Tuesday, June 17, 2014

A Presidential-Size Opportunity Presented by Social Media


As a result of social media, we communicate in a different way than just 10 short years ago. We view fans and followers with heightened attention. We conceptualize ideas in terms of images and photos in a way we never did before, and BYW, we speak in capital letters rather than complete sentences.

While many individuals have developed a personal digital footprint, businesses – small, medium, and large – have also developed a presence on their preferred social platforms, some based on a specific industry. But where are all the Presidents of mid-sized businesses? If your company leader is AWOL from social media, isn’t it time for your brand to benefit from his or her participation?

Have you heard of Richard Branson, Mark Cuban, and Elon Musk? They’re the leaders and key storytellers of Virgin Atlantic airlines, the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, and the Tesla electric vehicle. But in addition to their countless accomplishments, they are also active in social media. All three are prominent on Twitter, which means that if they have product news, event news, or even a simple response to John Q. Public, it’s available for the world to read – in real time.

“Leaders who don’t understand social media are placing their company at risk of not capitalizing on business opportunities, as well as exposing it to unnecessary risk,” says Walter Adamson, a social media strategist of Kinship Enterprise in Australia.

And isn’t your President/CEO the number one brand ambassador among all of your employees? He or she could use the social platform of choice – whether Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, or LinkedIn – and provide industry tips, interviews of employees, interviews of industry experts, commentary about industry news, and the list goes on and on. Depending on the platform chosen, the posts could be short or long.

Employees would notice that the top brand ambassador has a social presence and that he or she wants to engage with both internal and external stakeholders. This would result in more social activity by employees, customers, and others. Media might even become interested in your brand, and that could yield media coverage.

So the question for all Presidents/CEOs is this: Do you have 10 minutes a day? Pick a social platform – probably Twitter and Facebook would be the best places to start. Then ask yourself, what you would say if you encountered Bill Gates in an elevator for two minutes? How would you describe your competitive advantage? What news would you share about your business? What advice would you seek? Now share some of that conversation on your preferred social platform – but be brief. See how easy that was? And here’s the secret: repeat tomorrow, the next day, and the next. 


You’ll be surprised by the rise in fans and followers, your brand awareness, and maybe, even in your sales.



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To read more, check out:
Weber Shandwick Study on the Social CEO:
http://www.webershandwick.com/uploads/news/files/Social-CEO-Study.pdf

“Is Your C-Suite Social?” by @JackieFunk
http://blog.serious4social.com/?p=84

“Five Reasons the C-Suite Can’t Ignore Social Media” by @Damian_Corbet
http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140331153610-28747562-5-reasons-why-the-c-suite-can-t-ignore-social-media

“Top 50 Social Chief Executive Officers on Twitter” by @ValaAfshar
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/vala-afshar/the-top-50-social-chief-e_b_3380055.html

Image Credit: Stuart Miles via FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet. I’ve been compensated to contribute to this program, but the opinions expressed in this post are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.



1 comment:

  1. A great article indeed and a very detailed, realistic and superb analysis of the current and past scenarios.



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