18 Nov Build A Strategic Executive Social Media Presence In 5 Steps

Most brands today are active on many social media platforms — but more CEOs, executives, and business leaders are starting to see the value of being online as well. 

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 curate a personal brand, while also complementing the company’s overall marketing strategy. 

In this article, we go over five steps in building a strategic executive social media presence. Following these steps not only increases engagement on social media but can also drive results for the company’s overall marketing objectives. 

1. Define your social media objectives and goals 

To produce an effective social media presence, there must be clear goals in place and objectives that can be met. Executives should align their online presence back to their company goals. Having your company’s leadership team active on social media is an effective way to push toward company objectives. Our research found that executives and leaders actually outperform companies in engagement by as much as 320%. 

For example, if boosting traffic to the website is one of your company’s goals, executives could share a case study linking back to the site. Other objectives include personal branding, attracting talent, thought leadership, and networking. 

2. Understand your audience 

What is your target demographic? What types of content do they enjoy interacting with? These are some of the questions to ask when developing a social media strategy for executives. 

Research your target audience to find which platforms they use, what trending topics they are interested in, and what content they engage with most. If you need help choosing a platform, check out these two articles: 

• Which social media platforms should CEO use? (Part One) (LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook)
• Which social media platforms should CEO use? (Part Two) (TikTok, YouTube, and Pinterest)

Executives can also look into what people in their network are posting about and which posts receive positive feedback and engagement. For example, if an executive wants to attract new talent to support their company’s HR initiatives, one strategy is to use LinkedIn, which many users use to search for new jobs. Resharing the company’s “now hiring” post or creating an original post that links to the company’s career page are two ways to support HR. 

3. Share insights and be authentic 

Moving on, the next major step is to start sharing on your platform(s) of choice. Post about your interests, industry insights, and trending topics. If you’ve curated content around your audience, the focus now is to be authentic and keep up with trends. Users are more interested in engaging with content written in a natural voice rather than reading overly promotional marketing language. Talk about things that matter to you and bring in personal experiences to relate to your followers.

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As an example, in the post above, Elissa Liu shares her insights on a trending topic. She makes this post authentic by tying in her own experience and using an inspiring voice. To create engagement and connect with her followers, she asks questions and encourages them to share their thoughts through a comment. 

Here’s a tip: be consistent. Don’t share a post and disappear for weeks before posting again. Users are more likely to engage with those who are sharing content on an ongoing basis. 

4. Analyze the response 

Now that you’ve begun posting, there are ways to determine what is working and what’s not. Look at social media analytics to determine which posts or links followers are clicking on and how many people are seeing your content. Also, encourage followers to comment by asking questions and starting conversations. This is not only best practice but can help boost engagement with your content.

Social media is an effective place to analyze audience responses because people engage with content they want to see more of. Finding content that is working for you will be proven by how many followers are liking, commenting, sharing, and reacting. Executives just need to keep up with audience reactions and produce content that continues to engage. 

Of course, this all takes time. You won’t be seeing a high degree of engagement right off the bat, especially if you’re building your online presence from scratch. Building an effective and strategic social media presence takes time.

5. Get expert help 

Business leaders and executives have a lot on their plate and social media is often pushed to the side because of other priorities within the company. It can be time-consuming to keep up with followers, create and curate content, and find trends to speak about. In-house marketing teams are equipped to deal with their company’s marketing but may be less familiar with social media for executives.

This is where partnering with a marketing agency can help. Executive social media experts are a valuable resource to tap into. These agencies often offer full end-to-end services, such as strategy development, analytics reporting, content scheduling, and more. 

Is your company’s CEO on social media? 

Some marketers may understand the value of having their company’s CEO on social media, but those outside of marketing — like the CEO themselves — are often hesitant to use platforms like LinkedIn or Twitter. However, their online presence can positively impact the company’s existing digital marketing efforts in a number of ways. 

We recommend making it a goal to get your C-suite leaders on social media. Not only are more CEOs using social media these days, but it can also give your company an advantage compared to competitors who may not be using social media effectively. 

At Influential Executive, we provide end-to-end social media management including branding strategy, content creation, social media execution, and ongoing optimization and analytics. We work collaboratively with executives and teams to build data-driven strategies, and content that drives real engagement, and fulfills your business goals efficiently.

Check us out on LinkedIn for more insights or book a consultation today with one of our marketing experts to get started on your executive social media journey!

Book a 30-minute consultation today!