Marketing Spend or Revenue Lever? What CFOs Should Expect From Event and Webinar Budgets in 2026

By Sarah Taylor, Head of Events, Yo Marketing

This is the first in two-part leadership series on aligning event and content investment to measurable revenue outcomes.

As SaaS organisations enter a new financial year, Q1 becomes the defining moment for commercial alignment. This two-part leadership series explores how event, webinar and podcast investments should be structured to drive measurable revenue impact.

Part 1 examines the issue through a CFO lens, focusing on governance, allocation and accountability. Part 2 addresses executive leadership, outlining how disciplined early planning engineers sustainable pipeline growth.

Part 1 - Marketing Spend or Revenue Lever? What CFOs Should Expect From Event and Webinar Budgets in 2026

Every year, CFOs approve substantial marketing allocations designed to support revenue growth.

What is less visible is how those allocations are structured once approved.

In B2B SaaS, events, webinars and podcasts can represent a significant proportion of marketing expenditure. Treated casually, they become difficult to measure and even harder to defend. Structured correctly, they operate as controlled revenue levers.

Q1 is the moment to determine which of those outcomes will define the year.

Enterprise SaaS organisations regularly commit five figures to a single flagship sponsorship. Without pre-booked meetings and defined opportunity targets, cost per meeting can exceed $1,500 to $2,500.

Webinars may appear lower risk, yet average attendance rates sit between 35 and 45 percent. Without targeted promotion and sales alignment, conversion efficiency declines quickly.

Benchmarks show that well-structured webinars convert 20 to 40 percent of registrants into marketing qualified leads. Curated executive roundtables can secure meetings with 30 to 50 percent of attendees. These results are engineered through alignment, not assumed through activity.

Events and webinars are not discretionary marketing spend. They are capital allocation decisions that require defined return expectations. Before approving or renewing event and webinar expenditure, finance leaders should expect clear answers to:

• What pipeline value must this activity influence?

• What is the expected cost per meeting or cost per opportunity?

• Which strategic accounts are being prioritised?

• What follow-up structure ensures measurable conversion?

For CFOs focused on predictable growth, marketing structure in Q1 is a matter of financial governance. When event and webinar strategies are engineered early, capital allocation becomes measurable, defensible and strategically aligned.

Transforming marketing spend from an overhead cost into a high-performance revenue lever requires more than just better benchmarks; it requires operational discipline. As you finalize your 2026 allocations, don't let your event and webinar budgets remain a "black box" of discretionary activity. By implementing the right structural rigour now, you ensure that every dollar committed is an investment in measurable pipeline rather than an act of faith.

Ready to turn your event strategy into a precision revenue engine? Contact Yo Marketing today to build the framework, alignment, and measurement models your bottom line demands.

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When Events Go Wrong: The Real Cost of Poor Planning (And How to Get It Right)

