Alexandre Rizos, (@alexandrerizos) communications director at AXA XL, recently asked his Twitter followers for advice before training senior execs on how to use social media. The community delivered these top 10 tips.
Top 10 Tips
- Analyzing the competition and using content example from other leaders as best practices. @I_Am_GKennedy
- Do a competitive analysis other C-level execs
- Compare their content to your execs
- Use those examples as best practices
- Writing for an audience rather than for oneself. It’s not about trying to sound smart but helping and sharing your knowledge with others. @vivien_cuco
- Being authentic and understanding that no strategy can outwork not being yourself. Don’t force it. Authenticity always wins medium to long term. It’s very obvious when people are gaming those platforms. @ByGeoffW
- Not striving for perfection and instead focusing on consistency and refraining from the need to be perfect. Be willing to unveil a bit of your personality. @PaulineRiviere
- Starting small and building on, once comfortable with creating and posting content. Meet them where they’re starting – they’ll likely be knowledge rich but time poor. So, start with baby steps. Don’t overwhelm them by asking them to create video content and podcasts on day one. @SarahGoodall
- Being intentional about content and not posting hastily. Be you. Always remember: Don’t post anything in anger or haste that you wouldn’t feel comfortable having your name and photo put against when published on the front page of a newspaper. @luciekerley
- Not being scared. Don’t let fear keep you from posting. Yes, there are reasons to use care. But you should be present/active on a platform or two where your audiences spend time. @PRisUs
- Leveraging social media to build visibility in traditional media. Showing specific outcomes like “getting quotes in media/securing an interview” rather than numbers of impressions and engagements – unless you’re showing their score – senior leaders I worked with all have a cute competitive side 🙂 @gerryforcomms
- Not engaging with trolls. Be consistent, have a nice profile picture, pain is temporary, don’t feed trolls. @Prof_Plough
- Analyzing audience feedback to understand what works but accepting that it may not work again in the future. Study your audience reaction. Learn from it. Don’t get complacent just because something is working and don’t be scared to go against the grain of what’s working elsewhere. @rachelellenpugh
With these tips, senior execs can feel confident when posting content for themselves or their company.