Organizational branding is greatly enhanced when C-suite executives establish strong personal brands on social media. Marketers and branders know that people generally identify more with individuals than with logos and corporate brands. In this article, executive consultant Rory Angold discusses five key strategies for executive officers in developing a winning social media presence.
1. Check Your Existing Footprint and Make All of Your Profiles Public
Start by examining how visible you are on social media and the internet as things stand. Google yourself and see what social media profiles are active and visible. Social media is a great way to manage your search results, but you do not want to have inactive LinkedIn or unused social media accounts pop up. List your profiles and audit each one to be sure that your profiles are open and available. The more information about your profile that you can directly curate and manage, the stronger your credentials will be for those who are interested in doing business with you.
2. Use Social Media to Maintain Thought Leadership in Your Industry
Senior executives can produce amazing exposure for themselves and their companies by regularly creating content on social media that is relevant and useful to members and students of their industries. Executives who strive to stay current on industry news and developments can contribute commentary that will catch attention and spark discussions on social media platforms. Social media posts also directly promote how an executive's company is responding to and driving industry news. Social media is also a fantastic way to share blog posts and other articles, as well as promoting company events and developments.
3. Create and Promote a Separate Bio Page on Your Company's Site
When potential customers and business partners search for you on Google, you will want to have your professional bio on your company's site included in the top results along with your LinkedIn and other social media profiles. Both you and your company's brand and reputation are enhanced by cross-promotion. Your company bio page should include links to all of your social media profiles, and each of those profiles should link back to your bio page. Include a good headshot and a strong narrative of your achievements and skills that apply to your executive position.
4. Personalize Your Branding with Lifestyle Content
Make your corporate brand relatable to people in the real world with some interesting personal content on your bio and social media profiles. Consider the typical demographic of the people who are likely to search your company's content and your personal information. Think of their ages, educational backgrounds, and their typical interests outside of work. Developing your personal connection with the people who search your content will also strengthen the branding connection between them and your company. Give some interesting insights into your hobbies, where you travel most often, and what industry-related books you are currently reading.
5. Produce a Good Combination of Timely and Evergreen Content
One of the greatest values of social media is the power of users to produce highly topical and timely content. To build a strong social media presence, you should look for simple ways to regularly generate content that is relevant to the news of the moment. Because regular content production is key, repurposing evergreen industry material is also highly valuable on a slow news day. Some content can be easily modified to address current events for meaningful reposting of previous content.
These tips and methods will help keep your company and your c-suite people active with cross-promotion and strong branding on social media platforms.
About Rory Angold
Rory Angold has two decades of work experience in leadership and executive positions. He last managed field teams in California, Nevada, Hawaii, Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming for Zurich Direct Markets, a $1.5B business. Mr. Angold, now serving as Executive Vice President at United Car Care is a results-driven specialist in automotive dealer consulting, training, and reinsurance with a proven track record of developing people, putting together a winning team with an infectious culture that empowers people to want to win.
