How to overcome one-hour-per-year presentation limits
According to a recent survey by the digital PR agency BottleOne, one in three (30%) senior marketers get only one hour or less per year to present results to their company’s board—equating to about five minutes per month, which is barely enough to convey the intricate details and strategic impacts of marketing initiatives.
For context, this is roughly the time it takes to make a round of tea. Such limited exposure hampers marketers’ ability to communicate the full value of their work and align their strategies with broader business goals.
According to the same study, a quarter (25%) of marketers crave more airtime to present their results—stemming from the need to provide a comprehensive overview of marketing campaigns, explain complex metrics, and discuss long-term plans.
Marketers often deal with nuanced data that requires thorough explanation and contextualization to be understood and appreciated by the board. Increased presentation time would let them highlight how marketing efforts drive brand growth, customer engagement, and ultimately, sales.
The push for stronger marketing voices on the board
One in five (20%) marketers report no marketing representation on the board—meaning that marketing perspectives are often missing from strategic discussions and decision-making processes.
Without a dedicated marketing voice, companies risk overlooking critical insights into market trends, consumer behavior, and brand positioning, all of which are key for sustaining competitive advantage.
Marketers bring a unique understanding of customer engagement and brand management that is key for driving long-term growth.
Having marketing representation on the board makes sure that marketing strategies align with overall business objectives and that the importance of marketing activities is recognized at the highest levels. Strengthening marketing’s presence on the board can lead to more informed decisions and a more holistic approach to business strategy.
Keeping the board engaged during your marketing updates
How to deal with interruptions and time cuts in board meetings
Over one in four (27%) marketers have been interrupted by C-Suite members during presentations, and 24% have had their presenting time cut short—disrupting the flow of the presentation and undermining the importance of the information being shared.
For marketers, this can be particularly frustrating as it limits their ability to provide a complete and coherent narrative around their strategies and outcomes.
To mitigate these challenges, marketers need to employ techniques that capture and maintain the board’s attention—including using engaging storytelling methods, focusing on key metrics that resonate with board members, and being concise yet impactful in their presentations.
Clear and compelling visuals, along with real-world examples, can also help in making the presentation more engaging and less susceptible to interruptions.
Capturing attention and preventing distractions from the board
Almost two-fifths (37%) of marketers believe their seniors seem distracted during presentations. Specific behaviors contributing to this perception include 24% observing seniors chatting among themselves and 18% noticing them taking phone calls during updates.
These typically indicate a lack of engagement and respect for the marketing insights being presented, which can be disheartening for the presenters.
To address this, marketers must make sure their presentations are relevant and tailored to the interests of the board members. Using data that directly links marketing activities to business outcomes, such as revenue growth and customer acquisition, can help in maintaining attention.
Interactive elements, such as Q&A sessions or live demonstrations of digital tools, can also make presentations more engaging and reduce distractions.
Turning negative boardroom reactions into positive outcomes
Negative reactions from the board can be quite demoralizing for marketers. 10% have received yawns, 6% experienced eye rolls, and 18% faced blank stares during their presentations—suggesting a disconnect between the marketing content being presented and the board’s interests or understanding.
To overcome these reactions, marketers need to refine their presentation strategies by using clear, jargon-free language and focusing on the aspects of marketing that directly impact the company’s bottom line.
Providing concrete examples of successful campaigns, supported by robust data and analytics, can help in conveying the importance of marketing efforts. Being prepared to address questions and feedback confidently can turn potentially negative interactions into opportunities for meaningful dialogue.
Overcoming the fluffy marketing stereotype in the boardroom
29% of marketers feel that their discipline is viewed as ‘fluffy’, a perception that undermines the strategic importance of marketing within the organization. This stereotype is particularly detrimental as it suggests that marketing activities are seen as less serious or impactful compared to other business functions.
59% of marketers, with a higher proportion of women (66%), worry that marketing isn’t taken seriously by the board—reflecting a broader challenge in communicating the true value of marketing activities.
Over a third (36%) believe their results aren’t considered important by the board, which can lead to reduced support and investment in marketing initiatives.
To counter this perception, marketers need to emphasize the strategic contributions of their work by demonstrating how marketing drives customer engagement, brand loyalty, and long-term revenue growth. Presenting case studies and success stories, along with detailed performance metrics, can help in showcasing the tangible benefits of marketing.
Engaging the board with compelling narratives and data-driven insights will be key in transforming marketing’s image from fluffy to essential.
Simplifying marketing concepts for better board understanding
A common challenge senior marketers face is the limited understanding of marketing among board members. More than two-fifths (42%) of marketers believe that board members have a constrained grasp of marketing principles and their impact—forcing nearly half (43%) of senior marketers to repeatedly explain the importance of their results in every presentation.
Repetitive explanations can lead to frustration and a sense that progress is slow.
Adding to this, 40% of marketers express a desire for more straightforward methods to showcase the impact of their work—a particularly strong sentiment among marketers aged 35-44, with 43% of them feeling the need for better communication tools.
The challenge marketers face lies in translating complex marketing data into clear, actionable insights that resonate with the board’s strategic priorities.
