08 Dec Setting Executive Social Media Goals for 2024

As 2024 quickly approaches, it’s clear that executive social media is not only here to stay, but has become an even more integral part of many digital marketers’ strategies. Not only is positioning the company on social media vital for creating a strong online presence, but more CEOs and executives are also strategically establishing themselves on social media — and reaping the benefits, such as increased brand awareness and credibility.

Whether you launched an executive social media program this year or you’re still looking into it, here are some goals to focus on in 2024!

For those just getting started with their executive social media program…

In 2024, one of your goals could be to start positioning one (or a number) of company executives on social media. Their online presence will complement your existing digital marketing activities, including your company’s organic and paid social media strategies, email marketing, SEM (search engine marketing), and so on.

Before you even start strategizing about content and what to post, it’s important to start with the basics. Who exactly should you build a social media presence for? While your CEO might sound like the best option, it’s not your only option. Other leaders, such as a chief innovation officer or chief marketing officer may be better choices — it all depends on the business objectives you want to achieve.

Think about the specific goals you’re aiming for. Is the social media presence meant to enhance the individual by positioning them as a thought leader within their field? Or is their presence meant to communicate brand-related messaging? Or is it a mix of both? Understanding the reason for positioning an executive on social media can help direct your overall digital marketing program.

Here are some executive social media goals for this stage:

• Choose the right executive(s) to position on social media (we have a handy guide here to help you make this important decision). Sometimes, it’s not an obvious choice — and sometimes, too many executives want a marketer’s help to create their social media content!
• Research digital marketing agencies that can help you. Partnering with experts who offer a variety of executive branding services can help marketers navigate executive social media — and get you off to a strong start!
• Consider how many social media apps your executive should be on. In general, most executives will be positioned on LinkedIn, but don’t discount the other platforms as well, like Instagram, X, and even TikTok!

For those in the early stages of their executive social media program…

After a few months, once your executive’s social media program is off to a solid start, marketers should start thinking about ways to support their executive’s digital presence. If you started their social media account from scratch, chances are engagement will be low. This is perfectly normal, especially as they start to gain more followers! However, there are ways to start supporting their digital presence, such as promoting them on your company’s social media page or making use of platform features like thought leader ads on LinkedIn.

In these early months, it’s also important to be able to quickly pivot if you and your executive find that certain content is resonating more with audiences (or if a certain topic doesn’t gain any traction). That being said, sometimes there’s a strategy for keeping content topics that may not perform as well as other topics. Based on our findings, employee-related content tends to perform well, while thought leadership content may not perform as well. However, thought leadership content can help position your executive, so there is strategic value.

Here are some executive social media goals for this stage:

• Keep a close eye on the types of social media formats and topics that are being posted — and how well they perform. You may want to adjust the types of content being created in order to better suit your executive’s audience.
• Are Your Executive Social Media Goals Too Unrealistic? Sometimes, reality doesn’t match expectations, and some of your executive social media goals may be too lofty.
• Help grow your executive’s social media reach. Check out our guide, 9 Ways to Support Your Executive’s Social Media Presence. Sometimes, it’s as simple as resharing one of your executive’s posts on the company’s page.

For those managing an established executive social media program…

If your executive is well-established on social media, now is the time to start thinking about ways to take their presence to the next level. Consider these strategies:

• Creating custom graphics for the executive’s content
• Leveraging video content, which is very popular among users across social media platforms
• Launching the executive’s presence on a new social media platform

Once you achieve success with one executive’s social media program, now is also the time to consider other individuals at your company who could benefit from having an online presence. Different executives can drive towards different business objectives, so there shouldn’t be any fears of “cannibalizing” content. For example, if your company’s CEO mostly discusses company culture and thought leadership content related to their industry, your CTO might want to focus their attention on the innovation at your company and thought leadership related to a specific niche in the tech space they’re interested in.

Here are some executive social media goals for this stage:

• Are you not seeing the results you were hoping for? Take a look at this article, 5 Reasons Why Your Executive Social Media Fails. Sometimes, it’s a matter of rethinking your strategy, keeping up with the latest trends, or being mindful of best practices.
• Take a look at your social media strategy for your executive and think about whether or not positioning them on a second or third social media platform could support your business objectives. While many executives choose LinkedIn as their first platform, this type of content can be easily adapted to a platform like X (formerly, Twitter).
• Once your executive social media is well established, now may be the right time to approach other executives at your company. If some are hesitant, check out our article, 5 Reasons Why CEOs Don’t Want To Be On Social Media.

Level Up Your Executive Social Media!

Whether you’re still thinking about creating a social media presence for your executive or you’re looking for ways to make their existing social media presence more strategic and business-oriented, it helps to start with the basics: what goals are you aiming to achieve?

For marketers who want to learn more about how an executive social media presence can enhance their existing digital marketing activities, we’re happy to support you! Schedule a call with one of our social media experts and let’s discuss the ways leaders at your business can help drive toward your 2024 business goals.

Start strategizing for 2024 — today!