Although I'm somewhat familiar with running a business and managing a P&L, and I have taken the Institute of Directors finance course, I am no expert in these things. However, I deeply respect your time and believe this will be worth a little of it.

There is no denying that we have been and are in a challenging economic and business environment, and this isn't necessarily a post about that. Still, the current business climate heightens the tension as budgets are tight for most businesses and marketing teams.

We all know that businesses aim to make a profit, which is the revenue generated minus the costs to get it over the same period.

You'll often hear marketers and agency folk (myself included) talk about marketing as an investment and not a cost, which makes good sense as marketing's influence is most significant with future sales, but I can't speak for all CFOs here; you will poke the proverbial bear by telling your CFO/MD/CEO what you are doing is a business investment, particularly at a time when businesses are desperately trying to minimise costs, of which product, place and promotion would most certainly fall into that side of the ledger.

What should marketers then talk about?

CFOs, members of the C-Suite, and boards care greatly about growth, profit, and risk.

Marketers play instrumental roles in all these, which is valuable and crucial to discuss. This alignment ensures that you speak the language of the C-Suite and secure vital budgets to achieve the desired business outcomes in good times and in the more tricky times. It's a powerful tool in your professional Batman utility belt, of that, I'm sure.

The below will give you the contents.