By Sarah Taylor, Yo Marketing Agency Head of Global Events Events can be a game-changer for your brand — when they’re done right. From polished trade show booths to high-impact roundtables, they’re a chance to connect, convert, and create meaningful experiences. But let’s not sugar-coat it: events can also be a disaster. If you’ve ever scrambled to find branded pens minutes before a show opens, watched attendees glaze over during an awkward roundtable, or chased down leads with missing contact info, you already know — when events go wrong, they go really wrong. Let’s dig into what typically derails an event and how Yo Marketing helps you sidestep the chaos, eliminate stress, and deliver with confidence. #### 1. Disjointed Planning & Last-Minute Mayhem It starts small: a spreadsheet here, a Slack message there. But before you know it, deadlines are missed, responsibilities are unclear, and your event planning has turned into a chaotic scramble. Too often, internal teams are expected to juggle event planning on top of their day jobs. No one really owns the project, and suddenly there are 17 versions of the same checklist floating around. That’s a recipe for disaster. **How Yo Marketing fixes it:** We run events like a military op — without the stress. You get a dedicated team managing the end-to-end process with detailed timelines, clear ownership, and bulletproof logistics. We become your extended team, keeping everything (and everyone) on track. #### 2. Bad Branding = A Bad First Impression At a tradeshow, you’ve got seconds to grab someone’s attention. If your stand graphics are pixelated, poorly lit, or cluttered with confusing messaging, people will walk right past. It’s not just an eyesore — it makes your brand look second-rate. In more intimate settings like roundtables, your visual materials and presentation flow matter just as much. Dated slides, clunky tech, or underwhelming assets will instantly dull your impact. **How Yo Marketing fixes it:** Our creative team ensures everything — from booth design and collateral to branded name tags and presentations — looks premium, consistent, and on-brand. We elevate your presence visually and make sure your brand is memorable for the right reasons. #### 3. Poor Lead Capture = Wasted Budget You’ve invested in the space, travel, content, speakers… and yet somehow walk away with a handful of leads written on napkins (or worse, not at all). Without a strategy to attract, qualify, and follow up with prospects, your ROI takes a nosedive. **How Yo Marketing fixes it:** We bake lead gen into the event plan from day one. Whether it’s digital QR sign-ups, live capture forms, or post-event nurture campaigns, we ensure you collect high-quality data that turns into real business opportunities. #### 4. Forgettable Experiences (That No One Talks About After) A tradeshow might be busy — but is it engaging? A roundtable might be well-attended — but is it meaningful? When events feel flat, forced, or forgettable, they fade fast. People remember standout experiences, not sales pitches. If there’s no clear purpose, no spark, or no facilitation, your attendees will mentally check out (and probably not return). **How Yo Marketing fixes it:** We build experiences that resonate. For tradeshows, we inject interactive elements that draw people in. For roundtables, we help you create tailored, value-led conversations that spark dialogue and build relationships. We handle everything from agenda shaping to moderation and follow-up. #### 5. Internal Burnout & Lost Productivity Event planning is a full-time job. When it’s lumped onto already-stretched marketing or sales teams, something’s gotta give. Important details fall through the cracks, morale dips, and core business tasks suffer. **How Yo Marketing fixes it:** We take the pressure off your internal teams completely. Our events specialists, project managers, designers, and campaign leads become your event SWAT team — so your staff can focus on being present, not panicked. #### Why Yo Marketing? At Yo Marketing, we don’t just plan events — we engineer experiences that work. With a deep bench of experts across strategy, content, creative, and operations, we bring structure, polish, and impact to every stage of your event journey. **Whether it’s a trade show in Vegas or a roundtable in London, we deliver:** ✔️ Stress-free logistics and timeline management ✔️ High-impact creative and stand design ✔️ Audience acquisition and content strategy ✔️ Seamless on-site or virtual event execution ✔️ Lead capture, CRM integration, and post-event reporting ✔️ A calm, capable team you can actually rely on #### Let’s Make Your Next Event Exceptional If you’re ready to ditch the panic and deliver events that not only run smoothly but move the needle, we’re ready to help. Reach out to our team and let’s make your next event one to remember — for all the right reasons and here’s why… #### Big Enough to Deliver, Small Enough to Care We work with businesses of all sizes—from ambitious startups to established enterprises. What they have in common is the need for marketing support that’s agile, smart, and results-driven. That’s what we do best. If you’re looking for a marketing partner that feels like an extension of your own team—without the overhead—yomarketing.agency is ready to get to work. [![Schedule a free strategy session today](https://8pfraw1pqsd9gr2m.public.blob.vercel-storage.com/cta/schedule%20a%20free%20strategy%20session%20today-71nxI8IjipsNWn5HZlezFcxibVvXHd.png)](/contact/)

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Why 2025 Belongs to Customer Marketing

By Sarah Taylor, Yo Marketing Agency Head of Global Events As we head deeper into 2025, a quiet shift is reshaping the way marketing teams operate. It’s not about flashy lead gen tactics or ever-larger acquisition funnels anymore. The most forward-thinking businesses are asking a different question: How do we get more value from the customers we already have? ### Budget Cuts and Strategic Shifts With many marketing budgets under pressure, companies are re-evaluating how and where they invest. For a long time, growth was synonymous with acquiring net-new leads. But in today’s landscape, where CAC (customer acquisition cost) is climbing and conversion timelines are stretching, executives are doubling down on a more efficient path to growth: customer marketing. In fact, while many demand gen roles are being frozen or cut, there’s been a noticeable uptick in investment for customer advocacy, lifecycle marketing, and community-led programmes. These aren’t just tactical roles; they’re becoming the backbone of a more sustainable growth strategy. ### It’s More Than Just Upselling Let’s be clear: this isn’t about squeezing more revenue out of existing clients. The shift is much bigger than that. It’s about: • Creating genuine brand advocates • Showcasing customer success as proof of value • Building deeper loyalty that leads to repeat business and referrals Customer marketers are becoming the storytellers of the business, spotlighting real-world results, amplifying trusted voices, and helping prospects see what’s possible through the lens of existing success. ### Advocacy Over Acquisition When done right, your happiest customers become your most powerful marketing channel. They bring credibility, reduce sales cycles, and build trust in a way no campaign or cold call ever could. And the beauty is, you’ve already done the hard part – they chose you. Now it’s about nurturing those relationships and building a platform for them to tell their story. In 2025, the smartest marketers aren’t chasing attention. They’re earning trust. If you’re ready to turn your customers into your most valuable marketing asset, Yo Marketing can help. We design and deliver customer-led programmes that build loyalty, drive referrals, and create stories that sell. Let’s talk! [![Schedule a free strategy session today](https://8pfraw1pqsd9gr2m.public.blob.vercel-storage.com/cta/schedule%20a%20free%20strategy%20session%20today-71nxI8IjipsNWn5HZlezFcxibVvXHd.png)](/contact/)

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Marketing Spend or Revenue Lever? What CFOs Should Expect From Event and Webinar Budgets in 2026

Part 1 - Marketing Spend or Revenue Lever? What CFOs Should Expect From Event and Webinar Budgets in 2026

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