Marketing Dollars and ROI
Part One: The Cost of Continuing Education
Now is an important time to conserve your marketing budget. Times are tough and marketing dollars must be spent where there'll be the greatest return on investment. If we told you that you could still have your presenter deliver their full lunch and learn presentation along with your PowerPoint and your videos for much less cost than you're paying now, would you consider it? You can, with a on-demand course, available online.
We'll compare the quality of online with lunch and learn presentations. But first, let's compare the cost of reaching six hundred architects online to the cost of reaching them 10 at a time in a lunch and learn setting in twenty cities.
Your delivery costs for a lunch and learn include the salary of the presenter, travel, meals, lodging, and expenses like rental cars.
- Six hundred architects in twenty cities, ten architects at a time means three firms in each city.
- Let's average the travel cost at $250 per ticket including the last flight home (21 flights). $5,250
- Three days in each city will require three overnights for each city at $150/each. $9,000
- The presenter is an experienced and well-paid employee. Sixty days of their time cost $20,000
- Rental cars are needed every day of the sixty days, at $50/day. $3,000
- And, meals and out of pocket are going to run $50/day. $3,000
- Oh, and you're buying boxed lunches for 600 architects at $10/head. $6,000
- Your program costs $46,250, plus the cost of developing it – that's got to take it over $50,000!
On the other hand, you can likely produce an online course for a lot less than half that cost and it will be available on demand 24/7 for three years at no additional cost.
As for the quality, many manufacturers are recording on video the very presentation they give at lunch and learn sessions and adding their PowerPoints and videos right into the program for a very professional look. Scheduling a lunch and learn can be a hassle, but architects like being able to take the course at their convenience.
There's another important point. When architects agree to a lunch and learn, they may not have a project for you. They may not even have a genuine interest. But when they take your online course, they do so because they have chosen it. They want to learn something from you. Those are the real leaders.
For more information, contact us. We've produced more courses for AIA continuing education than any other marketing firm.
