Executive branding has surged in popularity over the last ten years as leaders compete for the best talent, investment, and partnerships to take their businesses to the next level.
Why? The executives with the strongest brands are seen as more credible, trusted, and influential, making it easier for them to attract opportunities and drive success.
Yet, amid this rat race, standing out has become increasingly difficult. Audiences are far more discerning than they were in the past, making it harder for leaders to cut through the noise and build genuine connections. Meanwhile, the media landscape has become faster and more complex.
If you’re a leader who wants to build a powerful executive brand but is restricted by these challenges, read on for our five best tips to set yourself apart.
Clearly identify your goals
With the best executive brands, you’ll rarely see a statement on social media or in the media that comes out of the blue. Everything leaders say aligns with and builds toward a singular mission.
On one hand, this helps the leader build familiarity with their audience – and, eventually, trust. On the other, it prevents them from alienating or offending their audience.
For instance, a founder of an impact-driven business should typically focus on topics like increasing renewable energy adoption or improving sustainable packaging, rather than politics – except in extreme cases where new policies directly affect industry stakeholders.
Though this hyper-focused approach to content may seem limiting, it keeps stakeholders aligned, enhances credibility, and drives productivity.
So, before building your brand, clearly define your goals to ensure every message serves your mission.
Be authentic
Always be 100% real with your audiences.
This means making statements you truly believe in, leveraging up-to-date supporting research, and injecting some personality into everything you do.
Audiences will appreciate you more, they’ll connect with your brand, and they’ll choose your company over others because of it.
So, how can you do this?
Firstly, whenever posting on your LinkedIn or other channels, don’t be afraid to be bold and comment on real-world issues; it grounds your company and shows that you’re not apathetic to issues around you – and that you exist for more than making a profit.
There’s a real demand for industry-related insight like this.
Secondly, leverage personal anecdotes and stories to distinguish yourself from other corporate heads, and become more memorable.
Lastly, do all the above, but in video format to distinguish yourself further.
This might come as a surprise, but viewers retain around 95% of a message when watching a video compared to just 10% when reading text. So, don’t be afraid, find the confidence, and get on camera.
Be realistic
Building a powerful executive brand doesn’t happen overnight. It requires patience.
Don’t forget that you’re competing with various other established leaders who have spent years building credibility. It takes time to earn the trust of new audiences.
While consistency is key, be mindful not to oversaturate your channels. Post too often, and your LinkedIn followers may think your content is tokenistic. Over-pitch to journalists, and they may grow tired of your eagerness, potentially damaging crucial media relationships you might need later.
As a good rule of thumb: Post at least once and no more than three times a week. Pitch to the media only when you have fresh, original, and valuable insights to share.
You want your content to feel natural and engaging. Not forced and excessive.
Trade media outlets are crucial
Trade media outlets are typically those that you don’t go out of the way of telling people you appeared in. Most people haven’t heard of them, and sadly, they’re not as respected as nationals.
However, these outlets are not only relatively easier to pitch to but incredibly valuable for your profile – particularly if you’re a relatively unknown founder or CEO.
They act as a vehicle for sharing content across your other channels and, more importantly, populate your Google search with content so more people organically discover you and your business.
While it won’t happen overnight, once you’ve secured multiple pieces of coverage, you’ll have a strong portfolio to present to more established journalists to get yourself in the business pages of a national later on.
Never make empty statements
It’s also particularly important to support your statements with action.
If you don’t, you can be accused of greenwashing, face penalties from regulators, and lose mass investment, leaving your company’s reputation in tatters.
Journalists are particularly eager to cover these stories. So, it’s crucial to act with integrity.
As we’ve already mentioned, the end goal of executive branding is to attract talent, investment, partnerships, and customers – not the lose them. Though the process can take months, one mistake can undo any progress within minutes.
