Marketing & Social Media - Feature Sample

M AY 2 0 2 5 | W W W. W I R E N E T. O R G

Marketing

& Social Media

O F F I C I A L P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E W I R E A S S O C I AT I O N I N T E R N AT I O N A L

WAI trAInIng & professIonAl development

Available now!

INTRODUCING

WAI’s NEW VIDEO TRAINING COURSES LEARN ABOUT:

• Ferrous and nonferrous sectors • Fundamentals of wire manufacturing • Extrusion • Manufacturing safety

FEATURING: • Convenient online learning • Self-paced courses • On-demand access • Interactive content • Multimedia resources • Certificates of completion

AVAILABLE FOR: Individual & corporate group access

LEARN MORE: wirenet.org/education-program

EDUCATION

p r e s e n t i n g : A T E C HNIC A L CON FEREN CE OF C OL L ABOR ATI ON & I NNOVAT I ON

SAVE THE DATE: 14 OCTOBER 2025 Join international delegates for an in-depth view of the manufacturing advances in wire and cable research, operations, and production presented by field experts. Ferrous and nonferrous topics, tabletop exhibits, and a gala dinner round out this one-day conference.

Hosted at the Holiday Inn Krakow City Centre Hotel To book your stay contact reservations at reservations@hik.krakow.pl or call +48 12 619 00 51 and provide the password: THE WIRE KRAKOW U P C O M I N G

E V E N T

D E T A I L S :

W W W.W I R E C A B L E25.C O M

O

R

G

A

N

I

Z

E

D

B

Y

:

F E AT U R E

Marketing & Social Media This feature offers perspectives on marketing, which seems to have attained a growing industry role. It include comments from people on its use for companies, industry events and a trade association as well as a reminder from WJI’s patent columnist. And did someone mention AI and analytics? Why, that’s here too, all packaged, promoted and presented by WJI ... and do remember to follow us on LinkedIn!

How big is manufacturing and who’s marketing what?

WebFX.com provides a proprietary digital marketing platform that makes it easier than ever to track digital marketing performance, conduct industry research, calculate ROI and make strategic decisions. It notes that the U.S. has some 600,000 manufacturing businesses. Below are some statistics that provide a snapshot of the field. For its digital solutions, go to www.webfx.com.

Industry stats/challenges

Industry marketing stats/perceptions

• 2025 is projected to add $2.1 trillion in value to the U.S. manufacturing market.

• Manufacturing in the U.S. businesses has declined -0.1% per year on average between 2019 and 2024.

• Manufacturing accounts for 10.3% of the economy, • The number of manufacturing employees in the U.S. is expected to reach 10.48 million in 2025.

• 83% of manufacturers say that smart factories will transform the way they make products in the next 5 years.

• Nearly 75% of manufacturers believe that acquiring and retaining talent is their biggest challenge.

• Almost half of all manufacturers are harnessing the Internet of Things (IoT) through various systems and devices.

• Less than 36% of surveyed manufacturing companies have a comprehensive policy framework in place for using artificial intelligence (AI).

• 49% of manufacturers say that cybersecurity is a big concern for the next several years.

• Manufacturing revenue is expected to grow by 4.2% in 2025.

• 63% of manufacturers use website content to educate their audience about their business or industry. 88% use it to spread brand awareness.

• 73% of B2B marketers believe that webinars are the best strategy for generating high-quality leads.

• Manufacturers typically spend 1–3% of their total revenue on marketing.

• 70% of B2B marketers think that video content helps leads convert.

• 57% of industrial buyers make purchase decisions before ever interacting directly with a manufacturing company.

• 40% of B2B buyers consume three to five pieces of content before they reach out to a salesperson.

• 18% of manufacturing marketers identify email marketing as their most effective digital marketing strategy.

• 56% of B2B companies outsource their marketing and keep an in-house team.

• 6% of B2B organizations outsource their marketing entirely.

• Industrial websites using quote and contact forms see an average conversion rate of 3%.

