According to Forbes, the majority of company executives spend less time on social media sites than most professionals. Almost 60 percent of directors spend an hour or less on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. 
The deciding factor for CEO participation on these sites was if it was helpful to their business. This is why any effort to encourage your CEO to invest time on social media must come with hard data that any such investments will pay dividends for the company.
There are two key audiences that benefit from CEO participation on social media—internal and external. Whether your company is a multi-national corporation or a mom and pop operation, having a business owner or director who actively engages with company personnel on Facebook or Twitter can be energizing.
Almost 73 percent of executives are eager to learn what their CEO is posting on these sites, so there is a real hunger for CEO interaction. Almost 52 percent of company personnel feel inspired by CEOs who are socially active.
On the other hand, the much larger audience of the public is just as enthusiastic to hear what a CEO has to say. Almost 69 percent of company executives polled by Forbes believed that CEOs who were active on social improved market credibility. This reflects the growing importance of social media as a channel for interaction with consumers. Consumers are no longer merely satisfied with a good product; they want to be making purchases from people and organizations that also satisfy their social standards.
If you are making an argument for your CEO to become more engaged on social media, you may want to ease them into the medium by introducing them to LinkedIn or Twitter. Your CEO is probably already familiar with both of these applications, but they may not realize the particular benefits that can come from their active participation.
To be convincing about the benefits of social media for your CEO, you should start with the hard facts. LinkedIn has 225 million users with the vast majority of these being professionals, executives and company directors. Among the most important channels on LinkedIn is the “Influencers” group, which publishes the thoughts of business leaders. This particular group has been instrumental in the increased success of LinkedIn in 2013. Since the introduction of Influencers, page views have grown 63 percent. This indicates that the business community is not only hungry to hear from CEOs, but they almost always expect them to use the LinkedIn platform to distribute their message.
While LinkedIn is a natural fit for many CEOs, Twitter may be more of a challenge. Few company executives are eager to parcel out their thoughts in 140 character blurbs, so it is important to provide some guidelines. Start slow and carefully analyze responses; provide advice on how to respond, but be sure to let your CEO create the tweet. Once they feel comfortable with the medium, you can allow them to take the reigns. Make sure they stay engaged regularly. These tweets can help boost your company’s profile at important times like holidays and product rollouts.
Social media for your CEO can be a challenge, but with the right encouragement and guidance, you can leverage their participation into greater brand awareness and a more enthusiastic customer base.
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