Question

Topic: Our Forum

Justifying Participation In B2b Forum

Posted by Anonymous on 4/15/2008 at 4:53 PM ET 500 Points
I am interested in furthering my education and expanding my knowledge specifically related to B2B marketing channels. As you may all be aware, MarketingProfs is hosted a B2B Forum this June in Boston.

I have been asked to present our VP with quantifying reasoning's behind my attendance. Specifically - what is the ROI going to be? I can justify the educational aspect, but how do I link knowledge to future return?

Appreciate your help on this one.
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Levon on 4/15/2008 at 6:09 PM Accepted
    Attending would be a long term gain. It is primarily a networking opportunity for your company to leverage new partnerships, affiliatiations, distribution and advertising for your company to potential customers. Plus it puts you at the forefront of knowledge in the area of B2B.

  • Posted by Susan Oakes on 4/16/2008 at 3:35 AM Accepted
    I think it is difficult to quantify upfront, as opportunities often present actually at the forum.

    Perhaps, look at the agenda items and see if they cover areas you know your company could improve in. Translate the investment of you attending the forum and see how many sales that would equate to.

    Then either try and workout a rough ROI eg. 5% increase in sales through a new approach. Alternatively look at the opportunity cost of continuing what you are doing without the additional knowledge, techniques etc.

    Just remember not to over promise anything.

    Best of luck

    Susan
    M4B
  • Posted by jmcnary on 4/16/2008 at 4:39 PM Accepted
    I attended last year's event in Chicago and just signed up for Boston. I also had to justify the expense, especially for Chicago. Good news was, after my enthusiasm/ideas after last year's event, once it came around to this year they just told me "go."

    While I concur the mathematical ROI analysis is difficult to layout, I can tell you from experience that I am still trying to implement all the new ideas presented and/or I came up with due to the event in Chicago. The ones I have put in play have meant real progress in our sales and marketing in dollars and operational efficiency (which is harder to measure, but very valuable!). If I can get even half as much out of Boston it will pay for itself easily.

    Personal notes:

    1- You also get to network with great people who remind you that you are not alone in "marketing land." This reinvigorating effect gives you the stamina at your workplace to push forward to make more sales.

    2- Don't you think your company can invest in your increased knowledge about your specially? They are already paying you well, why not supplement that investment to get even more mileage out of you?

    I hope this helps. Hope to see you in Boston!
  • Posted by Ann H. on 4/16/2008 at 8:54 PM Accepted
    All of this is true, and these are all great answers. There's lot of cutting-edge learning from great speakers, there's great networking, there's potential opportunities. But I'd build on something Joshua said above... when he described the enthusiasm and ideas he carried away from Chicago (sounds like he had to CHECK that luggage!) : )

    The great thing about any good event -- but, since I'm biased, especially ours! -- is the way that it rejuvenates and inspires attendees. It gets you out of the office and out from behind your desk or PC, learning and listening and thinking about things in a whole new light. It's an investment in terms of ROI. But more than that, it's an investment in YOU and the level of energy for your job and work that you can bring back. As they say in the commercials, that's priceless....

    At the same time, if you need more specific fodder for your boss, the program this time offers something unique that Event Director Susanne Sicilian likens to "free consulting." We are running hands-on labs in three areas (social media, email, web usability), which essentially gives attendees a chance to sit down one-on-one with an expert and get specific and instant feedback about their specific email, social media or web approach/program. Check out the full agenda for more details.

    https://www.marketingprofs.com/events/4/program

    Hope this helps! And I hope to see you there.

  • Posted by CarolBlaha on 5/12/2008 at 10:49 AM Member
    I don't think its hard to generate a good ROI. What your boss wants to hear is what are you going to do with the education? If you came back and implemented a program that brought even one new customer-- you can easily justify this expense.

    What is the annual and then compute the lifetime worth of a customer?
  • Posted by Frank Hurtte on 5/12/2008 at 11:05 AM Member
    First of all, God bless your boss for challenging you to determine a payback for training. Early in my career I had just such a boss and his drive with ROI's made me a better attendee of meetings, and ultimately a better businessperson.

    Here are some thoughts for producing metrics:
    What is the current cost of a lead?
    If leads come from magazines, the cost is advertising + administration costs divided by number of leads.
    What would happen if the same advertising produced 5% more leads? This is a potential payback.

    What is the current lead to sale ratio? What happens if the this number improves by 5%?
    Example payback:
    10,000 leads x 10%lead/sale ratio x $1,00 typical sale = $1M in sales
    if lead per sale ration improved by 5%
    10,000 leads x 10.5% lead/sale ratio x $1,000 typical sale = $1,050,000
    The ROI is $50,000/cost of B2B Meeting

    Here is another thought - based on research conducted by Barry Trailer of CSO Insights, companies who are great at identifying targets are 47% more effective in reaching their financial goals. In my model we used just 5%.... which is very conservative.

    And finally, (sorry if I am rambling), I believe you are best putting together the list of the 3 best ideas you gained from the meeting on the way home.
    1st idea would be something you can change in the next two weeks.
    2nd idea would be something you could do in the next quarter.
    3rd idea would be a goal for the end of the year.

    These seminars pack so many (dozens) ideas it is easy to get educated but not get the payback..

    Questions,
    reach me via my profile. This is my personal hot button.
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