People love manufacturing content. They just don’t know it yet. And if you’ve ever caught yourself watching a lathe spin for 3 solid minutes, you’re part of the problem (and the solution).
The thing is, not everything that goes viral starts with glitter and gimmicks. Sometimes, it’s just a robot arm doing its job beautifully. However, here's where most brands go wrong: they try too hard to be viral and end up being weird.
What you need is less “corporate campaign,” more “factory floor cool.” You need wit, story, maybe a little chaos, and a whole lot less trying.
The key is to make the algorithm fall in love with you.
Let’s break down the surprisingly simple, smart ways to make manufacturing content irresistible.
“Manufacturing content” doesn’t exactly scream viral potential at first glance. After all, it’s not puppies or dance trends, it’s gears, gauges, and grease. But that’s exactly why it works. Among those filters and fluff, real-world craftsmanship feels oddly refreshing.
But before you hit record or type your caption, here are a few actually-useful tips to keep in your toolbox.
If you wouldn’t run a part without checking the tolerance specs, why would you post content without knowing who it’s for?
In manufacturing, even a tiny deviation can ruin the whole part. The same goes for content. If it’s not dialed into the right audience, it's only noise with a factory filter.
Let’s say you’re a CNC machining company. You could post a high-res video of a 5-axis machine carving titanium at 12,000 RPM, and to the general public, that might look cool. But to engineers, that’s poetry in motion.
Now, consider pairing that clip with a clever caption about toolpath optimization or spindle load efficiency. All of a sudden, you're speaking your audience’s language fluently. That’s how you earn attention and credibility.
Knowing your audience means understanding what they nerd out over, what problems they face, what they laugh at after three coffees and a late-night shift. Build from that, and you won’t miss your mark!
You might live inside your process — know every micron, metric, and machine code — but your audience doesn’t.
The truth is, most people aren’t bored by manufacturing; they’re just confused by it.
So, your job? Be the cool adult who doesn’t talk down, but talks clearly. Like you’re explaining how a jet engine works to a wide-eyed kid who asks “why” five times in a row. As the saying goes, “If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, then you don’t understand it yourself.”
Say, for instance, you’re powder coating metal parts. Walk your audience through it like:
“First, we give the part a bubble bath. Then we give it an electric charge so the color sticks like a magnet. After that? Into the oven it goes.”
That kind of storytelling sticks. It makes people care. And when people care, they share. So yes, be technical, be proud, but never forget the art of simple, visual explanation.
People love a peek behind the curtain, even if that curtain is nothing more than a giant garage door. Remember, what feels ordinary to you can feel wildly interesting to someone else.
The smell of coolant, the buzz of the machines, the coffee-fueled banter at 6:45 a.m.? That’s the real stuff. The human stuff. And it’s what makes your brand more than just another logo with a gear in it.
You don’t need a drone or a Hollywood script.
Just grab your phone and show what a day on your floor looks like. A time-lapse of a job from raw stock to the final part. A quick chat with the machinist who’s been with you 18 years. Even the team loading a late-night order into a truck will do.
It doesn’t have to be glamorous. It just has to be real. That’s what builds trust, and, often, viral momentum. Check out this video to learn some secrets of creating behind-the-scenes content.
Manufacturing involves people doing real work. It’s someone showing up before sunrise to warm up a press. It’s the late-night weld that holds a whole structure together. It's sweat, pride, and a hundred tiny decisions made with calloused hands and a sharp eye.
So, when you share content, don’t just show the product. Show the process of care. Introduce the team. Capture the rituals like the pre-shift coffee or the jokes over lunch.
Let your audience meet the humans behind the hustle.
After all, people don’t connect with perfection. They connect with effort. With grit. With stories that feel lived-in.
The most viral content often highlights the who and the why.
Every industry has its unspoken questions, the stuff people don’t ask out loud because they think they’re supposed to already know. That’s your opportunity. Not just to inform, but to win hearts and algorithms in one go.
Ever heard a customer sheepishly ask, “Wait… what actually is a jig?” Or an engineer mutters, “Why do lead times go nuclear after the third revision?”
These are golden content prompts. Because if one person’s wondering, a hundred more are silently Googling.
