executives can’t be influencers

Can you be an executive and an influencer?

Both have connotations: depending on industry, age, and other factors, often the two simply don’t go together.

“I can’t promote myself and run a successful company!”

Before you put a personal stake in the ground, let me offer you this:

What if we have this whole thing wrong? An influencer, at its core, is a person that provides value, entertainment, education, etc. to an audience. An agency is a business that provides services that its clients find valuable. A brand provides value to consumers.

The red thread here is value, both received and given.

Does a ceo offer value to his/her employees, board members, shareholders, and clients? Of course they do. When the value diminishes, they get replaced.

My question for you today is: where should an executive’s value start and stop?

As you ponder that, I want to provide you with a scenario:

You’re an executive that just finished speaking at a major industry conference. 3,000 people listened intently as you discussed the industry, how you’re combatting business challenges, and what you think of the future. As you leave the conference, you’re thanked by multiple people in attendance. They valued having you there. A few days later, the conference sends you a recording of the speech you gave. You may watch it to review how you did, think about ideas for the next one, and then pass it off to your marketing team. Maybe they post it on your website; maybe they don’t.

What if you could take that speech and break it up into 30 clips that were 15-45 seconds long? What if you could add animations, highlight key points, and create a library of content on topics that fit your expertise? What if your yearly speaking schedule now provided enough content to fill a year long social calendar?

If you’re shaking your head, let me explain why this matters.

There’s an inherent vanity in social media. I won’t get into the moral arguments here, but I respect the various views on this topic. If we can put those aside, social platforms do allow us to connect to the world. High school and college kids are learning more from YouTube and TikTok than traditional school. And it makes sense: I’d rather listen to someone who has done what I want to do than a calculus teacher.

My point here is this:

The world is starving to learn from the best. Many of you have experiences, philosophies, and skills that are worth sharing. Influencers and executives can be one in the same. We don’t need more influencers; we need more executives to be influencers.

If you create content with value, people will follow. Followers then lead to engagement. An engaged audience buys from you. An engaged audience wants to start businesses with you. An engaged audience is valuable.

Ok, great, so how do I do this?

I’d recommend a company called Beroll. They essentially take your long form video and do what we talked about. They’re also affordable and flexible, meaning you can dip your toes without fully taking the plunge.

Sometimes your most valuable marketing assets are sitting right next to you. Let’s reframe the word “influencer” and focus on how we can create the most value.