When it comes to Social Media, CEOs and CMOs should lead from the front

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In spite of phenomenal growth of Social Media channels and almost hysterical following this has generated among its users, it is rare to see large corporations making effective use of Social Media in engaging their Customers. Burson-Marsteller has studied Fortune 100′s use of key Social Media Tools It is evident from this study that although use of Social Media by business is growing rapidly, it is still way behind what one would expect given the level of involvement of Social Media users.

Findings of another Study on use of Social Media tools by CEOs of Fortune 100 companies
are even more shocking. It was found that among Fortune’s top 100 CEOs:

Only 2 CEOs have twitter account
Mere 13 have LinkedIn profile
81% do not have a Facebook page
Only 2 Fortune 100 CEOs have more than 10 friends on Facebook
Not one Fortune 100 CEO has a blog

This shows CEOs are disinterested and are not having their eyes and ears on Social Media channels that are going to drive their business going forward. It is very important that all senior executives of business start taking Social Media initiatives seriously, especially the CEOs and CMOs. They should lead from the front when it comes to use of Social Media as survival and growth of their business rests on how effectively they leverage emerging tech tools. To start with, CEOs and CMOs should:

Have a Twitter account and start using it for communicating with customers and general public
Have a Facebook page and respond to discussion on their page
Monitor discussion regarding their company or brands on Social Media channels and if there are any legitimate issues, take it up with respective execs and make sure that they are resolved
Should use feedback gained from Social Media channels and ask right questions during review meetings. This will send out clear message down the chain that senior execs are listening to customers on Social Media and line managers or customer support staff will be more responsive to handling customer issues via Social channels.
Set up a Social Media Task force that will advise them on how to quickly adapt and integrate their business into emerging Social web applications

These are some of the Must Do items that every CEO and CMO of any business should tackle right away. Sooner they adopt and start using Social Media for engaging their customers and key stake-holders better for them else performance of their business will suffer. They need to make sure that their business engages customers through Social Media for building trust and brand loyalty.

What is your opinion? What should CEOs and CMOs do to effectively engages Customers on Social Media for building Trust and Loyalty? Love to hear from you …

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