By Judith Lee

I’ve noticed that many top executives steer clear of social media, and especially Twitter, which has an outdated reputation for being trivial.

Nothing could be further from the truth! It’s a mistake for C-level leaders to ignore Twitter.

Here are five compelling reasons to adopt this powerful messaging tool.

1. Be a thought leader. Twitter has 550 million active accounts, and the twitterstream has a big impact on public opinion. There’s no faster way to assert yourself as a thought leader than to initiate a topic, and watch your comments “go viral” through retweeting and favoriting (when Twitter users share your comments with their followers).

2. Be in the news stream. It’s fairly well known that news travels fastest through Twitter. That means the newest news is not on TV, online news services, or the radio. Through Twitter, you not only share your news, you hear about current events and market conditions before those other executives who have not harnessed Twitter.

3. Get direct feedback. Every major brand has 24-hour crews “listening” on Twitter. Why? Because consumers know the fastest way to get a response from a brand is through Twitter. That’s where you can hear your customer directly, and reply just as directly. Eliminate the middleman – this is about as pure as it can get.

4. Reach younger people. Younger consumers have “moved on” from Facebook (they think it’s for old folks), and many are not yet active on LinkedIn. You could connect with younger people via Instagram or Snapchat, but Twitter offers the same benefit in a format that I think is easier to grasp and use effectively.

5. Grow visibility beyond your marketplace. This has been my primary use of Twitter – I’ve established myself as a Social Media Expert far beyond my Chester County, Pa. home base. By using a consistent hashtag that is easy to search (#socialmedia), I have grown my Twitter following to 17,000 Twitter users around the globe.

A great example of a tweeting CEO is Dave Magrogan, who leads a local chain of 18 pubs and eateries with well-known names such as Kildare’s Irish Pubs, Doc Magrogan’s Oyster House, and the newly rebranded Barra Rossa Ristorante. Since joining Twitter in late 2012, Dave (@DaveMagrogan) has tweeted an impressive 2,193 times (average of 2 tweets/day) and has built a following of nearly 800.

You create your own reality. #success #entrepreneur #charge @MagroganGroup pic.twitter.com/w6068SEfm6

— Dave Magrogan (@DaveMagrogan) May 2, 2015

That’s a very nice number of customers who feel personally connected to Dave and his establishments and (according to research) are 60% more likely to choose Dave’s brand over another they have not connected with on social media.

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Judith Lee is a marketing and communications professional who focuses on social media and email marketing based in Atglen. She is a SCORE Volunteer and the Chair-Elect of the Southern Chester County Chamber of Commerce. Her posts on marketing and social media are a regular Monday morning feature on VISTA Today. She can be reached at 610-368-2058 or via email at judithlee@epix.net.

Top photo credit: Alexia Tsotsis, Writer, TechCrunch, Brett Hurt, Founder & CEO, Bazaarvoice, & Mikkel Svane, CEO, Zendesk @ LeWeb 11 Les Docks-8892 via photopin (license)