With consumer and employee engagement in social media on the rise, CEO’s, who have been identified as shunning online forums, may be encouraged to change their practices, according to a new study highlighted by Harvard Business Review. This is an important shift for the GPCC membership to note, as more direct communications between the highest levels of company management, their employees and consumers, are expected to grow over the next few years as CEO engagement with social media significantly increases.
New Research on Why CEOs Should Use Social Media
By David K. Williams and Mary Michelle Scott
For CEOs who are trying to decide whether participating in social media is worth their time, there’s new research that could help tip the balance.
The new report from CEO.com and business intelligence firm DOMO
notes that social media is more pervasive than ever among consumers: 50% of the population currently uses Facebook, and more than 37% use Twitter. Yet among Fortune 500 CEOs, the report says, only 7.6% are present on Facebook, only 4% use Twitter, and less than 1% use Google Plus. LinkedIn is the only social network where CEOs are slightly ahead of the general populace, the study concludes: Twenty-six percent of CEOs surveyed use LinkedIn, compared to 20.15% of the population at large.
However, another recent report shows CEOs’ reluctance may be changing: When IBM recently surveyed 1,709 CEOs, it found just 16% currently participating in social media. However the study predicts the percentage will likely grow to 57% within 5 years — and, in fact, social media will become one of the two most important forms of engagement with employees and customers, second only to face to face interactions.
Story continues at:
http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/07/new_research_on_why_ceos_shoul.html
