09 Jan Practicing a Multichannel Social Strategy

David Kerpen is an American author, entrepreneur, and public speaker. He is the former CEO and co-founder (with his wife Caroline Kerpen) of Likeable Media, a social media marketing firm established in 2006, and the current founder and CEO of Apprentice, a platform that connects entrepreneurs with growth-oriented executive assistants.

Kerpen also authored the book Likeable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on Facebook (& Other Social Networks in 2011), a New York Times bestseller. He is most active on Twitter and LinkedIn. In this article, we examine how he uses each of these social media platforms to further his business endeavors and share relevant and engaging content in the process. 

A Measured Twitter 

Kerpen is an effective thought leader on the platforms he frequents, and Twitter is no exception. He has over 53K followers on Twitter and uses this channel to share noteworthy content about what’s happening in the business world and the world at large. He does this by retweeting and quoting other content.

In terms of his Twitter profile bio, he effectively uses appropriate tags and hashtags. This helps increase the searchability of his profile, and additionally showcases more of his personality. 

Kerpen has also made use of Twitter’s pinning feature, which pins a post to the top of a profile. This is effective for a number of reasons, with the most important one being that new users will automatically see this content ahead of the rest of the feed. For his profile, he has pinned a post featuring his wife Carrie, which announces the sale of their company. 

Since audiences tend to appreciate and engage with content that is genuine and personal, this type of content helps to showcase Kerpen’s authenticity. Additionally, executives have the opportunity to use their social profiles to offer audiences a glimpse into their personal lives, whereas their brand’s account may be more general and promotional. 

NEW! 7 Key Insights from a Likeable Journey https://t.co/Z3b95aCIjJ via @LinkedIn

— Dave Kerpen (@DaveKerpen) April 5, 2021

Kerpen also drives traffic to his Linkedin page by including a link to LinkedIn and tagging LinkedIn on Twitter. This is an effective way for executives to cross-promote content across different platforms.

While he doesn’t tend to speak directly on issues, Kerpen often retweets newsworthy and more casual content on his profile. This showcases how Kerpen uses Twitter to share his positioning on certain topics without getting overtly political, which can be an effective strategy for executives who need to be cautious on how their content reflects on their company and any regulatory barriers they may face.

A Popular LinkedIn

With over 680,000 followers, Kerpen has a very large following on LinkedIn, a platform that he is very active on (often posting more than once a day). Some of the topics he is most engaged with include marketing, leadership, and business strategy. 

One aspect that makes LinkedIn unique is that users can write long-form content using LinkedIn Articles. Kerpen uses this feature often to share his thoughts that can’t be condensed into a shorter in-feed post. For example, after selling his company, he shared his insights in an article (linked below), which offers useful guidance and content for other entrepreneurs and professionals. Kerpen consistently shows that he is committed to personal growth and the impact of personal connections in one’s professional life. 

The “About” section on his profile page fully illustrates his career in a way that is engaging. He is able to weave important information about his professional background in a way that not only makes LinkedIn users want to read more, but also includes several important keywords. Including this information on his profile is helpful, as it may boost his page on LinkedIn’s results. Throughout his content, Kerpen emphasizes his belief that the people who surround us can impact our professional and personal achievements. 

Kerpen also shares content on LinkedIn that is relevant and shareable. That can be seen in posts like this one, where he discusses the business third week “ghost town” and asks questions to drive audience conversation and engagement. 

Improvements: Deploy Social Media Features More Fully 

Although Kerpen is very active on LinkedIn and Twitter, his practices can be refined even further by including more strategic keyword use. Inserting more keywords into posts and bios may improve discoverability and engagement on both platforms. 

David Kerpen, a Multichannel Social Strategist 

Kerpen is an executive who values the people he is surrounded by, as demonstrated by how he shares personal details on all his platforms, rather than solely showcasing his professional achievements. 

If you are an executive who is looking to plant an online presence across most major social media platforms, we can help! We provide high-level social media strategies that can help to elevate your brand and your business.