How to Be a Social CEO and a REAL Brand Champion

Every time I work with a B2B CEO, we have a conversation about their commitment to branding and marketing. Are they really invested? What are they willing to do to see results?

Here are the hard facts:

• Many CEOs are willing to spend money on marketing.
• Most are willing to invest time in helping build the strategy.
• Few are willing to take the time to become a true brand advocate.

I get it. As a leader, time is your most valuable resource. But here is why the attitude of the average CEO around social media MUST change.

Key Stats about Personal Sharing on Social

You Are Special: Employee-shared content receives 8x engagement vs. brand-shared content (even if it’s the same content).?This goes double for if you are a CEO posting on your personal profile.

You Are Connected: Employee-shared content and brand messages are re-shared 24x more frequently vs. brand-shared content.

Your Opinion Matters: Leads developed through employee social marketing convert 7x more frequently than other leads.?

Your Efforts Pay Off: 64% of businesses that have a structured employee advocacy program also report a lift in revenue that can be attributed to employee advocacy efforts and social selling.?

If sharing content and being a brand advocate doesn’t matter to leadership, why should it matter to the rest of your team? Be the leader in brand advocacy.

Why Post Content from Your Personal Profile?

Many CEOs have a much larger personal network than they do company page following. Even if not, your content will be more effective reaching your personal connections since they already know/like/trust you. It also helps you grow your following which uplifts the company page (the two are synergistic). If you are also the leader of sales in your organization, this is even more important since social selling will help your pipeline greatly.

What Type of Posting Goes Where?

Here’s a straightforward way to “divide and conquer” with your company page vs. your personal profile. Use this list to determine what your marketing team should post vs. what you should post.

Company Page

• Goal: Establish brand authority and drive awareness + web traffic

• Focus: Brand position, industry expertise, community insight, and education.

• Voice & Tone: Polished, data-driven, and focused on your offerings.

• Purpose:? Brand building. Post educational content, client success stories, and interact with industry communities.

• Engagement: Reshare from key communities: Engage with industry-specific posts and communities to increase visibility and credibility.

• Share: Use a variety of content: Mix videos, articles, polls, and testimonials. Showcase measurable results for clients.

Your Personal Profile

• Goal: Build personal credibility and foster authentic relationships
• Simplify: be clear on who you are and what your topics are. Ask your inner circle and consider what makes you angry

• Focus: Personal connection and thought leadership. Create a dialogue.

• Voice & Tone: Informal, showing behind-the-scenes or your day-to-day.

• Purpose: Not for selling, but connecting: Share personal stories, comment on relevant posts, and build authentic relationships.

• Engagement: Comment on conversations and posts: Add personal insights on industry posts. Keep interactions personal and relatable.

• Sharing: Reshare from the main company page with comments. Add your personal touch and opinions.

Want ideas for getting started? Watch this episode with our social media specialist.

What Does It Take to Be Effective as a Social CEO?

Honestly, 1 hour per week is sufficient to achieve significant gains. You just need to laser focus on the activities that make an impact.

Here's what to focus on:

• Create content that demonstrates your expertise | experience | energy
• MAKE SHORT VIDEOS! (30-60 seconds, on your phone is fine)
• Short inspirational posts (passion and philosophy)
• Showcase your team members and your customers
• Share the content of others in your network
• Reshare content from your company LI page
• Talk about your “Why”
• Share lessons you’ve learned

How to make it easier:

#1 Do a brain dump once per month. Set aside an hour to think of all your ideas and get them documented. That way, you don’t have to “come up” with something when you feel uninspired

#2 Block the time each day on your calendar for social (15 min 4x/week). No excuses. Do it!

Looking for more advice from one social CEO to another? Book time with Dacia Coffey to learn how to take your brand advocacy to the next level.

#SocialMediaMarketing #PersonalBranding #B2BMarketing #BrandAdvocacy