Stepping into a boardroom as a CMO is a pivotal opportunity to prove marketing’s strategic value. But here’s the challenge: with only 4% of Fortune 1000 board seats held by marketers, most boards aren’t fluent in the language of marketing. Instead, they focus on financial metrics, operational efficiency, and short-term results. This leaves CMOs walking a tightrope—juggling the need to communicate marketing’s long-term value while addressing the board’s immediate priorities.

During a Mavuus Coffee Chat, four seasoned leaders shared their expertise on how CMOs can thrive in this high-stakes environment, including Steve Byrne (Executive and Board Member), Matan Hazanov (Managing Partner, Enigma Venture Partners), Sandra Lopez (Tech Executive, Fractional CMO, and Investor), and Elana Anderson (Go-to-Market Advisor and Independent Board Director).

In this blog post, we’ll break down five proven strategies to help you avoid common pitfalls, lead with confidence, and position marketing as an indispensable driver of growth. 

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Table of Contents

1. Understand the Board’s Perspective
2. Translate Marketing into Business Impact
3. Build Relationships with Board Members Strategically
4. Master Metrics and the Art of Storytelling
5. Avoid Surprises and Manage Expectations

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1. Understand the Board’s Perspective

The truth is, most boards are not built to fully understand marketing. That’s not a criticism—it’s just a reality. Boards are typically composed of people with deep expertise in governance, finance, and operations, leaving marketing without a significant voice. 

According to Steve Byrne, a seasoned executive and board member, the structure of most boards is dictated by governance requirements:

‍“If you look at the typical subcommittees for many large companies—finance and audit, compensation, nomination, and governance—they’re designed for finance people, CEOs, or others with operational expertise. That’s just the nature of how they’re put together.”

In other words, marketing hasn’t traditionally been seen as a critical skill set for board members. And while Steve doesn’t believe there’s a bias against CMOs specifically, he acknowledges that boards often default to selecting CEOs or finance leaders, sometimes for external optics rather than their strategic value.

What Boards Really Care About

At their core, boards care about one thing above all else: growth. This might seem obvious, but it’s easy to get caught up in marketing lingo or technical metrics that don’t resonate with the board.

For CMOs looking to build credibility and influence with the board, here’s the bottom line: 

• ‍Shift your mindset from a marketer to a business leader: Instead of presenting yourself solely as a marketer, position yourself as a business leader with deep expertise in marketing. As Steve advises, “If you’re a marketer with board aspirations, don’t present yourself as a marketer. Present yourself as a business leader who knows a hell of a lot about marketing.”
• ‍Align your goals with the board’s priorities: Focus on how marketing contributes to growth, revenue, and market leadership. The board needs to see marketing as a key driver of business success, not just a cost center.
• ‍Build industry knowledge. Steve emphasizes the importance of understanding your company’s competitive landscape and market position. “We’re always evolving our strategy. And if that means hiring a great marketing executive onto the board, I’m all in. It’s not about job titles—it’s about what value you bring to the table.”

When you approach your board presentations as a business leader, you shift the conversation from “why marketing?” to “how can marketing help us win?”

And that’s the seat at the table every CMO deserves.

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2. Translate Marketing into Business Impact

Presenting marketing to the board is an art. Don’t just showcase campaigns or run through a laundry list of activities. As Sandra Lopez put it, “Marketers often get caught up in using marketing language. Stop doing that. Translate everything into nomenclature that the CEO, CFO, and board can appreciate."

Let’s dive into how you can reframe your conversations and make marketing resonate in the boardroom.

Reframe Marketing in Financial Terms

Boards think in terms of numbers, outcomes, and value. Your job as a CMO is to connect your initiatives to what the board cares about most: business growth, financial performance, and long-term impact. Sandra shared a fantastic example of how to achieve this:

When working on a brand simplification project, she guided the CMO to avoid phrases like “brand strategy” or “brand re-architecture.” Instead, she suggested reframing it as a strategy to drive Average Selling Price (ASP) uplift. 

She explained, "The board doesn’t care about brand simplification for its own sake. What they care about is: How will this improve revenue, profitability, or valuation?"

Pro Tip: Partner with your CFO when presenting to the board. “When the CFO supports your message, it builds credibility and helps reframe the conversation in ways the board understands,” shared Sandra. 

Focus on Outcomes, Not Activities

It’s tempting to showcase every campaign, initiative, or creative win. But board members aren’t there to hear about every email or ad you ran. They care about outcomes. Elana Anderson pointed out how important it is to focus on what your team is driving, not just what they’re doing.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

• Skip the details of how many campaigns you launched last quarter.
• Focus instead on how those campaigns drove pipeline growth, customer acquisition, or lifetime value (LTV) improvements.
• Always tie your results back to measurable business metrics. 

As Elana stressed, "If your board is asking for metrics like MQLs, stop immediately. MQLs don’t mean anything. Boards care about your contribution to pipeline and future sales."

