4 Non-obvious benefits of actively posting on LinkedIn for executives

Most executives understand the benefits of posting on LinkedIn regularly – such as networking, finding new opportunities, or using LinkedIn for lead generation.

Of course, these are all great things, but the benefits of an active LinkedIn presence go much further.

At Qnary, we work with hundreds of executives worldwide to help them build and maintain their social media presence through thought-leadership content. These are a few of the less-obvious benefits we’ve identified throughout this journey:

 

Building trust and authenticity

We live in a world cluttered with ads and paid messaging from brands. The result? People’s trust in brands – particularly newer, lesser known brands – is at an all-time-low. Companies can claim they have the best products or solutions but potential customers are paying less and less attention every day.

Consequently, the voice of the executive (as an actual person) remains a much more trust- and attention-worthy medium for most audiences.

Studies have shown that 51 per cent of consumers are more likely to purchase products from people or influencers than from brands.

Authenticity is also a key principle, with 88 per cent of consumers calling it out as a key decision-making factor when it comes to purchasing products or services.

When executives engage in a business talk about important subject matters relevant to their company, not only is it deemed as more trust-worthy and transparent than when brands do so, but also more human and authentic. People want to put a face to an announcement rather than some monolithic and faceless brand.

Naturally, the trust and authenticity executives can build bolsters their company branding and helps guide audiences towards more positive brand associations.

 

Becoming a recognised subject matter expert

Today, more than ever before, the adage “people buy from people, not from brands” rings true. There are some obvious examples out there, with key business figures like Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos actively promoting their businesses and gathering the attention of millions of potential customers through their expert storytelling.

For lesser known leaders, this means making an active effort to not only demonstrate their passionate belief in what their business does, but also showcase their expertise in relevant industry fields.

By remaining ahead of the curve, actively discussing upcoming trends, innovations, and news, and selectively sharing advice with their network, leaders can be recognised as subject-matter experts. This recognition and reputation, once again, translates into positive associations towards their businesses, which is critical in building customer engagement and loyalty.

 

Talent attraction, retention and employee advocacy

One of the first things any person will do when considering working with a company is look at the business’ and leaders’ LinkedIn pages.

A blank executive page or a profile filled with uninspiring re-shares of brand news is very unlikely to generate any excitement for candidates and jobseekers. By contrast, a leader actively promoting the importance of being empathetic, building a great company culture, exploring the latest innovations and trends in their space, or even sharing some personal content will likely inspire people and motivate them to join the business.

Similarly, an executive’s social media presence plays an important role in driving employee engagement, advocacy and retention. People want leaders with a voice, who are discuss things that matter, push for positive change, and inspire their team to become more empathetic, innovative, and flexible to get the best out of people.

This simple fact can make a difference in terms of inspiring people to commit to a business long term.

 

Driving stronger reach and brand engagement

Executives’ personal profiles on LinkedIn can reach anywhere from 2-to-5 times more people than company pages, regardless of the type of content. A simple reason behind this is, unlike with personal profiles, brand profiles can promote their posts with ad campaigns on LinkedIn to reach more people. Given this is one of LinkedIn’s main sources of revenue, there’s a strong incentive for the platform to limit the organic reach of brand page posts.

On average, executives will reach 10-20 per cent of their audience size organically with each post. For company pages, that number is between 3-5 per cent.

Another interesting fact we’ve observed with our clients is increased engagement for executives posting brand content when it’s balanced with thought leadership pieces.

Most of our new clients come to us with a very basic social-media presence –  posting news about their brands sporadically. This normally attains below average reach and engagement.

Once we start developing thought leadership content for them along with their brand content, we see brand content performance increase consistently. Often, their brand content becomes the top-performing content pillar.

Why? Because the executive is no longer just talking about themselves and their brand. Instead, they’re providing free advice and value to their audience, building trust and demonstrating expertise to their audience, and, as a result, creating a warmer network that is much more receptive to brand messages.

So there you have it. The list of benefits for executives posting consistently on LinkedIn goes on, but these are some of the less expected, more compelling advantages we’ve observed.

If you want help building your social media presence and becoming a trusted expert in your industry through thought leadership content, get in touch with us.

We offer a complimentary social media and digital presence analysis to senior executives looking to fully leverage their social media profiles.

You can book your complimentary analysis here.