We are delighted to have partnered up with Membership World and Synergy, to produce The Social CEO Index Report analysing UK membership association CEOs’ social media activity and online influence.
Membership associations are there to educate and represent their members; they want to be seen to have their finger on the pulse of the latest news and trends that impact their industry, and at the forefront of the conversations.
But in today’s world, it is easier than ever to create content and with an increasing distrust in brand messaging, how do brands stand out? Consumers are trusting logos less, but they’re trusting people more. So there is a huge opportunity for regular employees, Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and CEOs to represent their brands online as a way of connecting with their audiences and in this case, their members.
This has only been heightened by the pandemic. The Pandemic has given trade associations and professional membership bodies an opportunity to connect with their members, engage more with Government and other stakeholders and represent their industries during a turbulent time.
So we wanted to find out which membership association CEOs were leading the way online, and what attributes make up a “Social CEO”.
In the social media age there is now an expectation – from employees, customers and other stakeholders – for CEOs to be present and active on social media. Just look at the most recent Edelman Trust Barometer or the Brunswick Connected Leadership Report for evidence. The days of hiding in the proverbial ‘corner office’ are well and truly behind us. Leaders need to step out into the digital lobby and start engaging with their public. If not, they are doing a disservice to their organisation.
Damian Corbet, Founder, The Social C-Suite
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Our Approach:
We pulled a sample of 300 UK Membership associations across industries such as finance, housing, education, FMCG & commerce, and analysed their CEO’s social media activity and online influence from 1st January 2020 – 31st December 2020 on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Using Onalytica’s software, across both LinkedIn & Twitter, we analysed metrics such as:
- Total number of posts
- Total number of followers
- Average engagement per post
- Total engagements driven throughout the year
- engagement rate as a percentage
Taking into account the behaviour and algorithm of each platform, we set a qualifying criteria of between 4 – 30 posts per month on LinkedIn and 90 – 300 times per month on Twitter, in order to make it into the top 50. This rules out inactive profiles and profiles that are likely using scheduling tools. We then looked at which CEOs within these ranges were driving the most amount of engagement on a whole.
If you’re a CEO wanting to build your personal brand and your brand’s online influence, get in touch below.