03 Feb Choosing The Right Executive For Social Media

When it comes to leadership positioning, it’s not just a CEO that should use social media strategically. What about other key executives, like the company’s CMO, CHRO, or even sales leaders?

Marketers must keep in mind that depending on their business objectives, certain messaging may resonate more strongly when it’s delivered by someone other than the CEO.

Below, we outline other leaders that marketers can strategically position on social media.

Leadership Positioning For Your CHRO On Social Media

DEI — diversity, equity, and inclusion — as well as other social initiatives are becoming increasingly important for companies. Why is this the case?

A growing number of stakeholders are interested in knowing how companies are handling these topics. For example, investors may consider investing in a business with a strong ESG (environmental, social, and governance) policy. Top talent may be more attracted to a position if a company’s values align with their own.

A chief human resources officer who is deeply involved in areas such as talent management and work culture is well suited to speak about these topics. Here are examples of social media content that could resonate more strongly with the target audience when delivered by a CHRO:

• Posting about the launch of a new sustainability initiative at the company
• Sharing an award the company recently won for being a great place to work
• Posting a thoughtful message on International Women’s Day
• Sharing a job posting about an exciting position at the company

CHROs deal with people, so our expert tip is to make sure their social media feed reflects this — take photos during events, show how your company’s CHRO is hands-on and engaged at the company, and ensure that the positive work environment is reflected in their social media content.

Leadership Positioning For Your CMO On Social Media

Marketing is about capturing your target audience through engaging content and storytelling. Chief marketing officers are acutely aware of what’s next in the company’s marketing pipeline, so they’re well-positioned to deliver key marketing messaging that aligns with social media content on the company’s accounts.

Here are examples of social media topics that CMOs may want to post:

• Sharing a recent award win for the company’s marketing efforts
• Posting a video to celebrate the launch of a new product
• Promoting the revamp of the company’s new site
• Cross-promoting the company’s recent YouTube video on their LinkedIn page

Keep in mind that CMOs aren’t just marketing their company’s products and services on social media, but they are promoting the “entire package.” This means that, like CEOs, a CMO’s content may contain broader topics, including work culture.

Leadership Positioning For Your CTO On Social Media

Every company wants to be seen as innovative, but what does it actually take to achieve this image? CTOs, or chief technology officers, are the executives that marketers will want to leverage if being seen as an innovative company is the goal.

Content focused on innovation often looks to the future of how technology and industries will evolve. Consider how many companies and executives began talking about the metaverse in 2021 and 2022. At the time of this article, the hot topic is ChatGPT. Here are some social media content examples that would fit in a CTO’s feed:

• Sharing the latest updates from the R&D team
• Creating a video speaking about top tech trends the CTO is excited about
• Posting an authentic photo featuring the research team’s latest brainstorm session
• Sharing a third-party article related to technology in the company’s space

CTOs on social media should focus on positioning their company — and themselves — as innovative leaders in the industry. In many cases, we’ve seen CTOs take a more curious and casual tone with their content, often asking their social media audience about their thoughts on new technologies. This is an effective way to boost engagement and create a more approachable persona.

Leadership Positioning For Your Head of Sales On Social Media

Sales leaders are often responsible for nurturing client and partner relationships, which makes their social media presence all the more important. In many cases, these individuals are already using platforms like LinkedIn to grow their network.

Often, sales leaders on social media lean too heavily on the company’s social media posts, such as resharing branded content too often without adding their unique take on the topic. Social media users want to see diverse content when it comes to the company’s page versus an executive’s page — otherwise, there’s little incentive to follow both pages. Here are some examples of social media content for sales leaders:

• Posting an image gallery of the company’s booth at a recent sales conference
• Linking to a case study on the website
• Sharing a custom graphic featuring a customer testimonial
• Sharing the company’s quarterly revenue milestones

What about posting about timely sales and other promotions? In general, we recommend leaving this to the company page. The most effective executives on social media are the ones that are authentic. Being overly promotional could be detrimental as it may align too closely with the company’s social media content. Social media users enjoy seeing new content on their feed and prefer engaging with original content.

Leadership Positioning For Your CEO On Social Media

Of course, we can’t forget about the company’s CEO who tends to be the marketer’s first choice when selecting who to position on social media. As the leader and often the “public face” of the company, the CEO is well positioned to share a number of company-related topics — but that doesn’t mean your CEO will necessarily want to do that. 

While they can talk about a wide range of topics, we’ve had executive clients in the past feel uncomfortable talking about certain topics that may resonate better when coming from someone else who’s more involved in that domain, such as sales. That being said, here are some topics CEOs can share on social media:

• Sharing high-level company updates, such as the launch of a new company initiative or major product or service
• Sharing success stories, such as an award win for the company or member of the team
• Posting thought leadership content that is relevant to their industry, such as a third-party article
• Highlighting key team initiatives, such as a recent fundraising event or conference appearance

Many of the examples we shared for other positions, such as CMOs and Head of Sales, may also fall within the realm of topics a CEO wants to discuss on social media.

Align Your Choice of Executive To Your Company Goals

Ultimately, choosing an executive to position on social media will depend on the business objectives a marketer wants to achieve. Whether it’s increasing brand awareness, driving website visits, increasing revenue, or another goal, the right messaging delivered from the right individual can make all the difference. 

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