Start there. Answer what others aren’t. Explain the difference between laser cutting and plasma in plain English.
Break down why tolerances matter when you’re fitting parts together like a mechanical love story. Debunk myths. Be the helpful expert who makes complex concepts feel remarkably straightforward.
Every time a customer asks, “How long does this take?” or “Can you do custom runs?” they’re handing you free content on a silver platter.
FAQs are exactly what your future customers are already searching for.
Turn those questions into quick, punchy posts.
A 15-second video showing how you prep aluminum for anodizing. A carousel post explaining lead times with a dash of humor and a clean graphic. Even a selfie-style clip from your floor manager saying, “We get this one a lot…” That’s all it takes.
Also, when you answer questions before someone has to ask, you sound honest.
You remove friction. You become the shop that “just gets it.” That’s the kind of content is more likely to sell.
Jargon is more like shop-floor background noise. You don’t even hear it anymore. But your audience? They hear every syllable... and most of it sounds like a foreign language wrapped in a user manual.
Look, we get it. “Multi-axis vertical mill with live tooling and sub-spindle capabilities” sounds impressive.
But if your goal is to connect, swap the tech flex for clear language.
Say what it does, not just what it is. For example: “We make parts that move other parts. Really well.”
Of course, this doesn’t mean dumbing things down. It means letting more people into the room.
Because when people understand you, they trust you. And when they trust you, they share your stuff. Even if they have no idea what a sub-spindle actually is.
You know what’s more relatable than perfection? A part that almost made it, until someone realized it was upside down. Twice.
Sharing those small stumbles, the toolpath gone rogue, or the prototype that looked better in CAD than in real life, makes you look real. And real is what people root for.
Additionally, these moments are both funny and teachable, making them totally viral-worthy.
A quick clip of a part spinning off the table (safely, of course)? Gold. A “what we learned the hard way” post? Even better.
When you show that mistakes happen, and you know how to laugh, learn, and move on, you build a community of loyal followers who are more likely to trust you. A few might just even follow to see what happens next.
Nothing grabs attention like a side-by-side reality check.
Show the rookie mistake next to the expert move. Messy weld vs clean bead. Over-tightened fastener vs “just right” torque. A part loaded backward on the CNC (oops) vs properly fixtured and proud.
And don’t overthink it, just be honest and clear.
Such content educates others because you’re basically saying, “Hey, we’ve seen this go wrong before... here’s how to nail it.”
And people love that. It’s useful and shareable, even by folks who couldn’t define a chamfer if their life depended on it.
The ASMR-style content slows things down and reminds people that manufacturing is as much about accuracy as it is about sensory experience.
Make sure you record the subtle scrape of a tool on steel, the satisfying snap of a perfect cut, the low hum of a machine in sync with your every move. Then, crank the volume.
There’s something magical about hearing the precise rhythm of the shop floor from the clink of a wrench to the sigh of a part cooling down.
It’s oddly calming and weirdly mesmerizing. And yes, it works on social media. Studies show that ASMR content promotes “relaxation and comfort.” So, get those ASMR vibes going. Your audience will never hear your factory the same way again.
Look, we’re all busy, and your content is too valuable to let it gather dust in some forgotten corner of your site.
So, let’s talk about the benefits of recycling... content, that is. Not just once, but over and over again.
Got a blog post explaining how your CNC machines work? Perfect. Now turn that into a 30-second explainer video. Maybe it’s a behind-the-scenes clip or a time-lapse showing the process in action.
Repurpose your customer testimonials into social media posts. Take that “day in the life” story and create a visual series out of it. That webinar you did? Snip it into bite-sized insights for LinkedIn.
Less work for you = more room to do what you do best. Win-win.
And they’re not guessing. As of 2024, 75% of video marketers are already using AI tools to speed up scripting, editing, and repurposing, making consistent content far easier to keep up with.
By now, you’ve got content ideas. You’ve got machines doing cool things. You’ve maybe even got a few videos sitting on your phone, waiting to be posted.
Now comes the part most manufacturing brands overlook. Where you post matters just as much as what you post. Manufacturing social media isn’t a one-size-fits-all game.
