According to a study by BRANDfog : “…nearly three-quarters of US respondents believe a company whose C-Suite executives and leadership teams use social media to communicate about core mission, brand values and purpose is more trustworthy.”
It is becoming more and more evident that Social Selling takes a village. Perhaps if we think of “Social Selling” as “Social Influencing”, then our thought processes as CEOs might shift. After all, in today’s digitally enabled environment, it is no longer about selling … it’s about influencing the buyer.
The demands of the job are great, but we wouldn’t have the job if it weren’t for our clients. It’s our responsibility to be transparent, provide thought leadership, and listen to what it is that our prospects, referral partners, COI’s, and clients want. It is our responsibility to contribute to making their day-to-day lives and routines a little more impactful.
Here are 3 things that you can do on LinkedIn as a CEO that will impact and influence your professional network on a regular basis. Dedicate 20 minutes per day… baby steps at first.
Optimize your LinkedIn Profile. Better yet, have your profile optimized. Be sincere, transparent, and open. Yes, optimizing your LinkedIn Profile will help you get found faster in LinkedIn and Google searches. But don’t forget to show your personality and sincerity with the content on your profile. Also, don’t be afraid to exhibit your subject matter expertise. Yes, the summary and experience sections are important. Don’t forget about your volunteer work, organizations, awards, certifications, interests (professional as well as personal), publications, patents, and recommendations. Also use your profile to feature videos, marketing materials, slide decks, and case studies. Even though it’s your profile, it’s not for you, it’s for the people that are taking the time out of their day to visit it. As CEO, your personal brand IS the brand. A study by Weber Shandwick backs up this observation: 68 percent of customers say their perception of a CEO directly impacts their perception of the company. Your profile should be a landing page that reflects your capabilities as a professional and relationship builder. Leverage the LinkedIn Publisher and showcase your thought leadership. The publisher can be leveraged to influence, teach, listen, engage, and prospect. Leverage LinkedIn to listen. LinkedIn allows us the ability to listen to our entire networks or hyper-focus on specific individuals. Take a genuine interest in the topics that your network cares about, and engage them in conversation right on LinkedIn. Like, comment, share. LinkedIn Groups are another excellent venue for listening.
Here are some best practices:
Consider your LinkedIn profile an on-going project. Update it regularly but always be purposeful with your updates. Spend 10 minutes per day engaging in conversation on LinkedIn with your network. If you engage with 2-3 prospects, clients, and referral partners per day – that’s less than 1 hour per week that you have spent engaging with 10-15 professionals that are important to your business. Publish on LinkedIn’s Publisher with pure thought leadership a minimum of twice per month. Our best practice here at All About Leverage, is to publish answers to questions we commonly hear from our prospects, clients, and professional partners. If you do that you will never run out of content to write about.
Remember:
Be the first to give to your new business relationships Always pay it forward Network with purpose.
Good luck and good networking! Remember… It’s All About Leverage.
