As chamber professionals, we’ve all experienced it—the well-meaning board member who wants to rewrite the marketing copy, redesign the logo, or micromanage social media strategy. While board engagement is essential for a chamber’s success, there’s a fine line between strategic oversight and operational interference.
How much should your board be involved in something like marketing, and how can you push back tactfully when their suggestions aren’t practical?
The Board’s Role in Chamber Marketing and Other Operations
A chamber’s board is responsible for governance and strategic oversight, not day-to-day operations. This distinction is critical in chamber marketing.
Here are the components of marketing that the board should be involved in:
1. Setting the Strategic Direction – The board should help define the chamber’s brand identity, core messaging, and target audience in broad terms.
2. Approving the Budget – Marketing requires resources, and the board should ensure adequate funding is allocated.
3. Ensuring Alignment with the Chamber’s Mission – Marketing efforts should reflect the chamber’s mission and long-term goals.
4. Serving as Brand Ambassadors – Board members should promote the chamber’s marketing efforts, not create them. They should also know that their conduct and activities are linked to the chamber’s brand. For instance, even a post about a community business on their personal social media profile can be attributed to the chamber–positive or negative it could have ramifications for the organization and be seen as the “voice of the chamber,” especially if they are part of the executive committee.
What the board should not be doing:
• Writing social media posts or newsletters for the chamber (they can feel free to write their own post and share content from the chamber)
• Choosing colors, fonts, or website layouts
• Dictating messaging or campaign execution
Is It Their Right to Be Involved in Marketing and Other Details?
The short answer is No. While board members have a fiduciary responsibility to ensure chamber resources are used wisely, they are not hired to execute marketing strategies.
Their role is oversight, not execution.
However, they do have the right to ask questions about marketing effectiveness, ROI, and alignment with chamber goals.
They can and should hold the chamber team accountable for results, but they should not dictate “the how.” Still, for many board members it is difficult not to throw out implementation ideas, especially if their background is in marketing.
Remember, you are the expert here. You know what your members respond to and what they don’t. Your board may speak theoretically and offer up suggestions of what worked for their business, but their business is not the chamber and a business (selling to the individual consumer or another business) operates differently than a chamber.
Additionally, what worked when they were building their business ten years ago (or more), may be out-of-date today. After all, look at everything that has changed in marketing in just the past three years!
As the expert on your members and an expert in the chamber industry, you may have to push back and suggest other courses of action when the board starts giving you daily marketing tasks.
Then again, it should never come to this if they understand their role in the chamber. But if it does, you need to know how to stop it quickly or their “insights” and input will increase exponentially.
Tactfully Pushing Back on Board Interference
When board members get too involved in marketing execution, it can drain your time and derail strategic efforts, not to mention impede your staff.
Here’s how to navigate these situations professionally:
1. Redirect to Strategy
Example: A board member insists that you should be posting on a platform that isn’t aligned with your marketing goals.
Response: “That’s an interesting idea! Our current strategy is focused on the platforms where our audience is most active. We identified that in a survey this year. However, if we want to explore the possibility of expanding to other platforms, we could discuss that at the next strategic planning session.”
2. Use Data to Back Your Decisions
Example: A board member wants to change your ad copy because they think a different message would work better.
Response: “We actually tested a few variations of messaging, and this version performed best with our audience. I’d love to share the engagement data at our next marketing update so the board can see how we’re tracking.”
3. Emphasize Efficient Use of Resources
Example: A board member suggests launching a complex (or outdated!) marketing campaign that would strain your small team.
Response: “That’s a creative idea! Given our current capacity, we’re focused on initiatives that provide the highest return on investment. If we secure additional resources, we can consider expanding our efforts in that direction.”
4. Offer a Defined Role in Marketing Efforts
Example: A board member is passionate about marketing and wants to get involved.
Response: Give them a clear, constructive role rather than letting them dictate execution. “We love having board members as brand ambassadors! If you’re open to it, we’d love for you to help promote chamber events on your LinkedIn profile and invite businesses to engage with our content.”
A Brief Note About the Slipperiness of a “Working Board”
Most chamber boards fall into one of two categories:
- chambers that see their board members as c-level contributors, well-positioned for guidance and strategy
- chambers (or board members) that think the board needs to resemble the working staff of the chamber and thus contribute accordingly. We see this often with new leaders or small business owners who are used to wearing many hats. They may not feel as comfortable in their high-level strategic oversight and believe they can add more value from an operational perspective. (If that’s the case, you may want to consider a new board member.)
The difficulty in the latter type is that it is a slippery slope. Asking your board to share your signature event flyer with their network is one thing. Them misinterpreting this marketing exercise as an invitation to give feedback on the flyer is quite another. Before inviting them into any marketing activity, consider how that will impact their role or their expectations of what their role is.
In most of these situations, data is your friend. Be appreciative of their suggestions but if you don’t find those courses of action viable, know you are the expert. They are there for the big picture.
Your board is an invaluable asset, but their role in marketing should remain strategic, not operational. By setting clear boundaries, using data-driven reasoning, and redirecting them toward governance-level discussions, you can maintain a productive relationship while ensuring marketing remains in the hands of those best equipped to execute it.
What challenges have you faced with board involvement in marketing? There’s currently a question about a board-suggested direct mail campaign on the Facebook group. Join the conversation.
