03 Jan

Millennials are the tech-savvy generation that is quick to adopt new technology and platforms, and are eager to engage with others on social media. They expect a certain level of communication, especially when a brand has a social media account. This presents a unique opportunity for companies to engage with their audience. With many brand social accounts focusing more on promotional content, companies’ executives have the opportunity to engage with the consumer base in a different, more personal way. Now, more than ever before, executives are taking advantage of this opportunity and are getting on social media themselves to engage with the general public. In this article, we will look at how millennials view executives on social media and what this generation expects to see from them, as well as how executives can capitalize on these findings to improve their social...

17:07 / Articles / Guide
20 Dec

LinkedIn has released their list of the top 20 U.S. influencers on LinkedIn, which includes philanthropist Melinda Gates at #1, broadcaster Katie Couric at #10, and Wired's chief editor, Nicholas Thompson at #19. Coming in at #16 is Ed Bastian, who has had a long career at Delta Air Lines. He first joined the company in 1998 and has been serving as the CEO for the past three years. In this article, we will be looking at how Bastian uses LinkedIn and Instagram to shine the spotlight on Delta Air Lines. Unlike some of the other CEOs we have featured in our Executive Spotlight, Bastian makes stronger connections to his brand, with the majority of his posts directly mentioning Delta. We will analyze how executives can discuss their company branding on social media in a way that feels more authentic.     Why Executives...

13:32 / Executive Spotlight
06 Dec

Paul Polman is all about the “four Ps:" people, purpose, passion, and positive attitude. During his 10 years at Unilever, Polman was known for his own personal brand of responsible capitalism, focusing on sustainability. After stepping down as Unilever's CEO at the end of 2018, Polman went on to co-found IMAGINE, a B2B brand. It is a consulting firm that helps businesses tackle issues regarding climate change and inequality. Almost an entire year ago, we took an in-depth look at Polman’s Twitter account in our previous Executive Spotlight article. In this article, we will be analyzing his Twitter once more, as well as his LinkedIn profile for the first time, and see what–if anything–has changed since 2018.   Twitter: Sharing Articles with Users   Compared to our previous Twitter analysis, not much has changed with Polman’s content. He is still very consistent with the topics...

15:32 / Executive Spotlight
29 Nov

Employees are the most critical resource for any business, so by extension, employee retention is crucial in maintaining a productive and successful work environment. In one survey, 58% of employees say they have left or would leave a job with a negative workplace culture. There is a growing focus for companies in terms of building employee trust and loyalty, which is a topic Bernie Reifkind frequently posts about on his LinkedIn profile.   An Act of Kindness   Reifkind is the CEO of Premier Search, a hiring firm that works with healthcare companies to solve their staffing needs. The hiring process and finding the right person for the right role are all job-related aspects that Reifkind engages with on a day-to-day basis. On LinkedIn, his posts consist of providing real-life examples and advice to other executives, employees, and job hunters. In this article, we look...

14:21 / Front Page Execs
22 Nov

Co-founded in 2004 by Dan Price, Gravity Payments is a credit card processing company dedicated to providing independent business owners with a low-cost alternative, while aiming to have transparent business practices. Price made headlines when he raised the minimum salary for all employees to $70,000 while cutting his own $1.1 million salary by 90%. While Price and the company faced backlash from some other businesses, and even some employees, Gravity Payments has been steadily growing ever since. In 2014, the company processed $3.8 billion and this amount grew to $10.2 billion in 2018. Revenue and profits have also doubled, while customer retention has increased from 91% to 95%. For reference, the industry average is a mere 68%. Meanwhile, the number of employees has grown from 120 when the new minimum wage was announced to 200. As the leader of such...

21:25 / Executive Spotlight
15 Nov

What is #TeamTrees?   On October 25th, two YouTubers, Mark Rober and Jimmy Donaldson—better known by their channel name MrBeast—launched an initiative they call #TeamTrees. Each dollar donated means one tree will be planted with the goal of planting 20 million trees by 2020. The donations go directly to Arbor Day Foundation, who will be responsible for facilitating the planting. The trees will begin being planted globally at the start of 2020, with the process starting in areas with a warmer climate.  Raising over $8 million within the first week, the donated amount has since grown to $15,387,233 at the time of writing. #TeamTrees first went viral among the YouTube creator community due to other popular YouTubers making large donations, such as $69,420 from PewDiePie, $33,333 from TheOdd1sOut, and $20,000 from Jacksepticeye. However, when looking at the Top Donors list on Teamtrees.org, it is not...

17:24 / Front Page Execs
08 Nov

What Is Social Recruiting?    More job applicants than ever before are using online resources and social media in their job search. One study found that 79% of job seekers use social media to look for new opportunities. The majority of job searches these days are done online, so for businesses to effectively engage in social recruiting (also known as social hiring), a social presence is more important than ever before.  Social recruiting is when companies use social media to tap into this large group of online job seekers by sharing relevant content and appealing directly to potential talent. Social recruiting can include a variety of different processes, such as posting job ads on social media platforms or using social media to learn more about candidates.  An effective part of social recruiting is leveraging a brand’s internal resources in order to appeal to potential...

18:50 / Articles / Guide
01 Nov

John Legere is not the type of executive that wears a suit and tie–at least, not unless it's magenta in color. The CEO of T-Mobile, one of the largest telecommunications companies in the U.S., is anything but your typical executive. He has cultivated 6.49 million followers on Twitter, over 75,000 followers on Instagram, and over 390,000 followers on Facebook.    John Legere is Mr. Magenta   If you do not recognize the name John Legere, you may be more familiar with his nickname: Mr. Magenta. It is a catchy phrase that perfectly describes Legere. On social media, he is often wearing the color, whether it is a t-shirt, sneakers, or even magenta hair for #NationalHairDay. This color choice is no accident as it is the same iconic magenta of T-Mobile's logo. It is a smart and subtle way of indirectly calling attention to the...

18:11 / Executive Spotlight
10 Oct

"The higher up you go in an organization, the less you actually know about how the organization *actually* runs. And the CEO is always the last to know." This type of candidness is what you can expect from Jason Fried, the co-founder and CEO of Basecamp. He is not one to mince words, whether it is in his articles about changing business culture, or his tweets criticizing the tech industry having “more worst practices than best practices.” His opinions on how to organize workflow, how projects should be managed, and emphasizing better, ethical business practices neatly ties into the Basecamp brand. At its core, Basecamp is a project management software that emphasizes organization and efficiency in an effort to keep tasks on track. It streamlines communication to increase productivity and helps make projects more manageable. Basecamp is aimed toward businesses that...

14:20 / Executive Spotlight
02 Jul

Yes, executives drive more engagement on average than their respective companies on social media, and yes, your company should absolutely be leveraging its leaders (maybe that leader is you!) to support marketing objectives. If you’re ready to take the plunge and launch an executive social media presence for yourself or the executives at your company, congratulations on the sound decision, and check out our introductory guidebook if you haven’t already! Now, though, it’s time to start thinking about why leaders outperform brands and how to create effective social media branding that will ultimately resonate with your target audience and drive measurable results.  Research suggests that 84 percent of consumers trust recommendations from people they know. This may not seem groundbreaking in and of itself, but it’s particularly telling when combined with the fact that only 15 percent of those same respondents...

16:54 / Articles / Guide