Question 1 –   Let's talk about this perception that marketing has no return or that it is impossible to measure the return of a marketing investment. What is your take on that perception? (with a slant to the B2B manufacturing sector)

Question 2 –  How do you define and calculate return on investment or ROI for the marketing function? What are some metrics manufacturing marketers should be tracking?

Question 3 –   Could you share a success story with the audience about a B2B manufacturer or a B2B company who was able to successfully measure ROI and what were the positive outcomes to the business and the marketing department as a result?

Question 4 –  Let's imagine a manufacturer or a marketing director at a manufacturing company out there listening. He has 1 or 2 people on his staff, not much budget and when times are tough, marketing is the first place where budget gets cut. What are some initial steps he could take to start to prove a return on the marketing investment, change the perception of marketing as a black hole expense and even begin to position marketing as a direct source of revenue?

Challenge Question –  This week our challenge question comes from a robotics manufacturing company in northern Indiana. Here it is "I'm a VP marketing at a mid-size manufacturer and I have a strong passion for marketing by educating our customers to help them solve their problems. I'm new here and I'm having trouble getting buy-in for a content marketing strategy that is not completely about the products. I have 2 questions; how can I break through the culture barrier that says we can only market by pitching the product?  Second, how long does it usually take to prove the concept of content marketing?"