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Leadtail’s recent CMO survey revealed that not only are CMO’s social media habits changing – but that they are starting to rely on social media as an effective tool for engagement and personal branding.

The survey analyzed the Twitter accounts of over 1000 CMOs and marketing executives in both the U.S. and Canada – and over 131,000 public tweets published in just three months. Here’s what it revealed about the social habits of CMOs:

Visual content is on the rise.

CMOs love visual content – and for good reasons. Marketing is a multi-platform discipline and leaders are switching between their desktops, smartphones and tablets throughout the day. Visual content makes the transition between devices easily, and is eye catching for audiences as well. It’s a win-win and a majority of marketing leaders are taking advantage.

Location based check-ins are out.

Having lunch at a great spot in San Francisco? A few years ago you might have checked into Foursquare just like your peers, but now CMOs are opting out of sharing their location. Just 5% of marketing leaders in the survey shared their Foursquare check-ins – compared to 24% in a similar period in 2013. The message is clear – no one wants to know what you’re eating or where you are. They care about your ideas.

LinkedIn + Twitter is a winning combination.

Not surprisingly, LinkedIn is steadily growing as an essential place to be for marketing executives, as evidenced by a 200% increase in LI updates shared on Twitter over the past 24 months. This may be due, in part, to LinkedIn’s growth as a long-form publishing platform for authoritative pieces from marketing professionals. As CMOs begin to leverage the platform, they are more likely to share with their Twitter audience in order to maximize exposure. If you aren’t publishing on LinkedIn, it’s time to get started – and be sure to share with your Twitter audience.

Audience quality is more important than size.

Size doesn’t matter as much as it used to. Marketing leaders are shifting away from growing a large network on Twitter to having a valuable network. Since 2012, CMOs have become a lot more strategic about reaching out to followers who are relevant to their interests, who share quality content and who engage on a regular basis. They understand that it’s not how many people are following you — it’s how you engage with those people. Savvy CMOs understand that it’s time to get to know those followers. Reign in your Twitter network and start engaging!