Establishing Your Marketing Leadership Brand

You’ve honed your skills and built up your marketing experience and now it is time for the next step. The marketing landscape is competitive and you need to set yourself apart with a good personal brand and a marketing leadership brand. You need to establish yourself as a leader.

Finding Your Marketing Leadership Brand

You want to differentiate yourself and attract opportunities from companies seeking specific qualities. But first, you need to find your leadership brand. It’s a continuous process, but there are a few key steps to get started:

• Identify your strengths and passions. We often hear we need to be authentic, especially with our personal brand. Ask yourself, what are you passionate about? What are you knowledgeable about that you can’t not speak about? Use that, tied in with your strengths to establish the positioning and topics you’ll focus on for your leadership brand.
• Discover your values. What do you stand for? What is your vision as a marketing leader? Think about these as you begin identifying key aspects of your leadership brand. The more it aligns with your core values, the more honest and authentic it will be.
• Be unforgettable. Your brand is uniquely you. Tell your story. Craft narratives that showcase your achievements and how you handle challenges.
• Test and adapt. Make sure the brand you create is true to yourself. You won’t become a trusted leader if it isn’t. It’s not a status or approval, it’s who you are and what you stand for. Make sure it’s a leadership brand you’d want to be lead with or lead others with.

Making Your Brand Known

Ok, you’ve worked on your brand, now make it known. Lead by example and demonstrate your leadership qualities in your current role. Many times, you’re able to advance in your career without having to leave your current company. And don’t forget to network. A lot of job opportunities happen because you know the right person. Exhibit your brand at conferences, networking events and on social media.

• Get more tips about branding yourself from Amy Teller's Integrate 2023 breakout session.

Your Next Step to Marketing Leadership

Employers want to see you investing in your professional development. As you’re looking to move into that next step, explore WVU’s Executive Cohort within the M.S. IMC online program. It’s designed for mid-career, busy professionals to show their leadership expertise at their company.

You’ll be able to focus some of your classes on your current company or organization with guidance from instructors who are leaders in the industry. Learn more about WVU’s M.S. IMC: Executive Cohort.

Have you ever wondered what it's like to move into a higher-level marketing role or are you being promoted and wondering what to expect? Here we explore what marketing executives do, what skills they have and how you can move into the C-suite. Explore what a marketing executive does and how you can get there in our Marcom Today blog.

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