According to a study by social media branding firm BRANDfog, consumers and employees regard company leaders who engage on social media platforms with positivity. Perhaps it’s time for more CEOs to embrace the world of hashtags.
Consumers believe that leaders in the C-suite who engage in social media can benefit how they perceive a brand and its executive leadership. 78% of respondents said that CEO participation in social media leads to better communication, while 71% said it leads to improved brand image and 64% said it provides more transparency.
The social media presence of a company also has the power to influence purchase decisions. The majority of survey respondents (77%) said they were more likely or much more likely to buy from a company whose CEO uses social media to clearly define company values and leadership principles. An alarming majority (94%) said C-suite social media participation enhances a brand image.
Employees are also affected by CEO activity on social networks as this can influence their faith in the company. The study indicates that 82% of employee respondents trust a company more when the CEO and leadership team communicate via social media.
On the flipside, CEOs can benefit by gaining insight as to how consumers and employees are viewing the company and its products by tapping into the online community – something that reports and numbers cannot translate.
Here are 5 Top CEOs to follow on Twitter:
1. Jack Welch, GE: http://twitter.com/#!/jack_welch
2. Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Group: http://twitter.com/#!/richardbranson
3. Bill Gates, Microsoft: http://twitter.com/#!/BillGates
4. Eric Schmidt, Google http://twitter.com/#!/ericschmidt
5. Pete Cashmore, Mashable http://twitter.com/#!/mashable
Do you follow any CEOs on twitter and if so, who are they?
Source: http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1008929
These are some thought-provoking insights from eMarketer. On one end, I too see the benefit and positivity of consumers and employees reading tweets of their CEO. Given the generation and minor age gap between upper management (the CEO) and the employees, the usage of social media bridges the gap together. The tweets from the CEO begin to illustrate the CEO’s concern and mindfulness of the growing social media and marketing direction of the company.
However, on the other end, I can see how these tweets may simply be a facade and not reflective of the CEO’s true nature. Excuse my negativity, but on another note. Most CEO’s at this point perhaps will simply not have the time to deal with tweeting their business matters. If anything, this may end up to be the assistant’s work. Nonetheless, a informative read indeed. Thanks for sharing.