What is Presence-Forward Marketing?

At its core, presence-forward marketing is maximizing ROI from live—in-person and online—marketing and sales opportunities. Whether you're speaking at events, appearing on podcasts, leading webinars, or attending conferences, presence-forward marketing blends real-life interactions with digital practices to drive business growth.

Evolving Marketing Strategies

Traditional marketing and event-based marketing have been staples in a company's promotional toolkit. However, when digital marketing took off, businesses with even small budgets could connect with audiences miraculously at scale.

Digital leveled the playing field. Many entrepreneurs, like myself, were able to forge careers that would have been near impossible just years before. For the past 20+ years, the marketing pendulum has swung heavily to all things digital. Business of all sizes - from Fortune 500 companies to solopreneurs - have been enamored with how to leverage and optimize online platforms.

Now with AI’s expansion and near-omnipresence, something interesting is happening.

Audiences more skeptical of what they see online. Wondering, even doubting, if a "person" on their screen is human or not.  Which means, this new era of business is creating opportunities for people and brands who recognize that their presence can be a competitive advantage. Trust-building, interactions and meaningful connections are valued more than ever before.

The Benefits of Presence-Forward Marketing

 

• Presence as a Competitive Advantage
  The value of genuine interaction has never been higher. Whether in person or through live online engagements, direct interactions offer proof of one's expertise and skills. Thanks to online marketing, smart and charismatic leaders can utilize live events not only to create meaningful connections, but also to scale their message and brand visibility more effectively than ever..
• Shorter Sales Cycles
  The fastest way to build trust and familiarity is through direct, shared experiences. Presence-forward approaches rapidly build trust and boosts referrals.
• Lasting Impressions
  Unlike the fleeting nature of a social media feed, live in-person and online events leave lasting impressions.
• Loyalty & Extended Lifetime Customer Value (LCV)
  Interactions foster deeper connections, leading to better-aligned collaborations, longer business relationships, and client loyalty.
• Empowers Your Champions
  Presence-forward also offers opportunities to engage with company team members who can share your message (and your services) up the chain of command, putting your brand directly in front of decision makers.

Comparing Budgets for Digital & Presence-Forward Marketing

The budgets needed and the ROI to expect from both online and event-based thought leadership are often a bit of a mystery for many people. And it's understandable because each are their own specialty, and few have in-depth experience with both.

So, I hope you find this resource helpful as you decide on what blend of live and online marketing approaches are the right fit for you.

It's been my experience that most people understand the general benefits of each option, but fully aware of the hidden costs of online marketing and the hidden returns of presence-forward approaches. Just as one example, thought leadership generated from a single speech or event has the potential to fuel a year's worth online content. In fact, many of my clients find it easier to delegate and streamline their online efforts by using their speeches as ready-made source material.

General Marketing Budgets: 7%

Typically, businesses earmark about 5-10% of their total revenue for marketing. For simplicity, let's use a middle ground of 7%. Below are some typical benchmarks for general marketing budgets:

• Solopreneur ($150k in revenue): $10,500
• Small Business ($1M in revenue): $70,000
• Mid-sized Business ($5M in revenue): $350,000
• Growing Enterprise ($10M in revenue): $700,000
• Established Company ($30M+ in revenue): $2,100,000

Presence-Forward Marketing Budgets

Average Registration Fees for Events and Conferences

Local community events, like association chapters, industry networking gatherings, and small seminars, are often free or cost less than $100 to attend.

The registration fees for larger, multi-day events and conferences tend to range from $300 to $2,500, depending on the event's prestige and scope.

Some more all-inclusive events average registration fees between $5,000-$8,000+. These high-end events usually provide elite networking and unique experiences beyond the usual business conference.

It's important to note that when you’re speaking at an event, your registration fees are often waived.

Average Travel and Accommodation Costs for Events

• Airfare: $300-$600 for domestic flights.
• Hotel: $150 to $300 per night, with the higher-end hotels charging $600-$800 per night
• Food: Many conferences include some meals, so food and incidentals tend to range from $50 to $150 daily. I’d recommend that you also plan for at least one or two meals equating to a 'fancy' night out.

Total Investment for Events: Low, Medium, High Scenarios

 

I hope that understanding these costs can help you budget (and strategize) for the number and type of events that best suit you. Depending on your chosen tier of event, you might expect to budget for: 

• Minimal Cost Event: less than $100
• Low Cost Event: $600
• Medium Cost Event: $2,750
• High Cost Event: $5,150

How Many Events Should You Participate in Each Year?

The number of events you should participate in - either attending or speaking - will depend heavily on your business goals.

• Selective Engagements
  A substantial portion of my clients focus on speaking at 1-3 key in-person events and 6-12 webinars each year. 
• Average Frequency 
  Generally, on average, founders and executives who embrace a presence-forward approach tend to speak at 1-4 events and/or webinars each month.
• Active Presence-Forward Executives:
  At the upper end, some larger organizations will send C-Suite and senior leadership to events throughout the year, engaging in in-person and online events as often as 4-8 times a month. 

In addition to speaking opportunities, founders and executives will attend (and not speak at) events 1-3 times a year. 

Digital Marketing Budgets (B2B)

Here’s an overview of typical digital marketing expenditures for B2B companies.

Common Digital Marketing Channels and Their Costs

• Digital Advertising This includes creating and placing targeted ads on search engines, social media platforms, and other digital spaces where costs are determined per click, per impression, or per action.

  Agencies might charge a setup fee ranging from $500 to $5,000+, with ongoing management fees of 10-20% of ad spend and/or a monthly retainer of $1,000 to $10,000. Considering the variety of advertising formats and strategies, the average monthly spend can be around $2,500-$5,000 (more if you've got the budget for it).

