Marketing’s presence at the top of firms is nominal. Only 2.6% of board members have Marketing experience. And Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) only report to boards 6% of the time. It would appear that directors don’t see a connection between Marketing experience and the ability to address firm-level Marketing challenges. Even so, boards of directors are coming under increasing pressure to increase their understanding of end users/consumers and customer experience. As CMOs assume a larger role as the “voice of the customer,” more boards may begin to tap CMOs for this guidance. This means know having effective boardroom presentations is a critical skills for Marketing leaders. In fact, Jo Ann Herold declared managing the relationship with the board of directors as one the top seven habits of highly effective CMOs.

Earn Your Place in the Boardroom Presentation Line-Up

For many CMOs, there is a skill gap when it comes to boardroom presentations.  Mike Hughes, director general of the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers, in a The Guardian article, believes “many marketers fail to appreciate the importance of learning the language of the boardroom and even more fail to take the time to expand their knowledge of other functions in the business.”

Organizations with customer-centric boards need the CMO’s view to support short- and long-term decision-making. CMOs who earn the opportunity to present to the board can contribute to the broader strategic challenges involving the company’s competition, innovation, and core customers. How does a board-savvy CMO make an impact with the board?

Rick Lenny, a director on several boards, who served as CEO and Chairman of The Hershey Company reminds CMOs that effective board presentations keep their audience in mind. Every presentation to the board should be built from the board’s perspective. Your board is looking to the CMO to demonstrate that they “understand what drives superior marketplace and financial performance.” He expects CMOs to frame their presentations in terms of understanding the value drivers across the business. Mary Dillon, CEO of Ulta Beauty, believes CMOs who can answer these questions demonstrate their leadership to the C-Suite and the board

• “Whom are we trying to serve and how can we do that better than anyone else?”
• “How do we need to line up to deliver that across everything we do?”

Clearly, successful CMOs wear an enterprise-wide hat and bring a cross-functional perspective. These qualities need to come across in your board presentations. Looking to receive high marks for your board relationships and presentations? Here are some quick tips from the National Association of Corporate Directors:

• Contribute to the creation of the corporate strategy
• Own the growth agenda
• Represent the voice of the customer
• Own and build the marketing skills and technology needed to demonstrate value, contribution and impact to the business you serve

When facing the opportunity to present to your board, we recommend that you be able to answer and report on the following:

1. Your Marketing plan and implementation effectiveness
2. Your key initiatives, your metrics for measuring success, and your yield for programs/projects.
3. Your financial performance and what percentage of projects meet or exceed financial goals
4. What data, analytics, and models are you employing to gain the deepest and richest customer insights
5. What metrics are in place for measuring and tracking customer loyalty
6. How the company’s metrics compare to those used by the competition
7. What the company needs to do to get or stay ahead of the competition
8. How are you tracking brand health
9. What the company needs to do to get ahead of customer trends
10. What are you doing to address Marketing talent and skills

Creating this type of board presentation is intense work. Will this make a difference? A study by Kimberly Whitler, Ryan Krause, and Donald Lehmann explored the role and impact of Marketing experience on the board contributes to overall firm performance. They hypothesized that Marketing experience for board members would be valuable, given that boards are increasing their focus on top-line growth performance, the ability to understand customer preferences, and acumen in generating market insights. The results. Marketing-experienced board members positively impact total shareholder return in general. A board with one Marketing-experienced director is associated with a 3-percentage point increase in total shareholder return over a board with no Marketing-experienced directors.

And the effect is even stronger when the firm is facing a declining market share. When firm market share is declining by 1.5 percentage points, the presence of a marketing-experienced director is associated with an increase of more than 6 percentage points in total shareholder return. Overall, the study suggests that boards of directors could generate better performance with the inclusion of marketers.

All of the CMOs I’ve talked with want a seat at the board table because they know they can add significant value to solving the broader strategic challenges involving the company’s competition, innovation, core customers, and beyond – yet only 6% do. If you’re not among the 6%, the best place to start is to show your CEO that you are ready to competently report on and answer questions related to the 10 items above. Once you have gained the CEO’s confidence, you are ready for the ask to join board meetings. Need Best-in-Class practices on any of these 10 items? Contact us for help.

FAQ:

(written by Penn of Sintra.ai)

Q1: Why do CMO presentations to the board often fall flat?
A: Because Marketing’s presence at the top is still limited—and many CMOs have a boardroom communication gap. Only a small share of board members have Marketing experience, and CMOs report to boards infrequently. As a result, many marketers do not consistently “speak the language of the boardroom” or demonstrate the cross-functional business acumen directors expect.

Q2: Why is boardroom presentation skill becoming more critical for CMOs now?
A: Boards are under increasing pressure to better understand end users and customer experience. As CMOs become the “voice of the customer,” more boards may rely on them for guidance on growth, competition, innovation, and customer strategy. This makes boardroom-ready communication a critical leadership capability—and managing the board relationship is cited as a habit of highly effective CMOs.

Q3: What does a board-savvy CMO do differently in a board presentation?
A: They build the presentation from the board’s perspective. Directors expect the CMO to demonstrate they understand what drives superior marketplace and financial performance—and to frame Marketing in terms of enterprise value drivers, not functional activity.

Q4: What two questions should CMOs be prepared to answer to demonstrate enterprise leadership?
A:

• “Whom are we trying to serve and how can we do that better than anyone else?”
• “How do we need to line up to deliver that across everything we do?”
  These questions signal an enterprise-wide, cross-functional perspective—exactly what boards want to see.

Q5: What are quick best-practice expectations for CMOs engaging with boards?
A: Guidance (e.g., from director-focused organizations) emphasizes that CMOs should:

• Contribute to corporate strategy creation
• Own the growth agenda
• Represent the voice of the customer
• Build the marketing skills and technology needed to demonstrate value, contribution, and impact

Q6: What should a CMO be ready to cover in a board presentation (10 essentials)?
A: Be prepared to report on:

1. Marketing plan and implementation effectiveness
2. Key initiatives, success metrics, and program/project yield
3. Financial performance and % of projects meeting/exceeding financial goals
4. Data, analytics, and models used to generate customer insights
5. Metrics for measuring and tracking customer loyalty
6. How company metrics compare to competitors’ metrics
7. What is needed to get/stay ahead of competition
8. How brand health is tracked
9. What is needed to stay ahead of customer trends
10. How Marketing talent and skills gaps are being addressed

Q7: Does Marketing experience on boards actually matter to performance?
A: Research cited suggests it can. A study examining Marketing experience on boards found a positive association with total shareholder return. The effect appears stronger when market share is declining—implying Marketing expertise can be particularly valuable when growth and competitive position are under pressure.

Q8: If you are not currently part of board meetings, what is the best first step?
A: Demonstrate to the CEO that you can competently report on—and answer questions related to—the 10 essentials above. Once you establish confidence in your boardroom readiness, you are in a stronger position to ask for inclusion in board meetings.

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