used to. We agree – things just aren’t the same. But as we adapt we look to new ways to get our story told – one such way is this MFG Day opportunity. Stay with me here – it will start to make sense.
The National Association of Manufacturers and the Manufacturing Institute have wisely turned this boring old presidential proclamation into a movement. And this movement presents OPPORTUNITY for smart marketers. They’ve created a pretty useful website: mfgday.com which encourages manufacturers to host MFG DAY events – and the website offers some cool resources and tips to help make your event a success - like how to offer facility tours, who to invite, how to deal with the press and even following up after the event – and they’ve packaged it all up in this useful Host Toolkit. For a marketer (you), it’s a great way to get your story told and meet new prospects and skilled workers.
Don’t believe me? Not sure? Check out a few of the events already scheduled here on Long Island this week (we highly recommend attending at least one):
These smart manufacturers are using MFG DAY as a marketing opportunity. Not only are they opening their doors to show the public what modern manufacturing looks like, and inspire the next generation of skilled workers (the goal of MFG DAY), they are also gaining brand awareness through event marketing - connecting with potential customers in the community, getting press coverage and engaging with other manufacturers and partners to initiate business relationships.
Would you like to learn more about the things you could be doing to increase your manufacturing company’s exposure and to get your story told? We invite you to attend one of our BRAND STRATEGY WORKSHOPS DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY FOR MANUFACTURERS, or just call us at 800.279.2971 to talk about how we can help you promote your manufacturing organization.