• Content & Social Media Marketing Engaging in organic content creation and social media marketing involves posting content online, without the ad spend. The time investment for creating compelling content and building a strategy for it is no joke—taking anywhere from six months to a year to begin yielding tangible results. If outsourcing, monthly retainers for comprehensive content services can range from $2,000 to $20,000.
• SEO (Search Engine Optimization) SEO efforts enhance your website's visibility in search engine results. SEO services typically range from a monthly retainer of $750 for basic services to over $10,000 for advanced strategies in competitive sectors.

Consider Your 80/20

For my clients who prioritize presence-forward strategies, they tend to dedicate 80% of their marketing budget to those efforts. I'd say the average business invests about 20% in these thought leadership and event-focused approaches.

Interestingly, the work done in presence-forward marketing can often cover a significant portion of the content and design needs for digital efforts, creating a lovely and harmonious blend between the two strategies.

Time Investment for Speech Development

Speaking of speeches, we know that there's more than just a monetary investment there's also a time investment. And many people aren't sure what to expect or plan for when creating different types of speeches. I hope this section helps you in the project management side of things,

Creating a speech from scratch—including content/scripting to slide design to rehearsing—can take an average of 45 hours. Hiring a designer for the slides or working with a coach can significantly reduce those timetables.

If you're refreshing an existing speech, the time investment can range from 2-10 hours if done on your own.

The more savvy presence-forward folks know that the time invested into a speech is simultaneously time invested in sales funnels, social media content, and other creative marketing touchpoints. 

Generalized Conversion Rates

It no longer surprises me when a founder or executive tells me that they don't have a system in place for tracking leads or other ROI benchmarks when it comes to events. In a lot of ways, if makes sense. when you get a speaking engagement, focus on the speech. But, like all things in business, tracking can empower more strategic and fruitful moves in the future.  

For those who do track, typical conversion rates hovering around 5-10% of the audience. (A conversion meaning # of audience members to # of leads generated.) There are plenty of other things one could track from events, but that's more speaker/event specific and perhaps a topic for another article. 

For comparison, my clients have an average lead conversion rates of 15-30%, which top performers achieving 50-75%. This dramatic increase is the result of intentional strategies and a well-rounded approach to maximizing engagement before, during, and after each event.

In comparison, B2B digital advertising campaigns tend to see much lower conversion rates. On average, paid digital campaigns produce a 2-5% conversion rate, with highly optimized campaigns sometimes reaching 10%. Organic content marketing and social media efforts typically result in even lower conversions, often below 2%.

Please know that this is not an either/or proposition. I believe that every company can find their right blend of both presence-forward and digital marketing. I also encourage brands to apply the same level of intention and strategy to their live, interactive events as they do to their digital efforts. The beauty of presence-forward marketing is that the one-time effort a founder or executive puts into a single presentation can be easily repurposed across all digital platforms—often requiring significantly less time from them in the long run.

Who Can Benefit from Presence-Forward Marketing

Presence-forward marketing works successfully across industries and company sizes. In addition to the biz dev motivations, founders and executives typically discover personal and operational benefits, too.

Personal Alignment

On a personal level, professionals who enjoy speaking and connecting with people find presence-forward marketing perfectly aligned to their communication strengths. My clients tend to express how they feel like “teachers at heart” and receiving a sense of fulfillment from giving value to their industry.

While the digital realm operates under the “Law of Algorithm”—bending to the whims of ever-changing platforms, live events and interactions leave room for the “Law of Attraction” to work its magic. Unanticipated and serendipitous moments often plant seeds of opportunities that eventually flourish for the company and the bottom line.

And then there's the sense of empowerment that follows the realization that one's competitors don't have the same kinds of communication skills and are limited to just the digital content creation landscape. "They" can't do what you can do.

Operational Benefits

First, presence-forward marketing creates built-in deadlines. When you're committed to a live event or speaking engagement, the date is set, forcing you to prepare and execute your thought leadership—no room for procrastination. This can be a game-changer for busy executives and entrepreneurs, helping them stay on track.

It also simplifies editorial planning and delegation. Events and speeches can naturally become source content that can be repurposed across other platforms. This makes it easier to delegate and stay consistent.

Events also provide you with instant audience feedback. Unlike digital marketing, where results are delayed or filtered through algorithms, in-person interactions offer immediate reactions, helping you adjust your approach on the spot (and later online) if needed.

Finally, presence-forward marketing leads to targeted audience building and list generation. By engaging directly with your audience, you're not just creating content—you’re forming relationships.

Materials and Tools for Presence-Forward Marketing

If presence-forward marketing is something you’d like to embrace and be more intentional with, here are some helpful materials to consider having on hand to help you streamline your efforts

• High-quality headshots
• A concise and compelling bio (2-3 paragraphs)
• well-crafted program titles and descriptions
• Speaker, podcast, and/or media Kit
• (optional) Speaker footage: While B2B speakers don’t usually need this, it’s worth considering having some audio or video of you speaking—whether it’s on stage, in a webinar, on a podcast, or even "talking head" videos. 
• (optional) Speaker website: Again, not necessary for most B2B presenters, but many of my clients who are founders prefer to have one site dedicated to their core business and a (simple) site specifically for speaking opportunities.
• Free offer or lead magnet
• Prepared follow-up nurture sequence
• A CRM
• An editorial calendar

The Holistic Impact of Presence-Forward Marketing

Presence-forward marketing isn’t just about promoting your business—it’s about growth, both personal and professional. It challenges you to communicate your message with clarity and conviction, enhancing not only your brand but also your personal development. As your business evolves, so too will your approach, adapting to new challenges and seizing fresh opportunities. Ultimately, presence-forward marketing offers a holistic, impactful way to connect with your audience, ensuring your message not only reaches but resonates with them.