Personal Branding for Business Leaders – Part 2

In last week’s post, we noted the importance of personal branding for business leaders and challenged you to reflect on well-known companies and the notoriety of their CEOs.

To quote ourselves:

A strong CEO image = a strong brand image.

Part 1 of this series focused on how your personal branding as a business leader can boost traffic to your company’s website. In Part 2 of this series, we’ll be detailing the effect it has on brand loyalty. Hint: it boosts it!

Having an online presence as a business leader doesn’t just mean more eyes on you—it also means more eyes on your company! As you continue to build your personal brand and have positive interactions online, your brand presence will serve as a constant (but gentle) reminder of your company. Here’s how:

1. Customer Engagement

Your social media channels give customers a direct line to you! While that might sound intimidating, it’s full of opportunity to share your values and how they feed into your role as a business leader. It also allows you to get direct feedback on product launches, ideas for new products and more. Depending on how high-profile you or your company may be, there may be an overwhelming amount of customers reaching out to you. Enlist members from your marketing team to help with the community management side of things!

2. Interaction with Investors

Your customers aren’t the only ones on social media—your investors are there, too! Don’t be afraid to interact with them online, even if it’s something as simple as retweeting a post with a quick bit of positive commentary. Your online presence also allows investors to do a little research on you. A great personal brand should lend credibility to you and reassure investors your company is worth the money.

3. Response to Social Issues

As the political landscape seemingly becomes increasingly polarizing, business leaders may want to stay silent on prominent social issues. However, if you’ve thought critically about your stance on an issue and it’s relevant to your audience, don’t shy away! In the recent political climate, company executives who have expressed their attitudes respectfully have garnered positive feedback from their customers. But before you post, carefully consider the following questions:

1. Is my position on this issue important enough to run the risk of potentially angering customers who disagree?
2. Am I responding to this issue because it’s important to me or because responding to it seems en vogue?

The important takeaway is to think critically about your decision, but a well thought out plan can have a tremendous impact on your brand loyalty.