CEO to Star: What can CEO’s learn from today’s YouTube influencers?

If you asked your CEO who their favourite YouTuber influencer is, you would most likely receive a very blank expression. However, if you were to ask them their favourite musician or actor, you would likely get a response to that of Bruce Springsteen or Meryl Streep.

This outcome is not surprising. YouTube influencers are typically associated with the younger generation, a recent survey conducted by First Choice and reported on by The Sun found that 75% of 6-17 year olds aspire to be influencers. But there are a lot of things senior management teams can learn from the likes of Casey Neistat, Zoella and Louis Cole. Here are my five top tips:

1.    Authentic – Keep it real!

A lot of influencers have a high level of transparency when it comes to the content they produce, they delve into their daily routine, showcase their homes and even introduce you to their family. All of these things show how similar they are to you, which in turn makes them seem more relatable. So why can’t your CEO do this? Well they can. It can be quick and easy for them to take a few hours of their week to film a short video of them telling their employees and customers what’s new with the company and even with themselves. Additionally, use language that is real, buzzwords and jargon do not impress everyone and will most likely alienate you from real people. T-Mobile’s CEO, John Legere is the embodiment of authenticity, every Sunday he hosts #SlowCookerSunday from the comfort of his family kitchen where he fuses cooking and new T-Mobile news through UGC. The results speak for themselves with around a quarter of a million views on Facebook live.

2.    Consistent – Stick to a schedule!

YouTube influencers often produce multiple videos weekly, some even on a daily basis. This means that they can be in the forefront of viewer’s minds. When applying this to your company’s CEO, hypothetically if they were to post content every Friday at 4pm, an hour before the employees go home for the weekend, in which they state the highs and lows of the week and wish everyone a good weekend. This can provide a massive morale boost to employees and it will most certainly present the CEO in a positive light. Sticking to a schedule also will condition employees to expect it at this certain times and hopefully even look forward to it.

3.    Engage – Don’t just talk, listen!

The best influencers are always striving to engage with the people who follow them, no matter how many there are. One thing they often do is engage participation through Q&A’s so a conversion can arise between themselves and their loyal followers. This can be easily applied to a CEO. Employees and customers often have many questions that they want answering from higher in the organisation, and more often than not they aren’t being answered. Having an influential person who is at the top of organisation engage directly with them will support internal communications and give the impression of a more open company to lookers in. 

4.    Focus - Don’t complicate it!

YouTube influencers usually specialises in a few things, why? It makes them seem more knowledgeable on a specific subject. If they were to produce content that is unrelated to one another then it is likely that their followers would soon become disinterested. This can be the case with CEO’s when they start to produce content, if each one seems too dissimilar to one another and the format isn’t the same then it is unlikely that employees/customers will continue to watch.

5.    Content – Content is King!  

“Content is King” coined by Bill Gates in 1996, this phrases is still as relevant now as it was back then. But why is content King? Because content is the stuff that gets people's attention, it makes them stop and engage with what you are saying. Now let's consider how many views and subscribers YouTube influencers receive with every video, it can be in the millions. Now imagine if your CEO could replicate this and even receive even half these numbers. Consider the level of engagement from their employees and customers. So in a scenario where a CEO has to tell their company about next quarters KPI’s, there’s no reason why they can’t package this information into a short but concise piece of content, that engages with their employees and customer. They can even get fun with it; product demonstrations and challenges are great examples of these. 

If you would like to see how we’ve been transforming CEO communications through UGC for some of the UK’s business leaders then contact us at hello@feedbackfilms.com