CEO Content: Smart Strategy or Cringe?

Rhona Barnett-Pierce (00:00.034)
You've probably seen the headlines. CNBC just dropped an article asking if your CEO wanting to be a social media influencer is cool or cringy. And I have thoughts, you know I do. So let's talk about it. I'm Rhona Pierce, and this is your Workfluencer Trend Report. A short episode where I break down how creator economy trends are reshaping the workplace. Here's what's happening. Nearly three fourths of Fortune 500 CEOs

now have at least one social media account. That's up from about half in 2019. And they're not just lurking. More than 70 % of Fortune 100 CEOs with social platforms posted at least once a month in 2024. That's a 32 % increase from the year before. LinkedIn is the platform of choice. CEOs are posting about three times a month on average. But here's where it gets interesting and messy.

The article highlights a few examples of executives who got dragged online. First, there's Braden Wallake You remember him, the crying CEO. He posted a teary-eyed selfie after laying off staff. The internet called him manipulative and self-indulgent. Someone said the photo would make a great dartboard. Then there's Jason Yonowitz from BlockWorks. He announced massive growth and record revenues

In the same post where he said that they were shutting down their news division and laying off journalists. People told him to drop the smiley faces and maybe not mention revenue when announcing job cuts. He later admitted he shouldn't have mentioned revenue. And then a snowflake executive told a street interviewer their company was going to hit 10 billion in a couple of years. The company had to walk that back publicly. These are cautionary tales.

but they're not reasons to avoid executive content altogether. Here's my take. I'm pro CEO personal branding, but it has to be done right. And the common thread in every single one of those backlash examples, the content was self-serving. The crying CEO made a layoff about his feelings. The BlockWorks post celebrated company wins while announcing people lost their jobs.

Rhona Barnett-Pierce (02:22.52)
The snowflake exec was showing off to a camera on the street. None of that builds trust. It erodes it and trust is everything right now. We're drowning in AI slop. Anyone can generate a LinkedIn post in 30 seconds. Consumers know this. Buyers know this. They're looking for trust signals. And here's the opportunity. CEOs, executives, and honestly employees at all levels can create content that builds that trust.

But it has to be about the audience. can't be about you. The smart companies are figuring this out. PayPal made headlines for posting a head of CEO content role, paying over $300,000 a year. Companies are hiring content strategists specifically for their executives. They're bringing in heads of brand storytelling. This isn't a trend, it's infrastructure. Because when it's done right, executive content works.

It builds brand recognition. It drives attention from mainstream outlets. It creates what researchers call parasocial relationships, the kind of direct connection with consumers that used to be reserved for actors and athletes. But here's the nuance. And this is important. Having a head of content and training your execs and team doesn't mean regulation. It doesn't mean every post goes through legal and gets sanitized into corporate speech.

That defeats the entire purpose. The content still has to be authentic. It still has to sound like a human wrote it. It still has to have a point of view. But here's the difference between authentic and unfiltered or hot mess content. Like I like to call it authentic means true to who you are. Unfiltered means posting without thinking about how it lands. The executives who get this right.

They share how they think about problems. They demonstrate expertise. They show they understand their audience's world. The ones who get it wrong, they make everything about themselves. They celebrate wins without raiding the room. They chase engagement instead of building trust. And here's the takeaway. CEO personal branding isn't going away. The data shows more executives are posting more often.

Rhona Barnett-Pierce (04:46.094)
And in a world where AI can generate content at scale, the human voice of leadership matters more than ever. But the bar is higher now. Audiences can smell self-serving content from a mile away. If you're a CEO, founder, or executive thinking about building your presence online, or if you're advising one, remember this. Your content should make people trust you more, not less. That's the whole game.

That's your trend report. If you want to hear more of my thoughts on storytelling and trust in the AI era, I just did an episode on the wall street journal article about companies investing in storytelling. Go check it out. And if you're an HR tech founder, figuring out this whole founder led marketing thing, DM me on LinkedIn. I'm building something for you in 2026. Thanks for listening to this work fluencer trend report. I'll be back soon with a full episode until next time.