Effectiveness
Anton Buchner, Founder, Front Foot Marketing Last updated 8 August 2026
What should a CEO expect from marketing?
The question behind the question
Are we asking for more marketing activity?
Are we asking for a clearer commercial story?
The straight answer
Not more activity. Better commercial clarity.
You should be able to understand what marketing is trying to achieve, why those priorities matter, where the investment is going, what evidence supports the decisions, what's working, what isn't, and what needs to change.
The deeper answer
You shouldn't need to become an expert in CTR, CPC, ROAS or attribution to know whether the investment makes sense.
The job of marketing leadership isn't to produce more marketing.
It's to make better decisions about where marketing can create value.
The uncomfortable bit
If you need a translator to sit through the marketing update, that's not a sign the topic is complicated. It's a sign the update wasn't built for you.
What we know
- What marketing says its priorities are, and roughly where the budget is going
- The headline metrics marketing reports on
What we don't
- Whether those priorities are still the right ones for where the business is now
- Whether the metrics being reported are the ones that would actually change a decision
What we need to decide anyway: What to ask marketing leadership for before the next budget cycle, imperfect information and all.
What I'd challenge
I'd challenge the idea that more reporting equals more accountability. A CEO drowning in metrics isn't more informed. Just more tired.
Both sides of the table
I've sat in the room as the person presenting the plan, and I've sat in the room as the person deciding whether to fund it. Most marketing reporting is built for the first room. Not the second.
The Anton Test
Could I explain what marketing is actually trying to achieve to someone outside the industry in thirty seconds?
What I'd do next
I'd ask marketing to explain its plan in one paragraph a board member could follow without a briefing beforehand. If they can't, that's the first thing to fix.
The decision
This is ultimately a decision about what you ask marketing leadership to bring you next.
This connects to the broader decision on Marketing effectiveness, if you want the fuller picture.
Keep asking
Related answers
Effectiveness
What should our marketing dashboard actually tell us?
A dashboard should help you make a decision. If it doesn't, it's probably just reporting.
Effectiveness
Is this actually a marketing problem?
Sometimes the problem wearing a marketing hat isn't a marketing problem.
Decision
What decision are we actually trying to make?
This is often the question that should come first.
Still working out what the real question is?
Sometimes the hardest part isn't finding the answer. It's knowing which question to ask.