When marketing is framed as a business driver, not a cost center, you’ll command more respect in the boardroom—and position yourself as a leader who truly understands the bigger picture.

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3. Build Relationships with Board Members Strategically

It’s easy to think of board meetings as one-way conversations where you present and they listen. But to truly influence board decisions, you need to build real relationships. This means engaging board members beyond the formal meetings and tapping into their unique expertise.

Here’s how you can foster those relationships to ensure long-term success—not just for your marketing initiatives, but for your career as well.

Connect with Board Members Inside and Outside the Boardroom

One of the easiest ways to build relationships with your board is by starting right where you are. Sandra emphasized an often-overlooked opportunity for CMOs: reaching out to the board members within your current organization.

“Very rarely do CMOs reach out to the existing boards of the company they serve,” she shared. Sandra suggested a simple starting point:

• Ask for introductions: “If there’s a CMO on your board, ask your CEO for a meeting with them to get their input on strategic initiatives.”
• Showcase your work: Involve board members in marketing initiatives so they can see your impact firsthand. Sandra noted, "This is low-hanging fruit, and they get to see the quality of your work up close."

Informal settings also present unique opportunities to connect on a personal level. Pre-meeting dinners or coffee breaks are perfect touchpoints. Sandra advised, “Use those dinners strategically. If the seating arrangement isn’t predetermined, figure out who you want to sit with and why. Have a clear agenda for the conversation, and follow up afterward.”

Involve Board Members in Meaningful Ways

Elana Anderson shared how inviting board members to participate in marketing initiatives can deepen relationships and add credibility to your efforts. At Demandware, Elana worked with a board member who was not only the former COO of Limited Brands but also a Harvard Business School professor.

“With his help, we created an executive track for our customer events. Who wouldn’t want a mini course delivered by a Harvard professor?” she explained. This collaboration elevated the event and strengthened Elana’s relationship with the board member, positioning marketing as a strategic driver.

Don’t be afraid to involve board members in ways that showcase their expertise. Whether it’s contributing to customer-facing initiatives, acting as advisors for major projects, or participating in key marketing strategies, these collaborations can create stronger relationships and deliver tangible business outcomes.

Treat Every Interaction as a Two-Way Interview

When interviewing with board members—whether as part of a CMO hiring process or in casual conversations—remember: You’re not just being interviewed; you’re also interviewing them. Elana stressed the importance of asking the right questions to learn about the board’s culture and how they perceive marketing.

Here are three questions she recommended:

1. Gauge their market knowledge: “I ask how passionate and aware they are about the market opportunity and competitive landscape. If they can’t crisply explain the company’s unique value proposition, that tells me I have work to do.”
2. Understand their perspective on marketing: “Ask what they see as working or not working in the go-to-market strategy. It helps you assess whether they value marketing or view it as a checkbox.”
3. Determine how they want to engage: “Ask how they work with marketing today and how they’d expect to work with you. If they have an interesting background, ask if they’re willing to engage and support marketing efforts.”

This process helps you assess whether the company culture and the board’s approach align with how you want to operate as a leader.

Ultimately, relationships with board members aren’t built overnight—they require strategy, intentionality, and effort. Take these steps, and you’ll not only build stronger relationships but also position yourself as an invaluable partner at the board table.

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4. Master Metrics and the Art of Storytelling

When it comes to presenting to the board, metrics matter—but storytelling seals the deal. Numbers on their own won’t inspire action, but pairing them with a compelling narrative can. As Matan Hazanov explained, “Just presenting a number is not that helpful. You have to present the number in relation to what the goal was and in relation to historical performance.”

So, how do you strike the perfect balance between data and narrative? Here are key strategies shared by our speakers.

Focus on the Metrics Boards Actually Care About

Board members don’t want to be overwhelmed with every campaign stat. They care about metrics that demonstrate growth, efficiency, and long-term business impact. According to Matan, the top three metrics every board wants to see are:

1. Growth metrics: Revenue, user activations, or usage, depending on your business.
2. LTV-to-CAC ratio: “Your lifetime value to customer acquisition cost ratio tells you how profitable your business is and whether your marketing strategy is working.”
3. Funnel metrics: Conversion rates, demo-to-close ratios, and other performance indicators that show progress throughout the pipeline.

But data without context is just noise. Board members want to know what the numbers mean and how they’re driving strategic decisions.

Matan stressed this point: “It’s not just the metric itself. It’s the metric in the context of what happened before, your goals, and how it’s tracking over time.”

• Show trends: Highlight how metrics have evolved compared to historical performance. For instance, if your LTV-to-CAC ratio has declined, explain why—and what you’re doing to fix it.
• Segment data for clarity: Break metrics into meaningful segments, such as customer cohorts or regions. Matan shared an example: “One company presented KPIs showing that upsells in one customer segment were performing very well. That insight informed their plan to focus on upselling in similar segments.”

