If you are involved in creating content or online marketing, it is essential to have the latest information to remain relevant and effective. The following conferences provide powerful information each year. Some are massive in size and attract industry leaders from around the world while others offer more intimate settings and give attendees the opportunity to make connections with presenters and other guests.
Each one offers something slightly different. For those who are able, attending more than one each year can be extremely beneficial.
MozCon Local
MozCon Local is a two-day annual event held in Seattle, Washington, in February. It is hosted by Moz, which sells inbound marketing and analytics software subscriptions. The company was founded in 2004 and began hosting events in 2006. What started as a summer training event has turned into an SEO extravaganza.
The conference has a large panel of regional and national brands, business owners, and agency marketers who are able to offer the latest cutting edge techniques and insights. Some of the topics covered include SEO to increase local rankings, content creation tips, obtaining reviews, and building citations. Those attending the conference are able to participate in a live question and answer session with panelists which allows many to have their exact concerns addressed in a way that simply isn’t possible at larger events.
MozCon
MozCon is also hosted by Moz in Seattle, Washington. It is another annual event that is typically held in the summer. This is a three-day event that focuses on giving actionable information related to brand development, CRO, SEO, the latest information on the mobile landscape, how to improve customer experiences, analytics, content marketing, social marketing, and more.
Nights are devoted to networking opportunities. This year, there will be a pub crawl, a meet and greet combined with short discussions on hobbies and passion projects, and a large party on the final day. This gives conference goers a chance to really get to know others in the industry on both a professional and personal level. The extended periods of socializing facilitate a greater sense of personal community that can be invaluable throughout the year.
Adobe Summit
The Adobe Summit is one of the most significant digital marketing conferences of the year. It is hosted each year in Las Vegas. The three-day event is preceded by an optional two-day preconference training experience which provides detailed courses led by Adobe Digital Learning Services.
The main event offers more than 150 labs and sessions in eight core fields of study; cross-channel marketing, data-driven marketing, customer experience, integrated marketing cloud, hands-on labs, mobile marketing, marketing innovations, and programmatic advertising.
In addition to the remarkable training opportunities, the summit also has substantial opportunities for guests to network. The welcome reception allows attendees to network with industry leaders, summit sponsors, and Adobe experts. At the end of the summit, a final bash features private entertainment from headliner artists.
Digital Marketing Innovation Summit
The Digital Marketing Innovation Summit, or #DigiMarketing, is held in New York and organized by Innovation Enterprise. The company organizes numerous global summits on specific topics such as digital strategy innovation, women in strategy, modern data management, and predictive analytics innovation. They are thought leaders that cultivate the most recent information in the field and create white papers, webinars, eBooks, and in-depth articles for their audience.
The focus of this summit is on brand communication to create a greater customer reach and return. There are more than 28 industry leaders who will be presenting and more than 150 senior level attendees. Topics include information on the latest SEO best practices, monetization of social media presence, developing relevant content to increase outreach, improving customer experiences by creating a multichannel experience, personalizing the customer’s experience with advanced attribution and tracking techniques, and methods to establish real connections in the industry.
The two-day event offers on-demand access to all presentations after the conference and more than 20 hours of networking opportunities.
Social Media Marketing World
Social Media Marketing World is a three-day event held in San Diego, California. It is advertised as the largest conference devoted entirely to social media marketing. More than 120 industry leaders give live presentations to about 3,000 attendees every year. The content is tightly focused and pitch free, a considerable draw for many guests and offers insights for both creators and marketers.
During the day, there are structured networking opportunities scheduled throughout the day. Four different events ensure no one is forced to miss a presentation in order to make room in their schedule to network with other attendees. There are also networking ambassadors who help people make the connections they most need. Networking lunches, power walks, and parties are also part of the package ensuring guests will have ample time to learn the newest techniques and make lasting connections.
Content Marketing World
CM World has been billed as the largest content marketing event in the world. It is a four-day event with more than 80 workshops and learning sessions presented by 225 industry leaders. Topics include measurement, strategy, and integration.The 2016 event hosted nearly 4,000 marketers from more than 50 countries and 2017 is expected to have even more attendees.
In addition to learning all the latest tips and tricks in the world of content creation, there are also ample opportunities to network with the presenters, sponsors, and other guests.
Content Marketing Conference
The Content Marketing Conference and Expo is celebrating its third year. The three-day event will be held in Boston this year. The previous conferences were held in Las Vegas and drew more than 300 guests in 2016. The core focus of this conference is helping attendees learn new techniques to organically grow their business with content marketing.
The theme this year is “Superpower Your Tactics”. There will be 30 superhero presenters with 8 keynote addresses, 6 workshops, 6 tracks, and 30 tactical sessions. Some of the topics that will be covered include, optimizing conversion rates, content strategy, SEO best practices, content marketing, content creation strategy, content planning systems, content optimization, and productivity.
The event also has numerous networking opportunities built in throughout the day and group events each night to promote interaction between attendees, sponsors, and presenters.
