I recently read an interesting interview in Mashable with Forrester Research’s CEO George Colony offering his perspective on why CEOs should be well versed in social media. While more and more companies and C-level executives are embracing social media as an effective tool to help meet business objectives, there’s a staggering amount of executives who are not actively engaging in social media.
Not surprisingly, Colony believes that there are three key barriers to the wide adoption of social media by executives including age, regulatory constraints (particularly for public companies) and time. (For more on this topic, check out Jennifer and Colleen’s article in Seattle Business Monthly called “The Social Media Blind Spot.“)
It’s critical for executives to not only understand the value of social media, but also be engaged on these platforms. Executive engagement in social media can help build strong and trusted relationships with customers, effectively handle a crisis situation and build thought leadership in the marketplace.
We are routinely called upon to illustrate the value of social media to executives and help train them on the practicalities of how to use social networking platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. One of the first things we recommend is holding a training session to help executives understand the “basics” of social media so they understand how people are using these solutions and the impact they can have on an organization.
These sessions typically have two objectives; the first, is to help executives understand how people and organizations are deriving value from social media; and secondly, give them a high-level overview of the nuts and bolts of Facebook and Twitter to help them get started today (common terminology, best practices, etc.).
Additionally, we have found it effective to highlight examples of how an organization’s competitors are leveraging social media.
The more you can educate your executives at a high level on the basics, the easier it will be to get them to dip their toes into the social media waters.
I think Colony sums up his perspective on CEOs and social media wisely by saying, “I think within 10 or 15 years boards will look for social skills. This will be part of the portfolio of the CEO — they’re going to have to have this kind of ongoing communication with their customers. Because the Facebook generation will demand to be communicated to that way.”
For more information on how you can help educate and train executives to use social media, contact us at [email protected].