{"id":329,"date":"2026-01-06T16:19:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T16:19:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sueedworthy.ca\/marketingmadepractical\/?p=329"},"modified":"2026-02-20T15:07:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T15:07:29","slug":"your-board-is-not-the-enemy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sueedworthy.ca\/marketingmadepractical\/your-board-is-not-the-enemy\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s clear something up right away:<br>Most board members want the organization to succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They just don\u2019t always understand <strong>how marketing actually works<\/strong>, especially in the arts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is not a moral failing. It\u2019s a role confusion problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why boards fixate on marketing<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Marketing is visible.<br>Marketing feels actionable.<br>Marketing looks like something you can <em>add more of<\/em> when things feel shaky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So when ticket sales stall, boards often jump to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u201cWe need more promotion.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cWe should be on TikTok.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cWhy aren\u2019t posters everywhere?\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>This isn\u2019t interference\u2014it\u2019s anxiety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The real disconnect<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Boards tend to think in outputs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>number of ads<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>number of posts<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>number of posters<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Marketing teams think in systems:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>audience pathways<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>timing<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>message alignment<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>capacity<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>When those two perspectives don\u2019t meet, frustration follows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>clear definitions of success<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>agreed-upon priorities<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>shared language around audiences<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>realistic capacity conversations<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What helps (and what doesn\u2019t)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Helpful:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not helpful:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u201ctrust us, we\u2019re the experts\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>dumping analytics without context<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>arguing tactics instead of goals<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A practical reframe<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead of asking boards to approve tactics, invite them into questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Who are we really trying to reach?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What do we want them to feel more confident about?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What are we willing <em>not<\/em> to do this year?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Boards don\u2019t need to pick the font.<br>They do need to understand the strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s where alignment happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Let\u2019s clear something up right away:Most board members want the organization to succeed. They just don\u2019t always understand how marketing actually works, especially in the arts. This is not a moral failing. It\u2019s a role confusion problem. Why boards fixate on marketing Marketing is visible.Marketing feels actionable.Marketing looks like something you can add more of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":465,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sueedworthy.ca\/marketingmadepractical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sueedworthy.ca\/marketingmadepractical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sueedworthy.ca\/marketingmadepractical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sueedworthy.ca\/marketingmadepractical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sueedworthy.ca\/marketingmadepractical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sueedworthy.ca\/marketingmadepractical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":592,"href":"https:\/\/sueedworthy.ca\/marketingmadepractical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329\/revisions\/592"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sueedworthy.ca\/marketingmadepractical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sueedworthy.ca\/marketingmadepractical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sueedworthy.ca\/marketingmadepractical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sueedworthy.ca\/marketingmadepractical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}