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Given your role in the organization – maybe you’re a director, C-level, or even just a manager – you have certain positional authority. By virtue of your title, you can tell people to do things.

But if you only use your positional authority, how well will those things get done? Will they get done at all?

Employees must perceive the value of what you want them to do, which is where our communication superpowers as a marketer are so helpful for business leadership as well.

And why I love one of the lessons from our next guest’s career, “As a marketer, it’s important to lead up, down, and side-to-side in companies — not just top-down.”

I talked to Karen Possemato, CMO, Seer (https://seer.bio/), on the latest episode of the How I Made It In Marketing podcast to hear the story behind that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories.

Possemato has grown her marketing team from four to 14 in two years (and it’s still growing).

Seer is a publicly traded company, listed on Nasdaq. The company achieved revenue of $15.5 million for the full year 2022. It grew revenue 134% and increased instruments shipped 129% year over year.

Stories (with lessons) about what she made in marketing

Some lessons from Possemato that emerged in our discussion:

• As a marketer, it’s important to lead up, down, and side-to-side in companies — not just top-down. 
• No matter how big or small your company, it’s important to build a path to return on marketing investment (ROMI) from the get-go.
• Be authentic.
• Communication is key.
• Lessons (with stories) from people she collaborated with
• Ask for forgiveness. Not for permission.
• Dig deeper than the data to create a story that’s much more impactful and meaningful.
• See the opportunity in any situation.

Related content mentioned in this episode

“Authenticity” vs. “Professionalism”: Should you be your authentic self in your brand’s content and marketing? Or must you adhere to certain strictures considered “professional” in your industry? (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/authenticity)

Customer-First Marketing: A conversation with Wharton, MarketingSherpa, and MECLABS Institute (https://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/consumer-marketing/wharton-interview-customer-first-marketing/)

The Hidden Upside of the COVID-19 Crisis for Brands and Marketers: 10 opportunities (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/other/hidden-upside-COVID-crisis-brands-marketers-10-opportunities)

About this podcast

This podcast is not about marketing – it is about the marketer. It draws its inspiration from the Flint McGlaughlin quote, “The key to transformative marketing is a transformed marketer” from the Become a Marketer-Philosopher: Create and optimize high-converting webpages (https://meclabs.com/course/) free digital marketing course.

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