Having an active social media presence isn’t just for celebrities and prospective influencers these days. CEOs and business leaders are influencers too. Their social media presence helps drive public opinion, strengthens their company’s brand and develops them as leading experts in their respective industries. Here are a few key lessons to be gleaned from the social media accounts of the world’s top business leaders:

Establish credibility

It’s okay to brag a little when it comes to fleshing out your executive summary. Oracle CEO Mark Hurd’s LinkedIn profile is one notable example of this. Within the content of his page, Hurd clearly and extensively details his experience in executive management, technology, and sales over his 30-year career, with specific callouts to various keynote speeches, sales figures, and company acquisitions. He also lists his publishing accolades and educational background.

When creating your own LinkedIn profile, profiles like Hurd’s are great to use as a reference. As a professional networking platform, LinkedIn is one of the few places where you definitely don’t want to be shy about what you bring to the table. Be sure to make number-specific references where applicable, and include any supporting files, images or slideshows that support your expertise.

Individuality is important

Curating an online presence is as much about developing your personal brand as it is supporting marketing efforts within your company. T-Mobile CEO John Legere knows this firsthand. If you take a look at his Twitter, you’ll find a string of tongue-in-cheek, relatable tweets and unscripted interactions with real customers. His fun, laid-back approach has helped net him an impressive six million followers; that’s more than the CEOs of Sprint and Verizon combined.

The secret is to curate a feed that fosters plentiful content to retweet and striking a balance between professionalism and humor in your own tweets. If you’re able to do both, you’ll be on the right path to becoming a popular account on the Twittersphere.

Offer exclusive content

Gary Vaynerchuk, a serial entrepreneur and speaker, is well known for his efforts in digital marketing, particularly in founding leading New York City agency VaynerMedia. He’s also gained increasing popularity on Instagram, where he shares motivational videos and advice for the aspiring entrepreneur and regular user alike. At nearly 5 million followers and counting, it’s clear he’s found the recipe for social media stardom.

The key is to focus on sharing practical, widely-applicable advice and offering up exclusive content like short video clips that are easy to digest and share and that address a common problem or pain point. If you’re able to provide solutions, people will keep watching, sharing and following.

Share the spotlight

Businesswoman and media mogul Ariana Huffington knows a thing or two about strong writing. Her Facebook feed is chock-full of engaging articles from a variety of authors and from sites like Thrive Global (of which Huffington is a founder) and The Washington Post. She’s also known for sharing videos and inspirational quotes from female leaders. She’s not shy about sharing the wise words and expertise of others, a trait with which many business leaders struggle.

As we mentioned earlier, curating a rich feed with content from other sources shows your ability to consider the bigger picture and engage with your industry at large. Creating a supportive online platform to share not only your own words but also the words of your employees, peers and heroes only serve to make you more well-rounded, which is always admirable.

It pays to be prolific

Blogging is a tool often used by business leaders to disseminate their expertise. Content marketers like Larry Kim, CEO of MobileMonkey, take it one step further, publishing content not only to their own channels but as contributing authors on content-focused social media platforms like Medium.

We understand that you’re probably a very busy person with limited time to spare, but taking the time to establish yourself as an author on several sites is worth the payoff of staying relevant and building credibility. Content marketing is fast becoming one of the most prevalent themes in marketing, so why not jump on board if you’ve got something to say?

 

Whether you’re a business owner, a marketer or simply an individual looking to up their social media game, there’s a lot to be learned from the various online approaches of top CEOs and entrepreneurs.

Author: Sara Carter

Sara is the Co-Founder of Enlightened-Digital, an online magazine. An avid programmer, she writes about a variety of technology and business trends and their implications for real-world change.