CEO Twitter Rules to Live By

I've seen a number of references and "retweets" to an UberCEO.com post about the very small number of Fortune 100 CEOs who use Twitter, LinkedIn, FaceBook or other social media tools to communicate with the outside world.  The headline of the post labeled these socially media uninitiated CEOs  "slackers."  I think it's a bit harsh, considering the newness of many of these media and the job of a F100 CEO these days.  This isn't even considering the battle most large company CEOs are waging every day to stay healthy and move forward in a sluggish economy.

"The study found that only two CEOs from Fortune magazine's list of the Top 100 companies have Twitter accounts and only 19 have a Facebook page. And none of the 100 CEOs were found to have a personal external blog.

"In our opinion, the top CEOs appear to be disconnected from the way their own customers are communicating," said Sharon Barclay, an UberCEO.com editor. "They're giving the impression that they're disconnected, disengaged and disinterested. No doubt, regulations such as Sarbanes Oxley and Reg-FD make CEOs cautious about communicating freely, [but] they're missing a fabulous opportunity to connect with their target audience."

We've been counseling our clients, from the CEO down, to integrate social media into their communications programs because of the demand for a two-way dialogue with customers of all types of products and services, not just consumer offerings.  This does not necessarily translate into having a CEO on Twitter, however.  A more manageable approach might be a CEO blog or even guest blog posts in a corporate blog from another executive in the company.  We work with our clients to set up a Twitter channel for the company so interesting insights and links to blog posts can be "tweeted" out to followers.  Another approach is a podcast series that features the CEO's insights on market issues or new company developments. 

We only have a few CEOs who actually have their own Twitter accounts and most of them do not "tweet" frequently.  Frankly, I worry when I see "tweets" from the CEOs, even from private companies.  Anything they say about their companies or their markets are very revealing.  One of our private company CEOs recently sent out a "tweet" commenting on a successful sales forecast meeting that showed the next quarter looking strong.  Although he isn't governed by selective disclosure rules, I connected with my internal contact to express my concern that this isn't a good practice for when the company is in the public markets in the future.  We can also be sure that someone who read that "tweet" will remember it and ask about it next quarter.

This may sound like I am deadset against CEOs on Twitter, which could be seen as odd since I've been featured in a BusinessWeek piece on CEOs who use Twitter.  I'm not against it, but I think the CEO's "tweets" have to be offered very carefully.

A few rules that CEOs should keep in mind before hitting "update":

• Never "tweet" something you would not be comfortable seeing quoted in a blog post or article (that goes for all of us, but is especially key for high visibility execs like CEOs)
• Be careful about disclosing any insider information about your company's performance, even if you are a private company. Public company CEOs have many restrictions about any external communication and need to have some combination of IR, legal and corporate communications review anything they want to share broadly. This defeats the immediacy of a medium like Twitter, but it is the safe way to go. But even if you are private and you make assertions about the health of your company or specifics about a current deal or event, you need to remember that Twitter information has a long shelf life. That "tweet" will be duly noted and may spiral into coverage or questions you are not prepared to answer now or in the future.
• One of a CEO's most valuable assets is her/his connection to customers. Anecdotal information about what the CEO is hearing from customers about certain issues is great Twitter fodder. Stop short of naming names or revealing specifics of customers' business and you should be safe.
• Set the right tone from the top re: engagement with customers. If someone starts firing off complaints about your company/products/businesses, treat this the same as you would a communication via phone or letter. Get the answers or use your clout to mobilize a response to the issue, but stick to the high road in any direct interactions that are being watched by many and available for "retweets."

People seem very focused on the wonder of connecting with celebrities on Twitter -- whether they are from Hollywood, the music industry or even the lofty heights of the corporate world.  Most of the interactions CEOs are likely to face on Twitter will be benign or even obsequious.  It's still wise to think before you "tweet," especially when what you say or tap onto a keyboard can have a major impact on the view and health of your company.