Each platform has its own personality, its own audience, and its own unspoken rules. That’s why 93% of manufacturing marketers use LinkedIn to distribute content. It’s not because LinkedIn is trendy. It’s because that’s where decision-makers actually pay attention.
If manufacturing had a digital shop floor meeting, it would be LinkedIn.
It’s where engineers scroll between calls, buyers quietly research vendors, and operations managers look for solutions they don’t necessarily want to announce in a meeting yet.
This is where B2B video marketing really earns its keep. Native video on LinkedIn gets around 5x more engagement than static posts, especially when it feels practical and familiar. A quick factory tour. A short process clip. A simple explanation of how something works or why it matters.
Here’s the part most manufacturing brands overlook. The manufacturing social media content doesn’t have to live only on the company page. Employee advocacy is hugely underused in this space.
It also helps explain why LinkedIn Live usage is up 89%, as more teams use real-time video for factory walkthroughs, demos, and unpolished conversations that feel human.
When engineers, managers, or leadership share videos from their own profiles, reach and trust tend to climb naturally. A plant manager walking through a process on their phone often outperforms a polished brand video, simply because people trust the person doing the work.
It’s less “corporate announcement,” more “here’s how we actually do this.” And that’s exactly why it works.
YouTube is where manufacturing content goes to age well.
As the second-largest search engine, it’s perfect for process videos, how-tos, factory tours, and product demos that people actually search for. Tutorials here don’t age out. A good one keeps working long after it’s published.
YouTube Shorts add a faster lane. Short clips compete with TikTok-style content, but with more B2B crossover and stronger search intent. A quick time-lapse or demo can hook viewers and pull them into deeper content.
If LinkedIn is about visibility, YouTube is about credibility.
These platforms may not scream “B2B,” but that’s exactly why manufacturing content stands out.
Manufacturing ASMR, satisfying process videos, sparks flying, parts clicking into place, and even recruitment-focused content perform surprisingly well here.
The difference is polish.
Highly produced corporate videos often underperform, while raw, authentic clips shot on the floor feel more engaging. People love seeing real work happen. They don’t need a script. They need honesty.
There’s solid data behind all of this.
B2B video content generates 1,200% more engagement than text and images combined. 71% of B2B marketers report that video converts better than other content types, and videos on social media generate 1,200% more shares than static posts.
That’s not hype. That’s behavior.
When manufacturing content is matched with the right platform, it stops being “just content” and starts doing what it’s supposed to do: attract attention, build trust, and drive action.
Humor offers a fast lane to connecting with your audience. But don’t just go for the obvious jokes or tired memes. Surprise your audience. Make them laugh when they least expect it.
For example, when showing the complexity of a machine that’s been in production for hours, cut to a “blooper reel” of someone dropping a tool.
Or take something that’s technically dry, like a factory safety briefing, and throw in a ridiculous reenactment — think someone in a hard hat dramatically dodging a traffic cone in slow motion, Mission Impossible-style. Add subtitles like “Safety Level: Expert.”
Humor is often about the unexpected moments that remind people you're humans who can laugh at themselves. When you pull it off, your brand becomes relatable, too.
If everyone’s doing sleek, polished product demos, give them something raw, like an unfiltered time-lapse of a chaotic assembly line, with all its beautiful messiness.
Or if trends are all about meme-worthy captions, drop a heartfelt message or an offbeat commentary that throws your audience off guard.
When you take what’s popular and add your own twist, that’s when you create something memorable.
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Yes. Manufacturing content performs well when it shows processes, people, and problem-solving. Audiences respond strongly to authentic factory footage, behind-the-scenes videos, and practical demonstrations.
No. Raw, authentic videos filmed on the shop floor often outperform polished corporate content because they feel real, relatable, and easier to trust.
Yes. Small manufacturing teams can create effective video content using simple phone footage, real processes, and authentic storytelling, which often performs better than high-budget, overproduced videos.
At the end of the day, you have to show your audience the real side of your manufacturing journey. Connect with them by sharing the triumphs and the failures that make your work so powerful.
And if you’re ready to take your content from good to viral, INDIRAP’s video production team is your perfect partner. With our expertise, your brand can break through the noise and leave a lasting impression. Book a free, no obligation discovery call today, and let's create videos that make your audience not just watch, but share and engage.
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