EP #016: Why executives need to be active on social media

Executive Summary

• The historical evolution of social media adoption is akin to the early adoption of websites by businesses.
• There are parallels between Gary Vaynerchuk's success with WineLibraryTV and the potential for executives to benefit from personal social media presence.
• Allows an executive to maintain relevance within their network and establishing themselves as subject matter experts.
• Social media enables scalable engagement with personal networks, fostering reciprocity and opportunities for advice and connections.
• Consistent value addition on relevant topics via social media builds expertise and attracts audiences, emphasizing quality over quantity.

Deep Dive

Hey there - on August 6, 1991, the first website was created. While it’s hard to imagine, there followed a ten year period during which CEOs needed to be convinced that their business needed a website.

A few adopted websites at first. Most dismissed them. Websites are now ubiquitous, from checking the news to analyzing your pet's DNA. The early movers experienced outsized rewards for their foresight.

A similar evolution has been underway for the last several years.

In 2006, Gary Vaynerchuk posted his first video for WineLibraryTV. His actions took his family’s wine store and built it into $160,000,000 in personal wealth.

Whether it’s YouTube, LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram (or whatever comes next), executives stand to benefit from embracing social media personally rather than through their company’s online presence.

Here are two reasons why:

#1: Top-of-mind relevance with your network

You have likely spent an absurd amount of money (think college or grad school tuition) and time (conferences, working alongside colleagues at notable brands, networking events) cultivating a network.

This is likely a group of people with whom you have interacted in person and built up some level of trust and affinity.

In any aspect of growing a company - sales, fundraising, hiring, exiting - the starting point for advice, introductions, and deals is always your personal network.

But your network - like nearly all relationships - will whither if unattended over time.

Social media solves for this, at scale. You can maintain top-of-mind relevance with your network. This is particularly important for enabling your network come to you with help, rather than relying on your making the connection of how they might help you.

Side note: this obviously works both ways. You can (and should) help your network as both a good human and good colleague. But I’m specifically making the point about what’s in it for you.

Amidst all the noise out there today, this is a battle for relevance fought daily. While dinners, coffee catch ups, phone calls, and holiday cards can help, they’re too infrequent and too manually intensive.

Social media is a requisite part of the mix now.

#2: Growing an audience who sees you as a Subject Matter Expert

While most will listen to and respect the perspective of a PhD in Astrophysics about spaceflight, those credentials were earned over years (if not decades), not overnight.

The same is true for building a reputation as an expert in your space.

Social media provides one way to foster this expertise. And it’s done through the same daily formula:

Add value, consistently, on topics relevant to your audience.

This requires empathy, knowledge, and consistency. But it works every time.

The advantage of social media is its global reach. If you consistently talk about your industry, you will consistently attract others who are interested in your industry. Depending on the industry, this may be tens of thousands, not tens of millions. However, the previsions of this audience is far more important than the size of it.

Giving a TED talk is invaluable. But so is building the daily reps of teaching what you know, to an audience who needs that knowledge. Big things start small. Social media is a great place to build those daily reps.

What to do with this?

Whether your audience is on TikTok or Reddit, the instructions are the same: get started today.

Social media provides an iterative platform with real-time feedback. You will be able to learn - every single day - whether or not your network and audience value what you just said.

Use that knowledge. Iterate. Refine. Get smarter.

But you cannot do any of that unless you get started.

I’ve met with 500+ executives in the last 18 months to talk about social media. Most recognize the value of social media. Most have the same excuses holding them back:

1. I don’t have the time
2. I don’t like social media
3. I don’t know how

Fortunately, these successful executives have overcome each of these obstacles in building a business: they’ve made the time, they’ve gotten over their discomfort, they’ve learned (or found someone to do it for them).

Don’t let these excuses get in the way. Getting started, imperfectly, is far better than waiting for the perfect time or entry point.