CEO Playbook: How to Propel Your Company Through LinkedIn Communications

LinkedIn is having a moment. With over 700 million members — among them companies’ current and would-be employees, customers, investors, reporters, analysts and other business influencers — it can no longer be ignored in the executive communications mix.

We continue to see an incredible level of business engagement on LinkedIn, and it’s one of the most readily available channels for executives to meet the rising demand for more open, “outward” leadership communications.

Still, many executives lack an intentional strategy to make the most of the opportunity. The ones who are breaking through are doing so with strong storytelling, authenticity, unique POV and personality-forward content. They’re strengthening relationships with messages their audiences care about and by acting as an industry influencer on behalf of their company.

To help executives understand what’s working (and what might work for themselves), we analyzed six CEOs with a compelling LinkedIn presence:

• Beth Ford, president and CEO, Land O’Lakes
• Geoff Martha, chairman and CEO, Medtronic
• Manny Medina, CEO, Outreach.io
• Michael Hansen, CEO, Cengage Group
• Michael Kirban, Executive Chairman, Vita Coco
• Vas Narasimhan, CEO, Novartis

We also created a framework for building business momentum and visibility through LinkedIn. As you’ll see in our CEO Playbook, although every leader brings their own unique personality and authentic voice to their LinkedIn communications, there are some commonalities and critical success factors, including: Intentionality, Congruency, Inspirational, Engagement and Humanity.

For those who haven’t yet embarked on a full-fledged executive social media strategy, don’t sleep on our Playbook. Now is the time — before they’re too far behind.

Our team of strategically creative communicators helps brands worldwide transform with purpose. Stay connected.