The newspaper and the smartphone, these pictures symbolize the new media mix.According to the latest report Americans get more news through the internet than through the traditional newspapers. And a third of these get their news on smartphones on the go.Newspapers and traditional media, although still influential, no longer have the monopoly on news production and on public opinionCompanies and CEOs do no longer depend on traditional media to be heard. They can now - with minimal effort – reach a large audience and communicate directly with their customers and business partners.CEO‘s can become themselves opinion leaders through the intelligent use of social media. If there is citizen journalism there must be space for CEO journalism.
Probably the easiest social network to self publish is the micro-blogging network Twitter.Before opening an account on Twitter companies should first search for their product or brand to see what is being said on Twitter about them right now in real time.I am convinced if you find your company you will decide to join in the conversation.
The World Economic Forum is on Twitter since April 2007 and we were fortunate enough to be on Twitter‘s suggested user list, hence the 1.5 vmillion followers. We are among the 100 top account in the world but to be very frank we need to be much more conversational.We have tried to personalize this corporate account with the pictures of those who tweet. I have included the mughsot of the Founder and Executive Chairman but to be fair he hasn‘t tweeted yet, however he has started to send a daily internal tweet to all staff.
Arnold Schwarzenegger also doesn‘t tweet himself to his 1.6 millionen Followers.
The UK government and the Royal Household is using Twitter.Here N°10 is announcing a press conferences, streamed live on their website.
French politicians have also jumped on the Twitter bandwagon. I have heard yesterday that the French presidency will establish a permanent presence on Twitter this coming Monday.Minister of State inj charge of the Digital Economy, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet KM as she is commonly called thanked her 42.000 followers yesterday for their support during the difficult electoral campaign of the past weeks which her party lost.NKM’s Twitter feed is refreshingly conversational, directly engaging in conversation.
The only region in France which the governing party won is Alsace.This prompted the new regional leader to fire off a tweet in German: Jetztgeht’slos (Now it starts) which is extremely rare for French politicians.
Britney Spears’ team uses her Twitter account to debunk false media reports.She has the second most popular account with 4.5 million followers.
Another important personality on Twitter is Queen Rania of Jordan. Her majesty actually tweets herself as here in the run-up to the annual meeting of the Forum in Davos where she is looking forward to meet Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft who joined Twitter in early January.Hi Bill nice to see you here.1.2 Millionen Followers
Bill Gates didn‘t answer publically but the mere fact that these two stars communicate openly on Twitter is a bit of a revolution.What does it mean for the man on the street? Any one of us can now directly contact Bill Gates, Queen Rania and any of our favourite stars by sending a public tweet on Twitter. You might think they will never read your tweet bvut I am sure their teams will.Bill Gates is sharing reading recommendations, and quite a few linking back to his Blog the Gates notes.617.000 Followers
285.000 Followers Richard Branson is also sharing reading notes. He use Twitter to draw attention of his 285.000 followers to his New York Times weekly column.CEOs can easily become opinion leaders by using Twitter.
Mundane.Cyclist Lance Armstrong let’s his 2.4 million followers know that he is driving home from his favourite restaurant in Paris last night.
ConversationalThe author Paulo Coelho is extremely conversational with his 300.000 followers. Here he congratulates YarazHabbi on her wallpaper which is a picture of Paulo Coelho.
The CEO should tweet personally and Twitter founder Evan Williamsshows how it’s done.After a weak Q&A session at the recent tech conference SXSW in Austin he acknowledges the criticism of the Twitter crowd and offers a live and iunfiltered Twitter interview with his 1.2 million followers.Quote tweet.
The most famous CEO on Twitter is Tony Hsieh from Zappos shoe mail order company.Tony has 1.6 million followers and wants to “Deliver Happiness: Inspire, connect, Educate an Entertain” with his Twitter feed.
There are very few CEO’s from traditional companies on Twitter. However companies are experimenting. James Quigley CEO of Deloitte is registered but his account is still protected.
One example I like to use is Pierre Cohade CEO Asia Pacific from tire maker Goodyear.He tweets about the quarterly results, his assessment of the current economic situation and he can be funny.
What should the executive tweet? He should tweet whenever he has something to say.He should definitely refrain from tweeting their location especiall when they are in some executive lounge at an airport as the Forum’s COO does far too often.
Some companies have digital ambassadors like Ford where Scott Monty is the lead person. The only danger is that when these brand ambassadors leave the company they take their followers with them.
It doesn’t need to be the CEO who will give the Twitter interview. The field officer of the UN refugee agency UNHCR will give a Twitter interview tonight about the situation of refugees in Somalia.
