What is executive profiling?
Executive profiling is when you build a person’s professional profile by sharing their expertise, opinions, credibility and experience. The aim is to make your key people visible, presenting a consistent, authoritative presence that builds trust among your audience.
Naturally, CEOs and business leaders should have strong public profiles, but the same tactics can be applied outside of the c-suite, too. Subject matter experts and client-facing teams will all have valuable perspectives to share. And the more profiles you raise, the clearer it will be to your clients that you all know what you’re talking about.
Why should you factor executive profiling into your content plan?
By now, most of us will know that content from individuals vastly outperforms content from organisations – particularly on social platforms. On average, a post shared from a personal LinkedIn profile will receive eight times the engagement of an identical post shared from the company account.
This is unsurprising. A person is real, relatable and reciprocal. Comments on a real person’s posts are likely to be returned, and connection with a human being, even digitally, feels meaningful. On the other hand, posts from a company page can feel transactional and impersonal.
So it’s clear that people-led content is the way to go. But marketers and comms managers will know it’s not as easy as it sounds.
How to convince executives to put out their own content
No one wants more tasks on their workload. And it’s unlikely that your fee earners will be happy diverting billable hours to marketing activity. But there are a few ways to win internal people over.
As with any good marketing pitch, lead with the benefits.
Authoring thought leadership content will help boost the executive’s profile and reputation as an expert in their field. It may lead to a media feature or invitation to speak at an industry event, creating valuable networking opportunities and enabling them to connect with prospective clients.
Once you have your executives on board, make the process as easy as possible for them. We often work with our clients to interview senior leaders and translate their expertise into comprehensive thought leadership insights. This way, you’re only asking them for 30-minutes of their time for a chat and a quick sense check once it’s written.
When it comes time to publishing the content, ideally it should come from the executive directly. But you can make this painless too. You can draft the supporting content for them, so all they need to do is share it on their own social media channels, via email to their clients or in a newsletter.
How to create executive profiles
Before you rush to publish executive content, take the time to set a plan to help them land and generate traction.
Define the position and narrative you want to own
What do you want your business to be known for? Where do you have a genuinely distinctive point of view? Which stories, examples or lessons can we include to make the content more memorable?
It’s also important to establish a set of themes and topics that executives can speak credibly about. The most engaging executive profiles avoid constant self-promotion. Encouraging leaders to share perspectives on industry trends, emerging challenges and topics they are genuinely passionate about can help build stronger connections with their audience.
Create guidelines to keep everything consistent
A clear vision and communications strategy should underpin all marketing activity. This includes a well-defined brand narrative and tone of voice guidelines, so that all content is consistent and reflects your values, expertise and market position.
Choose the right channels
To increase visibility among the target audiences, consider the channels and tactics that will help you reach them. Enlisting your executives to speak at industry events is an effective way to raise awareness, demonstrate expertise and create valuable networking opportunities with prospects and peers. Securing features or commentary in business publications can strengthen credibility and extend reach.
Prepare a back-up in case of a crisis
Of course, putting your people in the spotlight can have negative consequences too. Public perception is ultimately out of your control, but how your leaders respond to negative feedback is hugely important to their reputations.
When companies come under scrutiny, people will turn to CEOs and senior leaders for accountability and reassurance. Preparing a crisis communications plan and briefing your high-profile team members on how and when to respond to challenging situations will help reputations remain intact if the worst happens.
How we can help
It can be difficult to keep on top of corporate content without adding executive profiles into the mix. We can work with you to produce a content plan that factors in your company and personal profiles, so all activity ladders up to your overarching messaging and objectives. We can also interview your key stakeholders to gather their thoughts and produce high-quality insights in their words. It all starts with a conversation.
