Why Fortune 500 CEOs Don’t Use Social Media

"If Social Media is a vital part of today's online experience, why do so many CEOs neglect it?”

This awesome question was posed by the guys at CEO.com in their latest info-graphic:

(Part Of) The CEO.com Infographic

Why CEOs Don’t Use Social Media

1. Social Media seems over-whleming

2. Risk of sharing the wrong information

3. All mistakes are magnified

4. No time for Social Media

5. Unfamiliar with Social Media

6. Too much commitment to justify

7. Too old for Social Media

8. They’ve ‘Tried it”

1. Social Media seems overwhelming

1. Social Media seems overwhelming…

Social Media should be boiled down to its most basic elements so CEOs can digest it easily. Give them simple tasks to complete and that’s all you need from them:

Can they send a text? Cool. Then they can send a Tweet.

Can they write an email? Cool. Then they can write a blog post.

Can they take a photo with their phone? Cool. Then they can shoot a 90-second video.

2. Risk of sharing the wrong information

2. Risk of sharing the wrong information

This risk exists in any form of communication

Social Media is just a series of tools

You still control your message

Social Media means greater access to your Company but not necessarily more content being distributed

If you stick to publicly available information you’ll always be fine with the SEC

3. All mistakes are magnified

3. All mistakes are magnified

People are already talking about your company

Staying silent in Social Media is a greater risk than being active and saying the wrong thing

Compare Tony Hayward's characterization of the BP Oil Spill with Steve Jobs laughing about MobileMe when releasing iCloud

There's a huge difference between how your mistakes are viewed when you have a public persona and when you don’t

4. No Time For Social Media

4. No Time For Social Media

You don't have time for your shareholders? Who else is better placed to communicate your company's story?

Social Media actually saves time for a public company

It provides the ability to speak on a 1-to-manybasis rather than just 1-to-1

CEOs shouldn’t really be ‘doing’ Social Media, they should be focused on creating content

5. Unfamiliar With How To Use Social Media

5. Unfamiliar With How To Use Social Media

As a CEO, the best thing about Social Media is that you don't need to understand it one iota to be successful

All you need is to be able to handle the tools that create  Social Media content

If you're an IR rep, that's how Social Media should be framed for your boss

As long as you have high-quality strategy and oversight that you trust, you can do without a complete understanding

6. Too Much Commitment To Justify

6. Too Much Commitment To Justify

Stories (and PR) need to have legs or be carried

Is getting your latest Press Release an extra couple hundred views too much time commitment to justify?

Social Media is not a short-term strategy, so as a CEO you shouldn't think of it that way either

It's a question of how stakeholders are being prepared to receive your message when it is released

7. Too Old For Social Media

7. Too Old For Social Media

You can create Social Media content without ever visiting a Social Network

With a tricked-out smart phone or tablet, you have the most powerful story-telling device you or your company will ever need

Demographics in Social Media are equalizing fast

The majority of your 50+ stakeholders are on LinkedIn in some capacity so that's a good place to start

8. They've "Tried It"

8. They've "Tried It"

‘We paid a ‘Social Media’ company once before and their services gave us no value” – sound familiar?

That songs tends to come with a natural tendency to stay well clear of Social Media in the future

Most CEOs seem worried about making another bad decision

To them we say, “You just didn’t find the right company”

More info?

To read our full blog post on this topic, checkout:

Blog: irsmartt.com/news

Or for more information on IR Smartt and our Social Media products and services please, contact us:

Email: get @ irsmartt.com

Website: irsmartt.com/contact