In addition, as they navigate this hyper-connected, unforgiving social media era, the best brand leaders also have to make it a priority to communicate effectively. Given that remote working is now the norm for organisations across the globe, leaders and managers must also work to build trust with their people through regular communication – ramping up their employee listening efforts and above all showing compassion and humility.
Looking at statistics, this mindset is clearly a huge missed opportunity:
Social media has given consumers and employees unprecedented access to brands and their representatives, encouraging them to hold brands accountable in real-time. Transparency and maintaining a human presence online are critical for the success of any company and their CEO.
Understanding how to build your brand on social media channels – and specifically the go-to business platform of LinkedIn – is now a business imperative. Why? The answer seems obvious: as a professional, LinkedIn is the primary way to connect with others and brand yourself online; participants in Business Insider Intelligence’s Digital Trust Report have consistently ranked LinkedIn as the most trusted social media platform annually (2017 to 2020).
As such, I have become one of those people on LinkedIn, looking at status updates, news articles, profiles of connections, searching for potential referral partners, and more. And I can say, with proven consistency and honest conviction, the strategy does work. Everyone tries to check you out on LinkedIn before you meet, and first impressions, as you know, go a long way.
Aside from the personal gains of communicating your brand correctly, there are a variety of corporate reasons to get it right:
By having a CEO on LinkedIn who is vocal about the company's mission, vision, and values – and addresses how the company is living up to these promises – can act as a rallying cry for all employees to embrace these values in all they do at work. Not only is this great for employee morale, but it can positively influence customers and prospects as well.
By curating LinkedIn content that constantly engages with your audience, you are creating a platform that they can trust and provides them with credible information. This will serve you well when you have something negative to share. The last place you want to find yourself in is sharing your first post and it’s about a problem. There is credibility in transparency regardless of the news, and followers will appreciate open clarity far more than sporadic negative announcements.
Without utilising social media, CEOs are missing a crucial opportunity to break down barriers between the C-suite and their employees. When a CEO is active with posts, updates and even videos, they are demonstrating that they want to create visibility and engagement with stakeholders.
Of course, a profile is always the logical starting point for any LinkedIn activity. If your CEO is “social shy,” take it one step at a time. We’ve made that step even easier with the introduction of our LinkedIn Executive Training programme, which is designed to help business executives and CEOs understand the essentials of social media and how they can use it for business. We’ve taken the daunting aspects of the LinkedIn platform and provided you with an executable and maintainable strategy that will help you become the company champion in no time.
With the high-speed rate that the social world is evolving, can you really afford not to learn how to properly leverage your brand to position yourself and your company appropriately on LinkedIn?