6 Ways Executives Can Use Social Media to Authentically Engage

Due to the pandemic, CEOs saw 90% more engagement on their social media posts in 2020 than in any other year. The truth is, CEOs who are active on social media tend to outperform their peers, and studies show that executives’ social media engagement can boost their bottom lines. According to Qnary, 56% of professionals report that executives’ social media presence positively influences their purchase decision, and 56% say they’re more likely to recommend the company to others. But many leaders aren’t sure where to start when it comes to improving their social media engagement. The good news is that there are achievable solutions available for them to embrace today. What is Executive Voice and why does it matter? Executive Voice is a program that guides key executives within an organization to leverage social media in support of the overall brand, startup, cause or small business they work to support. Because Executive Voice falls at the top of the brand awareness funnel, it has the potential to positively impact a brand’s mid-to-lower funnel marketing efforts. This matters for brands because:• 92% of employees expect C-suite leadership to speak up on issues of the day. (Edelman)• 82% of employees say they trust a company more when the executive team communicates on social media. (Weber Shandwick) • 75% of would-be buyers say thought leadership helps them determine which vendors to put on their shortlist. (ITSMA) • 73% of people age 35 to 54 actively seek brands that align with their values. (5WPR) What's in it for you Goal 1: Force multiply. When an executive shares thought leadership and subject-matter expertise, it can act as a force-multiplier for your brand story across key social channels. The average social media post from an executive profile gets 10 times the reach of a company’s post and receives twice the engagement. Goal 2: Inspire teams or potential talent.You can inspire non-executive partners, employees, and teams to regularly leverage their own social networks to expand your firms’ reach. Goal 3: Grow Share of Voice and drive business impact. You can also leverage existing social-ready content to improve Share of Voice in important conversations about what matters to your brand on social platforms, which support positive business outcomes. How to make Executive Voice come to life It’s time for executives to rip off the Band-Aid in 2021 and get started with these 6 simple steps: 1. Conduct a self-assessment and check out the competition. The first step in assessing your social media engagement is to compare yourself to the competition. Find executives in similar roles at competing companies and analyze how they engage on Twitter and LinkedIn. Study how many followers they have, their average number of posts in a given month, and how many likes and comments their posts get. If your engagement output is comparatively less, consider ramping up your posts and engaging more with other executives’ posts. 2. Build your engine through enhanced LinkedIn and Twitter profiles. Consider some tactical updates to your social media profiles. Think about how they look and sound at first glance. Perhaps you can update your LinkedIn or Twitter cover image by adding a photo of yourself speaking on a stage or panel. Add keywords to your LinkedIn headline, and rework your Twitter bio with wording that aligns your brand objectives with the right hashtags. For LinkedIn, be sure to check your privacy settings to ensure that your brand channel managers can tag you, increasing your exposure even more. 3. Fuel your engine with an engagement strategy. Engaging with your audience is a core part of your social strategy. Consistent, sincere engagement helps executives humanize their brand, engage with employees in a way that champions their voice, and increases brand visibility through likes and comments. Leave comments on posts from colleagues and business partners, praising them for their work or congratulating them on an announcement. Just make sure each response is unique and personalized. 4. Plan your content approach and posting strategy. You need to figure out an engagement strategy that works best for you and stick with it. First, figure out what you’d like to achieve with your posts. From there, decide the audience you’d like to reach, what kind of content you’d like to post, and the tone in which you’d like to say it. Then, you can solidify a posting schedule and start posting original and/or curated content regularly. 5. Consider upcoming moments you can be a part of.When choosing your posts, it’s also important to consider any upcoming calendar events or moments to post about. For example, you can highlight the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on February 11 or you can discuss your appreciation for your firm’s employees on National Employee Appreciation Day on March 5. 6. Think about how to measure efforts.Once you’re ready to amp up your social media engagement, you’ll need to measure your efforts. Each social platform has a way to track the performance of your social content strategy and the posts created from it. Your LinkedIn profile, for example, provides you with robust data to gauge how your efforts are working, for example. By closely monitoring this data, you give yourself the chance to “test and learn” against the strategy to see what works. This primer will get you started, but there’s always a way to optimize, try something new, or continue to learn from others. Follow Chelsea Marti on Twitter (https://twitter.com/chelseamarti) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelseamarti/) to get continued tricks, tips, facts, and stats about how to grow your social media voice.

6 Ways Executives Can Use Social Media to Authentically EngageFeatured

6 Ways Executives Can Use Social Media to Authentically EngageFeatured