Social media is the most popular way to disperse information these days. People of all ages are participating in social media sites, even if it is vicariously through their family members. In fact, mainstream media often uses social media to interact with viewers, perform question and answer sessions or get a feel for the mood of their audience. Therefore, even CEOs of large corporations should be utilizing social media to reach their employees and customers as well as receiving feedback from them.
Social media doesn't have to take a lot of time from your day. Since most CEOs don't have extra time to participate in activities, social media is actually an ideal way to interact with a large number of people quickly. One of the advantages of this form of marketing is that it offers depth in communication. Social media is set up like a spider web or referral network. Each person you reach can pass on your message to several others. The following suggestions take no more than 20 minutes per day.
Twitter and LinkedIn are probably the best places for a CEO to post unless your company has a large following elsewhere. You might have an employee network on Facebook, for instance. If you post a link to either your own blog post or one from another executive in your company, you can keep your followers updated and interact with them. By commenting on it, you can offer your own insight and see what feedback your comments engender. LinkedIn also gives you a chance to interact with peers in your industry or related industries and bolster each other's audiences.
Personal is relative, and you can post something that happened in your office to yourself or a co-worker that other people can relate to. It can be something that impressed you, an anecdote from your week or extra effort an employee took for one of your customers. There is no need to talk about your own family unless that is something you want to do.
Thought leadership is one way that you can help build your brand. Quotes resonate with many people in all walks of life and they get reposted on LinkedIn, Tumbler, Facebook and many other sites. If you can put the post up in an image format, even better, because then it will also get reposted on Instagram, Pinterest and other visual sites. Your favorite quotes show your own personality and can also intrigue customers enough to want to learn more about you.
It's amazing how many people get their news from social media nowadays. You can influence that news by promoting your brand from your point of view, not as a marketer, but as a leader. You can also talk to people directly and offer your own insight into current events related to your brand.
In the case of big news, good or bad, about your brand, you may find that you have a need to get the word out officially. Social media offers an opportunity to do just that and very, very quickly. If your company has a disaster, or a big announcement, your followers on social media will snatch your post up and spread the word for you.