The Rebirth of Facebook as a Professional Network

Why a new generation of execs is moving (back) to Facebook

She’s got 225,000 Facebook Likes, knows her way around a selfie stick and posts updates that are reshared hundreds of times. No, it’s not Taylor, Katy or any of the Kardashians. The Facebook celebrity in question is Meg Whitman, the 59-year-old CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

While teens are flocking to Snapchat and Millennials wrestle with Twitter’s new character counts, business leaders are suddenly migrating to an old-school network that’s turning over a brand new leaf. LinkedIn may be the professional platform de rigueur, but Facebook is increasingly a go-to choice for execs, managers and business gurus, from T-Mobile CEO John Legere to World Bank president Jim Yong Kim. Access to the world’s biggest social audience (1.6 billion people and counting), not to mention a slew of new tools like live video, has lured the c-suite to Mark Zuckerberg’s corner office.

The return on investment? Social-savvy execs are finding ways to humanize their companies and put a face to logos. They’re connecting directly with customers and employers. And they’re building personal audiences in the thousands. While these CEO celebs might not be literally cashing in on their efforts (like those Instagram models who earn thousands of dollars per post), they are drawing new attention to their companies, while upping their own cachet.

But for every social success story is yet another drab CEO profile, blasting out corporate updates to a handful of indifferent followers. Just as in business, success on Facebook is an elusive blend of art and science … and c-level status is no guarantee of huge followings.

These five executives — a mix of familiar names and up-and-comers — have managed to crack the code to Facebook fame. Leaders testing the Facebook waters might do well to steal a page or two from their social playbooks.

Loic Le Meur, tech entrepreneur and investor: While Le Meur may not be a household name, the French-born tech pioneer and blogger has amassed more than 200,000 followers on Facebook in short order with his live, off-the-cuff videos. Shot on his phone, often at odd hours and unusual locations, Le Meur’s videos are informal, filled with entrepreneurial insights and strangely magnetic to watch. In a recent one, he recorded himself behind the wheel of one of Tesla’s (nearly) self-driving cars. Though it can be a little scary to see Le Meur completely ignoring the rush-hour traffic whizzing by all around him, the result is social media gold.

Takeaway: For execs, video doesn’t have to be professional to be effective. If you’re willing to broadcast live on Facebook, a five-minute phone-cast can draw in significant followings with minimal prep or effort.

Brit Morin, founder of DIY site Brit + Co: Pregnancy photos, clips from Jimmy Fallon and an ode to lost bobby pins: In many ways, entrepreneur and CEO Brit Morin’s Facebook feed looks like your proverbial best friend’s … and that’s probably the reason she has 283,000 followers and counting. While Morin does occasionally plug her company — which sells arts-and-crafts classes and kits — most of her posts are personal, creative and genuinely worthy of sharing. She hob-nobs online with buds like Randi Zuckerberg, celebrates the birth of her new son and then throws in a few behind-the-scenes shots from a photo shoot at her company. The resulting mix of life and business comes across as natural and genuinely disarming.

Takeaway: If you’re willing to get personal and share (select) details of your daily life on Facebook, you’ll stand out from the pack of buttoned-down execs droning on about quarterly profits and company culture.

Meg Whitman, Hewlett Packard Enterprise CEO: There’s nothing fancy about Whitman’s Facebook page, but the Hewlett Packard CEO finds time to post regularly (and thoughtfully). And her workmanlike efforts have earned her more than a quarter-million Likes. Whitman is a fan of photo collages, and a typical post will feature images of her at a company event (kicking off the day at the New York Stock Exchange or visiting a Hewlett Packard office in Japan), accompanied by some brief remarks. Whitman isn’t a prolific poster (just once every few days), but one gets the sense that she actually writes the updates herself (instead of outsourcing everything to an intern) and enjoys the interactions with followers.

Takeaway: Success on Facebook doesn’t require a huge time commitment on the part of executives. Even a few minutes every couple days spent posting and replying to comments can translate into a sizable and loyal following … provided you keep it up.

Gary Vaynerchuk, wine merchant and entrepreneur: Warning: “Gary V’s” path to Facebook fame isn’t necessarily for everyone. The hyper-charged wine seller turned media personality probably drops more F-bombs in a five-minute video than most executives do in a lifetime. But behind the caustic veneer is a finely tuned strategy for social media success. Vaynerchuk knows that video and imagery drive social media engagement today. Accordingly, he peppers his feed with a mix of Facebook Live video (like this clip shot while waiting for a flight to take off) and slickly edited shorts where he shares advice with aspiring entrepreneurs. Another key to his effectiveness: Whether it’s responding to users’ comments or actually calling people up on the phone, Vaynerchuk makes a point of really interacting with his 775,000-user audience.

Takeaway: Photo and video are the cornerstones of a successful social media effort. Execs don’t have to rant and rave like Gary V, but highlighting the visual can only help.

Leila Janah, social entrepreneur and founder of Sama : Because it’s so personal, Facebook can be a powerful platform for execs to champion social and philanthropic efforts. And perhaps no one does this better than Janah, a “social entrepreneur” whose non-profit trains low-income people to do outsourced digital work. On her feed, she shares a mix of personal photos and videos, thought-provoking articles she’s reading from the Times and Economist and plenty of success stories from her venture (like this recent post about an African family lifted out of poverty after getting digital training).

Takeaway: Facebook is a natural choice for execs looking to highlight corporate social responsibility initiatives. Let followers see the social causes you’re passionate about by sharing articles, videos and stories from the frontlines.

One disclaimer: These CEOs definitely aren’t “overnight success stories” when it comes to Facebook. Their mega followings represent the culmination of sound Facebook marketing strategy and months, if not years, of faithful updating. But as someone building an executive audience from the ground up, I can attest that a little effort goes a long way. My own Facebook Page has grown from a few hundred to nearly 15,000 followers in recent months. I post a Facebook Live video once a week, comment on tech and gadget stories I’m reading and also share my own articles on social media and entrepreneurship. Not to mention, these are still early days for Facebook as a professional network. Early adopters who get in on the ground floor now can cut through the noise of more established platforms, quickly leaping ahead of the executive pack.