Executive Social: The New Imperative for Healthcare Leaders

Welcome to the Health Marketing Collective, where strong leadership meets marketing excellence. On today’s episode, host Sara Payne is joined by Arik Hanson, a renowned social media strategist whose client roster includes major names like Walmart, Sleep Number, and Dairy Queen. Arik brings his wealth of experience—having completed over 80 brand audits and coaching assignments—to discuss a challenge that persists in healthcare marketing: executive social media presence. Our conversation dives deep into why, as we look ahead to 2025, it’s no longer enough for a health brand’s logo to have a voice online—its leaders must step forward as well. People trust people, not logos, and an authentic executive presence is now the engine for brand trust and influence. Sara and Arik unpack the pitfalls of outdated executive social practices—such as sterile press releases and navel-gazing posts—and dig into what it truly means for a healthcare leader to show up online and create real impact. The episode explores the unique compliance challenges of healthcare, the growing appetite for authentic storytelling on LinkedIn, actionable strategies for executives who want to build trust (not just rack up low-engagement posts), and honest guidance for health CMOs who want to elevate their organization’s digital reputation. Whether you’re a CMO, a senior health executive, or a healthcare marketer eager to help your leaders “get social” the right way, this episode delivers practical, no-nonsense advice for the next era of social media leadership. Thank you for being part of the Health Marketing Collective, where strong leadership meets marketing excellence. The future of health care depends on it. Key Takeaways 1. Executive Presence Outshines Brand Voice Arik asserts that while corporate brand pages are essential, individual executives’ profiles often dramatically outperform them—sometimes by a factor of 5-10 in engagement, even at Fortune 50 companies. LinkedIn, in particular, is a person-to-person platform, and real conversations (and, therefore, trust and influence) happen when leaders—not just logos—step directly into the public digital square. 2. Human Relatability: The New Currency Success on social, especially for healthcare executives, now hinges on content that reveals real people and real stories. The biggest audience appetite is for leaders “pulling back the curtain”—sharing glimpses into their daily work, their decision processes, and even personal experiences and stories. Arik explains that transparency and vulnerability isn’t just for “everyday people”; healthcare CEOs who share relatable, behind-the-scenes moments build greater affinity and trust. 3. Three Practices to Leave Behind Outdated tactics still dominate many executive feeds. Arik lists the top three to retire: 1) stop sharing sterile links—engagement plummets when you do; 2) don’t fixate on company-centric updates—shift to industry trends and real cultural conversations; and 3) resist hiding behind “faceless” professionalism—show yourself (photos, videos, candid moments) and prioritize authenticity over carefully manicured corporate poses. 4. Measuring What Matters: Beyond the Vanity Metrics While it’s important to track posts, engagements, and follower counts, the most valuable indicators of executive social success are often qualitative: Who is commenting? What are they saying? Are you seeing more meaningful interactions, speaking invitations, or employee goodwill? Arik reminds us that the real ROI often appears in direct feedback and doors opened (speaking gigs, candidate inquiries), not just numbers on a report. 5. The CMO’s 90-Day Play: Coach for Humanity If you can only do one thing in the next quarter, Arik recommends helping executives inject greater humanity and relatability into their content, even if that means starting small—like celebrating employees or posting a behind-the-scenes photo. Coaching leaders to share their authentic perspectives and voices pays off more than any carefully written press release ever will. [embed]https://youtu.be/N64GBKNpnAc[/embed] About Arik Hanson Arik is a social media marketer with more than 30 years experience in the marketing and communications industry, and 16+ focused solely on social media marketing. Over those 16+ years, he's worked with more than 80 clients like Walmart, Sleep Number and Dairy Queen to provide customized social media audits, strategies, coaching and content development. Arik is also an adjunct professor at the University of St. Thomas where he teaches classes on social media marketing and content marketing.