MARKETING LEADERS AND SOCIAL MEDIA: BLENDING PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL IDENTITIES

Social media is increasingly used as a branding and engagement tool by individuals and organizations. With blurring boundaries between personal and professional social media use, the objective of this research is to examine marketing leaders' use of social media accounts which connect their personal and professional identities. Using feedback from Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) and secondary social media data, the authors investigate the motivation, benefits, and challenges in maintaining an account which is both personal and professional in nature. In addition, content published through these accounts is analyzed to better understand the nature of the information disseminated through these channels.