Marketo Marketing Nation Summit
The Marketing Nation Summit is one of the leading industry events for anyone in the field of digital marketing. This four-day event in San Francisco brings together leaders from marketing, IT, services, advertising and more. Before the conference even begins, attendees have the option to attend the pre-conference University Day which features additional workshops, presentations, and demonstrations by Marketo experts.
One of the unusual benefits of attending the summit is an opportunity to take the Marketo certification exam before leaving to become a Certified Expert. This is a well-respected credential that indicates expertise for Marketo practitioners.
In addition to the core topics covered by presenters, there are also numerous opportunities for guests to network in the evenings and throughout the day.
Gartner Digital Marketing Conference
The Gartner Digital Marketing Conference is hosted in San Diego, California. It is specifically designed for those who have a role in one of the following fields; marketing, analytics, customer experience and commerce, and multichannel marketing.
The topics for the conference include actionable information for marketing leaders who need new techniques to thrive during an era of empowered customers. New technologies, trends, techniques, and tools are covered to help conference attendees master their craft. The three primary tracks for this year’s conference are differentiation with a customer-first policy, facilitating multichannel growth strategies, and leveraging technology for a marketing advantage.
Specific topics on the agenda include marketing budgets, ad strategy, and efficacy, content marketing, customer journey mapping, choosing service providers, data-driven marketing, data management platforms, and multichannel marketing.
Networking breaks are scheduled throughout the day to ensure people have time to connect with those at the conference. There are also events planned before the beginning of each day and at the end to provide additional opportunities for industry leaders to connect.
Social Media Week
Social Media Week is both an organization and a collection of annual conferences. They host conferences on six continents for a total of more than 70,000 attendees, 5,000 speakers, and an additional 1 million people connecting to the events via mobile and social channels.
The global theme for all of the 2017 conferences revolves around algorithms and their role in the communication of the future. Discussions about the advances in software to cultivate and manage digital content and how it will impact our ability to communicate with one another will be the primary focus.
Five trends in this area will also be explored, including the emerging role of video, the power of messaging applications, the prominence of voice interfaces, machine assisted communication, and immersive experiences with augmented and virtual reality.
New elements of language that have begun to emerge will also be examined. These include GIFs, emojis, voice command, chatbots, online video, geo filters, and haptic responses. Presenters will look at how these innovations are fundamentally changing the way we communicate with one another, companies, and our devices and the impact it will have on future content development and marketing.
Official conferences will be held in Hamburg, Lagos, New York, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Milan, Jakarta, London, Miami, São Paulo, Chicago, and Rotterdam. Independent conference cities include Atlanta, Austin, Copenhagen, Toronto, Bristol, Rome, and Dubai.
Search Love
Search Love conferences are hosted by Distilled, an online marketing firm. The company holds several two-day events around the world. In 2017 there will be Search Love conferences in San Diego, Boston, and London.
These events will gather industry leaders from around the world to discuss the latest breakthroughs in analytics, search, content creation, paid promotions, and website optimization. These conferences tend to be midrange in size which makes them fantastic opportunities to network with not only other guests but also the presenters.
SEOToolSet Training
SEOToolSet is a company that offers advanced SEO tools for organic optimization. The founder, Bruce Clay began finding ways for websites to increase their search ranking in 1996. By 2000 the field of optimization was beginning to explode and spam began to increase exponentially. Bruce realized the industry needed a leader to provide ethical and effective SEO practices. He began sharing his knowledge and tools in training sessions that year.
The code of ethics he created at the same time has been translated into 18 languages and the training course he developed soon included a certification process for dedicated marketers who realized the value of ethical practices.
SEOToolSet Training is primarily held in California. Three 5-day training sessions are scheduled for 2017. These classes are held in intimate settings that facilitate greater learning opportunities for students. The founder takes part in the training along with other Bruce Clay, Inc., SEO specialists. The training sessions are ideal for anyone who has a need to understand SEO more thoroughly. This includes business owners, IT specialists, marketing managers, content creators, and web developers.
An Event Apart
There are multiple locations for An Event Apart each year. The 2017 locations include Seattle, Boston, Washington D.C., Chicago, San Francisco, and Denver. They are designed for UX developers, professionals, graphic designers, UI designers, and interaction designers. Project managers, marketers, writers, editors, and strategists also attend for the powerful presentations.
Each event takes place over the course of three days. Expert speakers discuss code, design, and content creation. There are ample opportunities for networking with other attendees and speakers.
Professional Development is Essential
In a field that changes as rapidly as digital marketing, professional development is essential for those who wish to provide the best results for themselves and their customers. Due to the pace at which the field evolves, traditional college courses and professional development classes aren’t typically the best solution. Professional conferences provide attendees with maximum access to some of the most brilliant minds in the field along with their latest tips, techniques, and advice for the upcoming year.
Eric Sachs
SEO virtuoso, CEO @Sachs Marketing Group. Focused on being of service to business owners - helping to better position them in the eyes of their audiences.