To address these communication challenges, marketers can adopt several strategies:
- Speak the board members’ language: Focus on aligning presentations with the board’s language, highlighting how marketing activities contribute to overarching business goals such as revenue growth, market expansion, and customer retention. Using case studies and real-world examples can illustrate these points more vividly.
- Leveraging visual aids and simplified metrics: This makes complex data more accessible. Infographics, dashboards, and concise summary slides can help board members quickly grasp the essence of marketing performance without getting bogged down in technical details—saving time fostering a more engaging and productive dialogue between marketers and the board.
The KPIs your board cares about and how to highlight them
According to recent data, 47% of board members show interest in ‘website traffic’ when it comes to PR activities—a tangible indicator of online visibility and audience engagement providing a clear picture of how well PR campaigns are performing.
For pure marketing efforts, 49% of the board focuses on ‘customer leads’, which directly correlates with potential revenue generation and is often seen as a key indicator of marketing success.
‘Reach’ is another critical KPI, understood by 40% of senior marketers as a metric that resonates well with board members. Reach measures the extent to which marketing messages penetrate the target audience, highlighting the effectiveness of campaigns in spreading brand awareness.
Customer leads offer a straightforward link between marketing activities and business outcomes, making it easier for board members to appreciate the value of marketing investments.
That being said, 29% of marketers have encountered skepticism from the board regarding large reach numbers—reinforcing the need for marketers to provide context and validation for their reach metrics while detailing their real-world impact.
To make these metrics more compelling, marketers should focus on storytelling and contextualization. Linking website traffic, customer leads, and reach to specific business outcomes such as sales growth, market share, and brand loyalty, marketers can create a narrative that points out the strategic importance of their efforts.
Using ‘How many people’ to make big numbers easy to grasp
Bottle has launched a free tool called ‘How Many People’ designed to help marketers translate reach numbers into real-world equivalents. This tailors statistics to specific sectors, business contexts, and cultural references, making it easier for board members to visualize and remember the scale of marketing efforts.
For example, an influencer marketing campaign seen by 5 million people can be compared to the number of viewers who watched the UK receive ‘nil point’ at Eurovision—helping board members understand the magnitude of marketing achievements in a more tangible and memorable way.
The tool’s ability to generate sector-specific and culturally relevant analogies provides marketers with a powerful resource to improve their presentations. Making abstract numbers more concrete, ‘How Many People’ helps bridge the gap between marketing metrics and board-level comprehension..
Natasha Hill’s insights on changing marketing’s boardroom perception
Tackling the perception problem with digital tools and ROI
Natasha Hill, MD and co-owner of Bottle, addresses the long-standing perception issue that marketers face at the board level. Despite advancements in digital tools that have helped prove ROI, two-thirds (67%) of marketers believe that sales growth remains the primary metric of interest for boards.
Focus on immediate revenue often overshadows the broader contributions of marketing and PR to long-term commercial success.
Hill emphasizes that marketing and PR drive value beyond immediate sales, including brand health and audience engagement—all of which are key in sustaining long-term growth and competitive advantage. However, they often do not receive the airtime they deserve during board meetings.
Digital tools have proven beneficial in showcasing marketing ROI, but the challenge lies in highlighting the broader impact of marketing activities.
Integrating digital analytics with compelling narratives, marketers can show how their efforts contribute to the company’s strategic objectives—validating marketing investments and shifting the board’s perception from viewing marketing as a cost center to recognizing it as a key driver of business success.
Making your marketing metrics stick with storytelling
Hill highlights the importance of using storytelling techniques to make marketing updates more impactful. The human brain is wired to respond to stories, which makes them a powerful tool for conveying complex information.
Weaving data into a compelling narrative, marketers can help board members visualize the importance of marketing metrics and their implications for the business.
Storytelling can transform dry statistics into engaging stories that highlight the journey from marketing activities to business outcomes.
For instance, illustrating how a marketing campaign led to increased website traffic, which then converted into customer leads and ultimately boosted sales, can provide a clear and compelling narrative.
Visual aids, such as charts and infographics, can support storytelling, making them more memorable and impactful.
Marketers must adopt storytelling and visualization techniques to better capture the board’s attention, build a deeper understanding of their contributions, and secure the support needed to drive future marketing initiatives.
Why big numbers don’t stick and how to change that
The human brain struggles to comprehend large numbers, a cognitive limitation that marketers must address when presenting their results. Designed to compare rather than count, the brain finds it challenging to grasp abstract figures in the millions or billions—potentially leading to lackluster responses from board members when presented with large-scale metrics.
To overcome this challenge, marketers need to simplify big numbers using storytelling and visualization techniques. Breaking down large figures into more relatable and understandable units can make a great difference. For example, instead of presenting a campaign reach of 10 million, marketers can equate it to the population of a specific city or the number of viewers for a popular event.
Effective storytelling, combined with visual representation, can transform how marketing metrics are perceived and understood at the board level—capturing their attention while fostering a deeper appreciation for the strategic value of marketing activities.
