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My company, GasPedal, recently hosted “BlogWell: How Big Brands Use Social Media” in San Francisco, a fantastic event featuring eight case studies on corporate social media from some of the world’s biggest companies. As we gear up for our next BlogWell in Minneapolis on Aug. 13 — featuring case studies from McDonald’s, H&R Block, Wal-Mart, CME Group, General Mills, Ford, and Progressive — I’m sharing some key lessons from San Francisco.

Here are a few tips from Jeanette Gibson,  Cisco’s director of new media, on how to get executive leadership more involved in your social media efforts:

• Put the tools in the hands of those around them. If your executives are too busy or uncomfortable with social media tools, try what Cisco does whenever an executive is traveling and put a flipcam in the hands of any assistants traveling with them to share highlights of meetings and events.

• Let them do it in their own voice. Though Jeanette’s team prompts executives to share updates via social media during big events or whenever an issue arises, executives are always encouraged to do it in their own voice.

• Show them simple ways to start engaging. Cisco executives, for example, ask followers what they think about certain issues and include the responses in speeches and presentations.

Related posts:

1. Andy’s Answers: 3 tips from Wells Fargo on social media in a crisis
2. Andy’s Answers: 3 tips from General Mills on connecting with key influencers
3. Andy’s Answers: Lessons from Kaiser Permanente on effective internal social media