Executive Social Media 101 - How CEOs and Leaders Engage With Social Media

It's been commonplace for leaders to share their company on social media platforms, and the feedback they get from customers is often more constructive.

If you lead a business, your engagement with social media is an effective tactic in reaching out to existing and potential customers.

This article will see how influential executives use social media to connect and engage with platform users productively.
 

What's an executive social media strategy?

An executive social media strategy isn't just about how a company’s exec interacts with consumers on social media, but also how you can connect to other important influencers within and outside your industry.

As a result, the executive can build a robust relationship with prospects, customers, partners, influencers, etc. And a prime example is Elon Musk - his companies don't have a PR or sales department. He simply uses Twitter to connect with consumers.
 

Why is an executive strategy important?

Although many businesses have not yet introduced and fully embraced executive social media strategies, these types of campaigns are an absolute necessity in the 21st century.

For one, they provide a business’ executive with immediate feedback on how consumers' marketing efforts are being received.

For two, they help establish a company's voice and culture—as long as your approaches align with a consistent brand identity. And finally, they help to promote trust and loyalty among existing customers and prospects alike.

Let's look at more reasons to plan and execute an organizational social media strategy:

1. Recognition

Social media is a powerful tool for many organizations, and your company leaders must be present to use it properly.

Your leaders represent your brand and must maintain a presence online. When they do, they're providing proper accountability and promoting your company.

They're to be your company's face online, which is excellent for brand recognition and marketing campaigns.
 

2. Relationships

Social media is such a powerful tool in today's business climate, and your company will benefit from good leadership in this area.

A good executive strategy fosters consumer and producer relationships. The presence of a good company leader helps facilitate the connection between the company and its customers.

These connections aren't only beneficial to consumers, but they can lead to enormous benefits for producers as well, including increased credibility and customization opportunities.

By implementing this strategy, your company will be able to achieve more success online. This method also provides consumers with a general idea about the company's good work.
 

How to build an executive social media strategy

Well, some leaders know how to engage well on social media. Others either don't know how to do that or just like to keep it low and avoid being seen online.

The preparation and execution of your social media strategy will depend on the kind of personality you have in your leadership team.

1. Define your purpose

Before you embark on your journey, be sure to know why you're doing so. It's important to consider why you want your leaders on social media and what exactly they can offer.

As with any company, you need to ensure that the social platforms you pick correspond with your business nature and objectives. You also need to understand what your company is about and what to expect when the CEO or other leader leverages social media.

That way, everybody is on the same page - you’re carrying each other along rather than standing in opposition or at odds.
 

2. Set goals

Set goals and tell your executive team how to accomplish them.

If you want to focus on growing your customer base, you need a social media strategy that says so clearly. You can even set a specific number for this goal and discuss strategies with the executives.

The utmost importance of nurturing an executive social media strategy is to create a clear set of goals for the marketing/sales and leadership departments.

Incorporate awareness, referral, and revenue campaigns to understand their potential. Having a solid strategy in place will provide better efficiency and quality.
 

3. Target your audience

Targeting the right demographic is key to effective marketing.

Here, your audience could mean past, current, or future users of your product. The idea is to know more about your audience so you can market in a truly effective, efficient way.

With a targeted audience in mind, you'll land on the right ears and eyes easily. You don't need to go overboard with your message.

This is why you have to decide exactly who you intend to reach to successfully build an executive social presence.
 

4. Create content

Social media content marketing might seem overwhelming to many. But once you have a clear target audience, a goal, and a strategy in place, it can be much more manageable.

Engaging with others on social media is not optional, so you need to post content about your brand and products. It’s essential to post consistently and positively engage with others.

Consistency is a vital part of building a solid online presence. Ask your company leaders to sometimes make live videos, post pictures of their activities, and comment on happenings around them.
 

How to activate your executive social media strategy

Executives tend to underuse social media, but they can manage it. Follow these few simple steps for a seamless experience:

1. Training

Train your leaders on how to use social media to engage with your consumers, leveraging it for various purposes and staying engaged on the platforms.

Engaged conversations help spread awareness of your cause. Train your leaders on this. Train them not only on how to post captivating content but also on asking questions.
 

2. Explain the need to be online

Due to their busy schedules and tasks, it takes time to convince your leaders that connecting online will lead to brand success.

But you should explain the benefits of being accessible online, such as increasing visibility and communicating with loyal customers.

They are primarily logical, so you need to give them reasons to stay connected to your preferred social media channels daily.

They'll only make the active effort if you tell them why they need to be there - provide your executives with an exact reason, and they'll almost certainly show up.
 

3. Assist your executives

The best way to keep execs online is to help them stay active online. How?

Well, you shouldn't expect leaders to be online all the time. It can be difficult for them, and they may not perform at their best if they are constantly switched on for extended periods.

Executives should be allotted time to keep them online - it leads to great results.

It's challenging to keep executives online if their social media strategy isn’t specific. Schedule time for them, and suddenly they'll be able to produce more content for your business through their social media portals.
 

Executive tips and tactics for social media success

After setting up strategies for your executives, it is crucial to ensure they are effective. Productivity should be maximized so there is no reduction in overall earnings.

Let's look at a few tips for establishing an executive's social presence:

1. Be genuine

You might connect better with people online if your leaders are more personable, so don't let them be too formal.

They should take time out to be less severe online to reach out and relate with other people better.

Executives should have an online presence that is engaging without being too formal. This will help them build more of an interactive community online.
 

2. React and respond to consumers

Engaging in comments on social media posts is a good idea because it lets your business enter into discussions with your customers.

Ensure that your leaders actively respond to events happening around them by getting notified of essential or trendy activities.
 

3. Be reliable

Do you ever search for an executive's social media post to see what they say about a current issue regarding a company? Then you know how frustrating it can be when it’s unsure whether to trust the exec profile or not.

Ensure your company leader's social feeds are reliable, so when customers search for posts on happenings surrounding your company, they’ll be relieved to see it’s coming from a dedicated profile of the business owner, CEO, chairman, or some other leader.

This is very important if you want to establish a robust executive social presence.
 

What to take home

Your leadership team must be up to speed with your executive social media strategy. Go ahead and let them know what you're doing and help them understand the process they’ll go through.

Ensure every involved person is on the same page and knows exactly what is happening. This will ensure a unified effort, with each member making a meaningful contribution to the company goal.

These are the best ways for you to see your desired results.