Structure Presentations for Maximum Impact

A well-structured presentation can make or break your ability to influence the board. Steve Byrne shared an effective framework to ensure your presentations grab attention and drive action:

1. Start with Growth Metrics: This is what the board cares about most. Lead with your strongest data to capture their attention immediately.
2. Include Highlights and Lowlights: Be transparent about what’s working and what isn’t. Steve emphasized, “Boards appreciate candor because it builds trust. Then focus on what you’re doing to improve.”
3. End with an Exciting Initiative: Conclude with something forward-looking to leave the board energized—whether it’s a creative campaign or an innovative idea in progress.

But sometimes, breaking the mold can be even more powerful. Steve shared a unique example:

“One of the best board presentations I’ve seen was delivered completely backward. They started with the action plan first, then worked backward into the data. If you run out of time, at least the board gets the punchline right away.”

Finally, don’t underestimate the power of creativity to make your presentation memorable. Sandra recounted an example where her company wasn’t resonating with millennials. Instead of using slides, her team created a video montage of millennials sharing their honest perceptions: “It grounded the board in how severe the issue was. That alignment helped us secure buy-in to solve the problem.”

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5. Avoid Surprises and Manage Expectations

If there’s one golden rule when working with the board, it’s this: no surprises. 

Whether it’s a risky marketing strategy, a significant shift in direction, or a bold initiative, dropping unexpected bombshells in a board meeting is a surefire way to lose trust and derail the discussion. 

To nail every board meeting, focus on these strategies to ensure alignment, transparency, and credibility.

Align Goals and Manage Expectations from the Start

One of the most common challenges CMOs face is unrealistic growth expectations. As Matan Hazanov pointed out, “Sometimes the CEO puts a lot of pressure on sales and marketing teams to deliver 300, 400, or even 500% growth. But they don’t always provide the budget or resources to achieve it.”

If your board and leadership team aren’t aligned on what’s achievable, you’re setting yourself up for friction later.

Here’s how to align expectations early:

• Set realistic goals: Work with the CEO and CFO to determine achievable growth targets based on your current resources.
• Track and report consistently: “Being able to measure results in a consistent way is critical,” Matan said. “It doesn’t matter which results you’re measuring, but they need to be tracked and presented objectively.”
• Address resource gaps proactively: If there’s a disconnect between expectations and resources, raise this before it becomes a problem.

Be Transparent: Show Both Wins and Challenges

Boards don’t expect perfection—they expect honesty. Being upfront about what worked—and what didn’t—builds trust and positions you as a strategic leader. Steve Byrne shared how he appreciates honest, outcome-driven presentations:

"Boards don’t need to know everything about the campaigns you’re running. What they care about is: What are you doing to contribute to the company’s growth? What’s working, what’s not working, and what’s your plan to move forward?"

To approach transparency with confidence:

• Frame challenges as opportunities: Highlight what you’ve learned and how those insights are driving new strategies.
• Involve the board in problem-solving: As Sandra Lopez noted, “Boards are there to advise, so bring them along for the journey.” Engaging the board in strategic discussions fosters collaboration and builds credibility.
• Highlight long-term commitment: Steve emphasized that marketing success requires patience: “You’re not going to see results in weeks or months, but if you commit to long-term programs, eventually you will.”

Communicate Proactively to Avoid Surprises

Nothing frustrates a board more than being blindsided by unexpected news or decisions. Steve shared a memorable example of what not to do:

“We had just rebranded the company, and the marketing firm came into the boardroom with a big recommendation to rebrand again. It was a bombshell that wasn’t soft-shoed to us in advance. The board’s reaction was so bad, we fired the firm the next day.”

To avoid situations like this:

• Give the board a heads-up on bold ideas: If you’re presenting something risky or unexpected, align with the CEO and key board members beforehand.
• Foster ongoing communication: Don’t let the board meeting be the only time you interact. Check in with board members outside formal meetings to share updates or float new ideas.

Whether it’s gaining buy-in for a major initiative or managing expectations around results, keeping the board informed will help ensure they’re aligned and engaged.

Conclusion: Step Into the Boardroom with Confidence

The boardroom is where decisions are made, priorities are set, and influence is earned. As Sandra Lopez said, “Our job as marketers is to influence. Think about how you’re going to influence the board and what you want them to do.” That influence begins with preparation, clarity, and a focus on outcomes that drive real business impact.

By aligning expectations early, building trust through transparency, and presenting marketing’s value in a language the board understands, you’ll go beyond simply managing their expectations—you’ll inspire confidence in your vision. 

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The Mavuus community exists to help leaders like you navigate these high-stakes moments and thrive. Join a network of marketing executives who are sharing insights, overcoming challenges, and shaping the future of marketing leadership together.

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