Why you should put your CEO on Tiktok (from someone who’s done it)
After a viral Tiktok video led to a spike in business enquiries, Riannon Palmer tells us about the power of founder-led storytelling on social media in today’s Notebook
The viral Tiktok that boosted my business
People buy from people. Research consistently shows that audiences trust individuals more than logos, and Linkedin has reported that content shared by employees gets eight times more engagement than content shared by brand channels alone. Recently, I discovered this myself.
I’ve consistently shown up on Linkedin for years, but only recently started appearing personally on Tiktok and Instagram. At first, the views were low, and it felt frustrating. But a few weeks ago, one of my videos about our positive work policies (‘Things I do as a female entrepreneur that tech bro CEOs like Elon Musk would hate’) went viral. Within days of posting, I had received hundreds of CVs and direct messages from professionals asking about roles. Traffic to the company’s website also surged 534 per cent, with a 1,032 per cent rise in visits to the team and career page.
From that single post, we had job enquiries, newsletter sign-ups and even a new business call booked, all from something that cost nothing but consistency and showing up as the face of the brand. If, as a business, you’re not investing in your visibility on social media and putting your leaders at the forefront, you’re missing a major opportunity.
Social media isn’t just for product-led businesses. Whether you sell services, experiences or ideas, people connect with people first. For founders and leaders, building a visible personal brand is no longer optional; it’s a core channel for business growth.
In a world where everyone craves authenticity, organic marketing lets you build and mould your public perception. Many businesses are moving away from driving all of their investment in paid ads and realising the power of building out organic methods, which will grow community and compound returns over time. Founder-led visibility builds familiarity, trust and, ultimately, commercial impact.
Happier people deliver better work
Happier people deliver better work, and that belief is why I quit my job five years ago to start Lem-uhn. Working in PR, like 91 per cent of PR professionals, I struggled with my mental health. I wanted to work for a company that genuinely cared about its employees and worked with better brands, but that environment didn’t exist, so I built it myself.
At my agency, we’ve introduced positive policies including work-from-anywhere, menstrual leave, flexible hours and time in lieu for overtime worked. These initiatives don’t require huge budgets, but they do create happier, more loyal and more productive teams. Research consistently links employee wellbeing to increased creativity, retention and performance, yet too many large organisations still treat wellbeing as a ‘nice to have’ rather than a commercial strategy.
If a small business can implement these policies, larger companies certainly can. Especially in a market facing high staff turnover, investing in employee happiness isn’t just the right thing to do; it’s good for business.
Anything can be PR
Anything can be PR. Too many founders think PR only means big announcements or traditional press coverage, but the reality is that timely, creative commentary is what secures attention. Take the launch of the new series of Bridgerton. While obvious angles focus on costumes or TV production, brands could also comment on workplace romance policies, historical etiquette in modern leadership, colour psychology in branding or even the economics of fandom-driven consumer spending. PR is about relevance and perspective. If you can connect your expertise to what people are already talking about, you create commentary that journalists actually want to include.
What I’ve been reading: The Rise Report
Last week, The Rise Report by Female Founders Rise launched the largest grassroots study of female entrepreneurship ever conducted in the UK. It reveals the change needed to happen to unlock the £250bn that closing the gender gap in entrepreneurship could add to the UK economy, underlining just how significant female-led growth could be.
One thing that resonated with me was how one of the top reasons women start companies is because of a passion and personal interest. I see time and time again women starting companies to solve a problem they have seen. We are natural problem solvers, and this is true in the business world, too.
Riannon Palmer is the founder and managing director of Lem-uhn