03 Jun An Innovative and Compassionate Leader on Twitter
Brian Chesky is the co-founder and CEO of Airbnb, an online marketplace where users can list or rent homes for travel purposes. On social media, Chesky has positioned himself as a compassionate and effective leader. He shares his business expertise, personal interests, and shows his support for his company.
Continue reading as we analyze Chesky’s Instagram and Twitter content to show how executives can create an effective social media presence by being business-oriented on Twitter and more casual on Instagram.
A Strong Leader on Twitter
Chesky is very active on Twitter and this shows in the number of followers he has on this platform with over 481,000. On Twitter, he has positioned himself well as a thought leader in his industry by showcasing his leadership skills and sharing relevant company content. This type of positive first impression is extremely valuable and is what every executive should strive to achieve on social media.
As the public face of Airbnb, Chesky’s content will be viewed by a variety of different audiences, whether that’s someone interested in putting their home up on Airbnb or even potential investors in the company. He has effectively used his Twitter as a platform to announce new services in his own words rather than retweeting from the company’s main page.
While retweeting or resharing content from a company page can be done from time to time, we recommend that executives focus on creating original content, which Chesky normally does. In this Tweet, he describes why they created a new service and is very passionate about giving his customers the best experience possible. By doing this, he portrays himself as a very involved and intelligent CEO who is focused on improving his company.
Introducing AirCover for guests. This is the biggest upgrade to our customer service in a decade pic.twitter.com/mQYOIHwqN9
— Brian Chesky (@bchesky) May 11, 2022
Chesky consistently uses Twitter to retweet messages from other executives in similar fields. This includes advice, statistics, and tech-related information. This shows that he is involved in the business and tech world and keeps up with current topics. Twitter is an effective platform for staying informed on the latest news and industry trends. Executives can use this to show their expertise in topics related to their industry and comment on news stories.
Lastly, Chesky portrays himself as being a compassionate leader by sharing content related to charities and scholarships. For example, he is committed to helping Ukrainian refugees through Airbnb.org, a non-profit organization helping to house people going through a crisis. On Twitter, Chesky encourages others to host families and support the organization. He continues to speak about this topic beyond the height of its news cycle, showing that his efforts are genuine and ongoing.
Another example of a partnership he has formed is with former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama on the Voyager Scholarship. He adds a personal message in his announcement, which further displays his passion and authenticity.
This scholarship personally resonates for me.
My parents were social workers, and I wouldn’t have made it through the Rhode Island School of Design without financial help. Since then, I’ve been lucky enough to travel the world and learn from people different from me
— Brian Chesky (@bchesky) May 16, 2022
For executives that want to use their platforms to spread awareness about important issues, sharing information or resources with a large following has a positive impact on creating awareness and change. Additionally, it tells followers which social issues are important to executives, which can help make C-suite executives more relatable. When executives are viewed positively online, this also influences how others view the company.
An Authentic Personality on Instagram
Chesky has 73,000 followers on Instagram and posts a couple of times a month. Instagram is a more casual and image-focused platform compared to LinkedIn or Twitter. With this in mind, Chesky’s feed showcases his more personal side, such as posting candid photos and other topics that aren’t shared on his Twitter account.
In the past, he posted often about his dogs and his love for art. Chesky also uses his Instagram account as a way to share his own artwork. He does not repurpose this content on Twitter and chooses to keep it on Instagram. Chesky has also made use of Story Highlights on the platform, which is a way to save Stories beyond its 24-hour limit. For executives, we recommend using Highlights as a way to pin important content to the top of the profile.
We found that his more personal posts generally received more engagement than the business-focused ones. In general, this is a trend that we not only see on Instagram but across other social media platforms.
Due to the nature of Instagram, users are looking for more authentic and entertaining content from people they follow. For executives, it’s important to use platforms like Instagram to post relatable content and share their personalities. People want to know that executives of companies they love have a positive and likable character and that they have other priorities beyond making a profit and running a company. Instagram is an effective platform for this and executives like Chesky can be more active on it to increase engagement and overall public sentiment.
Improvements: Being More Active on Instagram and LinkedIn
One improvement that Chesky could make to his social media presence is to be more active on Instagram. His personal posts receive positive engagement and effectively show off his personality and personal interests. In general, we recommend posting around two times per week on Instagram in order to maintain an active feed.
Another improvement would be for Chesky to start using LinkedIn and repurpose content from Twitter, where appropriate. Currently, he has over 207,000 followers on LinkedIn but has only posted once several months ago. LinkedIn is an appropriate platform to share business advice, updates, and achievements. Chesky is already posting this type of content on Twitter so by repurposing certain posts, he wouldn’t need to create an entirely new social media strategy. The benefit is that his content will be reaching a new audience on a different social media platform.
In general, most of Chesky’s posts don’t use hashtags. In terms of best practices, we recommend that executives use hashtags in their posts to further boost their content’s visibility. For example, around eight hashtags on Instagram and two to three hashtags on Twitter.
Using Twitter and Instagram Effectively By Diversifying Content
To conclude, Brian Chesky has effectively used his Twitter and Instagram accounts to showcase his authentic and approachable persona. His Instagram features honest and personal content, which is an important aspect to include on all platforms, but especially on Instagram where casual content tends to perform better.
On Twitter, Chesky shares more content related to his company. The topics he shares and chooses to retweet all contribute to his thought leadership. He engages with content from other Twitter users and updates his followers regularly.
He is an excellent example of an executive who is able to tap into the benefits of two different social media platforms to create a strong online presence.
If you are an executive and you want to show the public that you are a strong and trustworthy leader, consider a multi-platform social media strategy. We provide high-level social media marketing to help elevate your personal brand and your business. Click the link below to book a complimentary consultation with one of our experts!
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