Get your CEO (and senior execs) blogging

The CEO is one of a company’s biggest assets, with the power to help grow and retain an organization’s brand and personality. So why would you pass on a chance to show the world exactly who you are and what your business does?  

Business blogging should it be on the ‘to do’ list of all senior management, establishing them as social influencers and providing a clear vision of the company. But blogging doesn’t just help build up the profile of the CEO and company, it also helps boost sales.

According to Hubspot’s The State of Inbound Report, companies who regularly blog get 67 per cent more leads every month than companies who don’t bother. Via a blog from your CEO you can make a direct connection with visitors to your website, opening up a trusted way to communicate with new and returning customers.

CEOs are at the helm of a company’s reputation. Blogging can help leaders control this and chart their progress. Richard Branson is an avid blogger; his blog gives insight in the man behind the brand and ensures it ranks top of the search results. Bill Gates’ personal blog Gate Notes is a must read. Where else would you find out his favorite fanatics of last year?! Facebook may not be what one automatically thinks of as a blog, but Mark Zuckerberg and his heartfelt posts ensure followers come back for more.

Blogs have also become a platform for releasing company news. Google uses blogs to make corporate announcements meaning that loyal company-watchers quickly find the news. At the same time, a piece of content estate worthy of a link boosts traffic and SEO.  The Content Marketing Institute, for example, confirmed in a blog that it had been acquired by event company UBM. The acquisition highlights the importance of the fast growing world of content marketing, in particular blogging. It can help you rapidly build your own global audience as opposed to relying on someone else.

Blogging is an invaluable way to engage with the global marketplace – current and potential customers, stakeholders and employees. Market intelligence company InsideView estimates that around 33% of B2B companies are now blogging and it is fast becoming an important part of marketing’s content creation strategies.

Where to start?

Blogging can build a CEO’s online profile, positioning them as thought leaders and educationalists, building a personal brand around their expertise. At the same time blogs can help humanize an organization, making it feel more approachable to the outside world and instilling trust in the wider community. These will all contribute to improving an organization’s outreach, visibility and revenue.

Here are five points to help you make a start.

1. Blogs are not expected to be lengthy in-depth analysis. They need to be informative, entertaining, thought provoking. CEOs can be controversial, spot trends or take a stand and be controversial. Take for example Bill Marriott, Chairman of the Board of Marriott International’s blog on ‘selling underwear to lumberjacks’. It may not be about hotels, but once read the Marriott name is etched on ones’ memory. So it has done its job very well.
2. CEOs are short on time, so delegation is frequently the way forward. Get the help of content creators and your marketing team who can help senior management brainstorm ideas, collaborate on the creation and make sure the blog is factually correct and on message. They can then make sure the blog is socialized when published for maximum exposure.
3. Blogging is a long term commitment and content needs to be published regularly. This is again where the content creators come in – ensuring blogs are fresh and rolled out to a schedule. This ensures the CEO gets maximum exposure for minimum effort and blocked out time in the diary.
4. Blogs can open up media opportunities. By showing a track record in informative and inspirational blogs, the CEO and senior staff are going to be recognized by their counterparts in the industry. The more they are read, the more likely they are to be invited to contribute content to outside publications and speak at conferences.
5. Effective CEO blogging can help with analyst ratings. The better analysts know the CEO and the company the more likely they are to accept briefings and incorporate the company in analysis.

Social sharing is one of the building blocks of business today. If your company’s CEO and senior executives aren’t looking to ‘supersize’ their online presence as social influencers, they need to start now. But make sure they have something informative and interesting to say, it is well executed and shared across social platforms. Blogging for blogging sake just to tick the ‘been there done that’ box is doomed to failure.

Here at Futurity Media we have an experienced blogging team who can help your company, CEO and executive management team get on the social radar and get noticed.  Contact us for an informal chat how to instigate or refresh your blogging strategy. We know what works!