H/Advisors Abernathy Report Finds Digital Presence Increasingly a Necessity for CEOs Looking to Protect and Manage Their Public Reputations

Seventy Percent of Fortune 100 CEOs now leveraging social media to guard against misinformation, share industry insights and bring their companies’ vision and mission to life

H/Advisors Abernathy, a leading strategic communications advisor, today announced the launch of its inaugural ‘Social in the C-Suite,’ Report which finds that a vast majority of Fortune 100 CEOs today are using social media to protect, develop and enhance their reputations​.

H/Advisors Abernathy’s digital practice conducted a comprehensive analysis of the Fortune 100 CEOs’ social media accounts to better understand their content, channel management and engagement strategies.​ More than 55,000 posts were analyzed across social channels, with particular focus on content published from January 1, 2022 to November 30, 2022 on LinkedIn and Twitter.​

From employees to investors, key stakeholders are looking for executive leaders to not only own their presence across digital channels, but to proactively use those channels to guard against misinformation, share industry insights and speak to their vision for the companies they lead.​ “Our research unveils how social media has become not only a critical consideration for every CEO facing a transformative situation, but also a sound platform for the C-Suite to build stronger, more impactful relationships with key constituencies,” said Tom Johnson, CEO of H/Advisors Abernathy.

H/Advisors Abernathy’s proprietary research indicates that seven out of 10 Fortune 100 CEOs are on either LinkedIn or Twitter. “Today, with a majority of Fortune 100 CEOs on social, we found that many are using their digital platforms daily to manage their reputation, connect with employees, blunt shareholder criticism and showcase their leadership style,” said Akeem Anderson, Senior Vice President and head of the digital offering at H/Advisors Abernathy. “Our analysis shows that a best-in-class approach to reputation management requires leaders to protect, develop and enhance their online presence.”

The report also finds that digitally savvy CEOs have built a presence on their preferred social channels (64% of them are on LinkedIn while a third of the Fortune 100 top executives have a Twitter profile) and are doubling down on their stakeholder outreach and engagement efforts, posting at least once per week on social media. In fact, those CEOs more active on social media are seeing a high return on their invested time as they earn on average more than four times the number of likes, shares, and comments than the average LinkedIn or Twitter user.

Other key findings in the ‘Social Media in the C-Suite Report’ include:

• Whether posting long-form thought piece articles on LinkedIn or sharing earnings material via threads on Twitter, CEOs have started to use social media more frequently and with greater strategic purpose.
• More than half of all social posts authored by Fortune 100 Companies’ CEOs are dedicated to supporting corporate narratives, more executives are turning to less formal topics to fuel their content strategy. ​
• Healthcare executives (14%) and Financial Services (12%) CEOs have the highest level of representation on social media, putting them most at the ready to respond in critical moments with credibility. ​
• CEOs without verified and optimized digital profiles are reputationally vulnerable to the threat of misinformation. Our research revealed that less than half of CEOs on social media had updated profiles, biographies, and updated links on their profiles.

The full report is available for download using this link: https://bit.ly/Social1nCsuit3

About H/Advisors Abernathy

A trusted communications advisor, H/Advisors Abernathy specializes in advising CEOs, board directors and senior executives on effective stakeholder communications and engagement. For nearly 40 years, we have been entrusted by clients across sectors to help build, protect and enhance their reputations, boost value and seize new opportunities. H/Advisors Abernathy operates from offices in New York, Los Angeles, Houston, San Francisco, Chicago and Washington, D.C. and is a founding member of the H/Advisors global network of specialized public relations and strategic communications firms.

For more information, please visit https://abernathy.h-advisors.global

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