3 6 W I R E J O U R N A L I N T E R N AT I O N A L M AY 2 0 2 5

W W W. W I R E N E T. O R G

F E AT U R E

No matter a company’s size, the message it sends matters Prysmian may need no introduction, but when it comes to the company’s marketing focus, it believes that promoting efforts should also include the people who make its success possible. Below, Anna Wright, vice president of marketing & communications, Prysmian North America, shares her thoughts, including one of her favorite such initiatives.

WJI: Does Prysmian have marketing/social media down to an art, or does it continue to evolve?

Wright: I believe if you’re not evolving, you will fall behind in most things, and this is especially true in digital marketing and Wright social media. Traditionally, the challenge for corporate marketing is to leverage social media platforms and remain true to your brand identity.

At Prysmian, we have worked to expand our social media strategy to go beyond the brand and highlight our personality by posting about our employees, our volunteer efforts and community activities. This shift from sharing only product and corporate news engages more people to follow Prysmian while reinforcing our values of innovation, passion, and teamwork. Now, with the evolution of artificial intelligence, we are learning new ways to position our digital content.

WJI: Is social media part of marketing or is it unto itself?

Wright: Marketing sets a larger strategy on how to position your brand/products with social media as a valuable tool to communicate that strategy. You can write a post to reach a broad audience or target a specific group.

Understanding the end users of the different social media platforms is essential to creating meaningful content. I have a talented digital marketing manager on my team who oversees Prysmian’s social media activities and balances our content calendar.

WJI: How do you know whether a campaign/project is a success or not? Are results determined by hard numbers?

Wright: The benefit of social media compared to other forms of marketing is the metrics. You can track new followers to your profile page and the effectiveness of your posts through the engagement rate. There’s real-time feedback through the comments, likes and shares.

WJI: As Prysmian is the world’s largest wire and cable manufacturer, does that make marketing/social media less important, or is it essential to continue that status?

Wright: Being the global leader in our industry, we have a lot of rich content for social media. From showcasing our record-breaking undersea cable installation to sharing our

W W W. W I R E N E T. O R G

high-tech solutions, we balance the global product posts with North America specific campaigns.

WJI: If you have a thousand stories to share, how do you decide which ones to focus on?

Wright: It’s all about knowing your audience and understanding what will resonate with them. We also work to have different posts so our social content has a nice variety.

WJI: Can you discuss one of your social media projects that you are especially proud of and explain what’s special about it?

Wright: Prysmian’s “Made Right Here” campaign continues to be a point of pride. This campaign developed from a brainstorming session on how to leverage our strong North American manufacturing footprint in a unique and memorable way. As everyone was touting “Made in the USA,” Prysmian Felicia Musgrave, at far r, joined stood out by highPrysmian in 2011 as a machine lighting our plants and operator and became a purchasing the products produced clerk in 2023. in each location.

We promoted the people in our Jackson, Tennessee, plant manufacturing optical fiber cables in ads with the headline, “Accessible Broadband, Made Right Here in Jackson, TN.” My favorite moment was having one of the people featured in the campaign introduce herself as, “Your favorite Prysmian model.” That was Felicia Musgrave. She was so proud to represent Prysmian and loved to share it with visitors to that plant. She is very active in the plant and serves on the engagement committee. Made Right Here reinforces Prysmian’s North American strength through the employees making our products, and it continues to evolve as we feature more plants in the campaign.

M AY 2 0 2 5 W I R E J O U R N A L I N T E R N AT I O N A L

37

Next Stop: Milwaukee

Meet valuable industry contacts at Wire Expo 2026.

}

Wire Expo makes it easy to expand your connections. Whether you are visiting, exhibiting, speaking, or sponsoring...your participation makes all the Exhibitors: difference at every Wire Association gathering. Join WAI at Wire Expo to Booth sales begin welcome hundreds of valuable customers, colleagues, and prospects from the 10/2/25 ferrous, nonferrous, and electrical industry sectors. Discover shared interests.

Build on prized relationships. And be there when interaction leads to action.

Exhibitors contact: sales@wirenet.org

BAIRD CENTER | MAY 6-7, 2026

co-located with: The Electrical Wire Processing Technology Expo 2026 SESSIONS

>

EXHIBITS

official publication:

>

NETWORKING

>

DETAILS COMING SOON:

WIREEXPO26.COM