In this Executive Spotlight, we will be looking at Gene Kelly’s LinkedIn and Twitter accounts. As the chairman and CEO of Southwest Airlines, his company has been greatly impacted by the coronavirus and governments setting restrictions on travel. As we will discuss in this article, Kelly has used his online presence to promote a sense of optimism by focusing on positive company initiatives....

The benefits of social media for businesses does not end at the brand’s presence, but can also extend to include its leadership team. Whether handled by an in-house marketing team or an outside digital marketing agency, more executives are establishing a stronger online presence through popular platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. When executives use social media to establish their personal branding, this has been proven to be a highly effective way to complement a brand's existing social media strategy. When establishing your executive social media program, one important step is to set key performance indicators, or KPIs. As the name suggests, KPIs help measure the performance of your campaign. It is helpful to think of it as a measurable goal that can be set before the social media campaign begins. Throughout an executive's social media program, these numbers can be...

Many brands today have a social media presence and more executives are seeing the value of being online as well. As a part of a brand’s marketing strategy, executives on social media can be an impactful driving force when it comes to accomplishing business goals. The most effective executive social media accounts are the ones that can stand on its own, while also complementing the brand’s overall marketing strategy. In other words, these are executives who post their own content rather than retweeting or copying every post from the main brand account. In this article, we analyze content tone and topics that resonate best when delivered on an executive’s social media account rather than the general brand account. Digital marketers can use these differences to develop their own social media strategy that is more holistic in its approach.   Brands versus Executives on...

Creating and maintaining an online social media presence is crucial for today’s executives. After all, research shows that over two thirds of consumers believe companies with a social CEO are more trustworthy. This is because many users feel that individuals, like C-suite executives, are much more approachable and relatable than general brand accounts where they do not know who the individual is that they are interacting with. When executives create content for their social media account(s), publishing business-related content can be an effective way to deliver brand-related content and updates. However, one of the biggest mistakes executives make on social media is creating brand-related content that is overtly self-serving or promotional. In this article, we will discuss how executives can seamlessly balance an authentic tone with brand-related content to achieve their business goals, as well as some tips at the end...

Content mix is an important factor when developing a social media strategy for executives. Original video content draws a great deal of engagement among users and sets the executive apart from those who are not utilizing video as part of their strategy. While the majority of social media content is comprised of text or images, videos have grown to become an important part of online content diversity. In fact, one study showed that social media posts with a video gets shared by users 1200% more than other types of posts, such as text and images. In this article, we will be discussing how original video content can benefit executives on social media by giving them another way to connect with their followers.   Why Executives Should Implement Video Content   When it comes to video content, many studies have shown how important this type...

On February 18th, 2020, Sandeep Mathrani begins his role as CEO of WeWork. He was previously the CEO at Brookfield Properties Retail, so his experience in the real estate industry has many hopeful that he can turn the struggling company around. While it appears Mathrani has accounts on both Twitter and LinkedIn, both profiles have not been updated in a long time. He has not tweeted since 2014 and his LinkedIn profile makes no reference to WeWork. It is not often that we feature a CEO that has no social media presence, however Mathrani's new position opens the door for him to implement an executive social media strategy. In this article, instead of analyzing his accounts, we will instead look at the conversation surrounding him on social media. We will then discuss how these topics are relevant and can be shared by...

When executives join social media, one of the biggest decisions they face is selecting which social media platform(s) to join.The most popular apps for executives are LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. For executives who are not familiar with these platforms, a common mistake they make is thinking that all social media platforms are the same. However, as we have seen in our previous Executive Spotlight articles, successful executives on social media are the ones that truly understand the unique benefits each social media platform has. This week, our article focuses on the chairman of Mahindra Group, Anand Mahindra, and his Twitter content. While he also has a LinkedIn and Facebook account, both are inactive with no posts. However, through our analysis, we find that Twitter is the most effective social media platform for Mahindra's content. In our analysis, we will take...

Over the past week, one funny meme has gone viral across social media. With over 500,000 posts on Instagram alone, the origins of the meme came from an unlikely source–74-year-old country singer, Dolly Parton. Her original posts have received a lot of engagement so far. On Twitter, her post has almost 40,000 retweets and over 250,000 likes. Her post on Facebook has garnered almost 3,000 comments and over 14,000 shares, while on Instagram, her post has received almost 15,000 comments and over 1.1 million likes. https://twitter.com/DollyParton/status/1219681321762656256   The meme has spread across social media platforms with adaptations created by brands, celebrities, and the general audience using #DollyPartonChallenge. In this article, we will take a look at what makes this meme so popular, and some executives who have posted their own version.   The #DollyPartonChallenge Meme and Why it Spread   The #DollyPartonChallenge is a collage of four...

Mary Barra is the chairman and CEO of General Motors and with over 1.2 million followers on LinkedIn and over 48K followers on Twitter, it is clear that she is a well-connected executive. For many executives who act as a brand advocate on social media, one of their core strengths is maintaining consistency in their tone. In this article, we will take a closer look at how Barra’s social media strategy helps reinforce a positive brand image.   LinkedIn: Sharing Original Articles   First, we will analyze Barro's LinkedIn profile. The header image features a look inside a General Motors factory, emphasizing the industry she is in. Compared to her Twitter profile header, this is more brand-related and speaks more about the tangible products the company offers.     The majority of her content is brand-related, whether it is an original article, sharing a post from another...