How can business leaders fill the ‘Big Void’ in their social media strategy?

Social Media has transcended geographical and economic barriers to connect millions of people in today's digital world. As a marketing tool, it continues to grow exponentially. Every company has started investing in Social Media as a go-to strategy for business needs. While companies continue to play their part, the management and business leaders should also understand the growing significance of Social media and devise strategies to leverage the most out of it.

Company IM2SMART has just presented its annual budget proposal, and this year they plan to increase its marketing budget by another 10%. Everyone, including the CEO, unanimously agrees, knowing very well that competition is growing by the day and there is an urgent need to widen the sales funnel to capture relevant market share.

Sounds too familiar a scenario, right? In a contemporary context, this scene could be playing right next to you, irrespective of the industry your company belongs to or the area your company is located in. Traditionally, the marketing team manages the budget, or they would get hold of their 3rd party agencies or execute a paid marketing strategy with their in-house team. But isn't that, again, following the same marketing practices? Why will it differ anyway, just because you are paying more to do the same?

The Big Void

Suppose someone asked you about your opinion on any company's most potent marketing tool. In that case, I am sure there would be a lot of differing opinions, from Influencer Marketing to Google Ads, from SEM to promoted posts on the company’s social media handles. The best choice is to focus on the Individual Social Media handles of the leadership team. Top leadership represents the face that clients and employees relate to when engaging with any brand. The outcome of this engagement molds their perception of the entire company, its expertise, its values, and its culture. Apropos, the social media profile of the C-Suite of any company becomes the most vital voice of the company itself.

But how many leaders take out time to maintain an active and consistent social media profile? This inability to find time is the big void that needs immediate attention by the company's top-level management to exploit the inherent marketing tool for more visibility and meaningful engagement. Also, a company can easily maintain its social media presence without bloating up the marketing budget.

The activity of the most influential leaders on social media increasingly reflects emerging leadership practices which will likely define the future of management. Not only does it provide compelling insights on how leaders are followed and admired today; it also paves the way for what the organizational structure of 21st century might be: more local and more distributed with a leader in sync with the company customer ecosystems. 

Prof. David Dubois, INSEAD

Why should the Leadership team be active on Social media?

The senior leadership team of a company is the repository of immense industry expertise. That is the group, which drives the company's policies, its values, and outlines its objectives. It also represents the company to its customers. When the leaders get active on social media, they drive the following attributes as an alternate voice of the brand:

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1. Thought Leadership:

In its most basic form, Thought Leadership is a three-dimensional attempt to:

1. Think and speak more profoundly. (Deep Story)
2. Anticipate and address more comprehensively. (Wide Story)
3. Connect and converse warmly. (Warm Story)

2. Brand Ambassadors:

To clients and employees, the leadership team occupies the prime real estate to represent the brand's best interests to their audience.

3. Humanizing the Brand:

By scripting compelling and organic stories, the leadership team has the unique advantage of representing their brand as a humanized version, creating a positive perception of the company, and initiating meaningful conversations.

4. Encourage Employee Advocacy:

Statistics have established that employees and future talent appreciate transparency in communication. Further, when team leaders are active on social media, the team members have also gone on to advocate the company's interests organically.

5. Realize the potential of Networking:

With a good mix of content posted on Social media, the top management has been able to reach wider audiences, and the conversations arising out of this have a better conversion rate than any paid marketing strategy. Mr. Anand Mahindra has 9.6 million followers on the Twitter community, while Mahindra Group has 1.3 million followers. Sometimes individuals become the more prominent player than the brand itself if they engage in social media efficiently.

“In Tesla’s case, we see their engagement numbers are high compared to other auto brands allocating spend in their digital campaigns. This may be a result of Tesla’s fans already being engaged and active users on Twitter and other platforms. The brand doesn’t feel the need to spend on paid social media marketing when their organic reach is so strong.” - Forbes

So?

We now know the significance of social media platforms when leadership engages them. It is now up to them to lead by example. Creating a winning digital persona for leaders is not time-consuming if addressed systematically. The graphic below illustrates the various steps to kick-start the activity.

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Remember, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Why don't you start yours today? We at 1729digital.com will be happy to partner with you in the next incredible journey you undertake. Feel free to knock on our door for any query you may have at contact@1729digital.com.