Top Marketing Conferences in 2019
By now, 91 percent of B2B companies use some form of content marketing and a full 56 percent consider themselves “very committed,” according to the Content Marketing Institute. That explains why industry movers and shakers are offering an increasing number of content marketing conferences aimed at helping them make the most of its possibilities.
While the scope of such events has become difficult to track, here’s a list of some upcoming conferences that could help your organization with future strategies. (Note our omission of the formerly ubiquitous SXSW, which has become so diverse in attempting to cover the worlds of film, culture, music and technology that many marketers are seeking more targeted events.)
Digital marketing
Digital Summit Series
Date: Various dates in 2019
Location: 15+ cities across the U.S. including Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Chicago & more
Host: Digital Summit
Why attend: More than 20,000 people attend the Digital Summit series spanning several cities. 2018 featured more in-depth sessions and workshops on digital trends. Portland’s Summit included Chelsea Handler and thought leaders from Netflix, Airbnb, Google, Amazon and more. View all Digital Summit event locations here.
LeadsCon’s Connect to Convert
Date: March 4-6, 2019
Location: Las Vegas
Host: Access Intelligence
Why attend: “The world’s largest performance marketing conference and exposition” with over 2,700 leaders in performance marketing and lead generation. Don’t miss the LeadsCon Conference in Boston, Sept. 25-27, 2019.
Marketing Evolution Experience
Date: June 16-20, 2019
Location: Las Vegas
Host: Rising Media
Why attend: “Multiply your skills with the latest thinking, newest developments, and most current examples of data enriched marketing. Whether you are an analyst or one who relies on analytics to excel in marketing, MEE is here to help YOU evolve as a professional. Peers and experts clarify how digital analytics, customer insight, and artificial intelligence are at work in marketing.” 2019 featured speakers include Rand Fishkin of Spark Toro and Andy Crestodina of Orbit Media, among others.
DigiMarCon West
Date: June 12-13, 2019
Location: Los Angeles
Host: DigiMarCon
Why attend: This year’s sessions focus on building traffic, expanding brand awareness, improving customer service and gaining insight into today’s latest digital tools. (Attend the conference at sea! Check out the DigiMarCon Cruise, July 7-14, 2019, onboard the Royal Caribbean ‘Harmony of the Seas’ Cruise Ship. The cruising conference departs from Orlando and travels to the Bahamas and Mexico. )
MozCon
Date: July 15-17, 2019
Location: Seattle, Washington
Host: Moz
Why attend: One-track conference full of “forward-thinking, tactical sessions in SEO, growth marketing, the mobile landscape, analytics, content marketing and more” from the company that dominates in helping businesses boost their search rankings with innovative tools and thought leadership.
Digital Publishing Innovation Summit Labs
Date: July 2-3, 2019
Location: New York City
Host: The Innovation Enterprise
Why attend: Some 200 attendees and 2018 speakers from companies such as BuzzFeed, CNN, Jerry Media, Vice, Tastemade, the Wall Street Journal and more. The “premier event will feature exclusive talks, panels, and trend briefings from the world’s most sought after publishing, media, and online leaders – to guide you through the incoming ‘Digital Media Apocalypse.'” View all Summit events around the world from Innovation Enterprise here.
AMA Marketing Week Live
Date: Oct. 3-5, 2018 (2019 dates TBA)
Location: Las Vegas
Host: American Marketing Association
Why attend: “Gain practical input and leverage the hive to help you work through actual solutions for your challenges.” 2018 speakers included executives from companies like NBC Sports Group, Intel, Spotify, Chobani and Edelman.
Marketing Nation Summit
Date: Oct. 21-24, 2019
Host: Marketo
Location: Las Vegas
Why attend: Some 6,000 attendees discuss the digital transformation of marketing, advertising, IT, services, etc. Past speakers include Hillary Clinton, Will Smith, Arianna Huffington, John Legend, James Corden and Queen Latifah. This year, Academy and Grammy Award-winner Jamie Foxx is part of the lineup.
Digital Growth Unleashed
Date: TBA, 2019
Host: Rising Media Ltd. and SiteTuners
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Why attend: About 1,000 attendees discover how to attract the right audience, align business models with the user experience, optimize the lifetime value of client relationships and get up to speed on the latest marketing technology.
Content marketing
Content Marketing Conference
Date: April 16-19, 2019
Location: Boston
Why attend: The fifth year of CMC will cover “what’s new, what’s next, and what’s essential for content marketing success.” With 14 keynotes, 45 sessions, 9 tracks and 7 workshops, there is a lot to learn. 2018 speakers included Larry Kim of Mobile Monkey, Sarah Cooper of TheCooperReview.com, Andrew Davis of Monumental Shift, Ann Handley of MarketingProfs and others.
Confab Central
Date: April 24-26, 2019
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Host: Confab
Why attend: Confab draws more than 600 professionals from around the world who design, create and manage content. “From UX to storytelling, accessibility to structure, Confab brings together those who are committed to making content useful and usable.” (And there’s never a shortage of cake!). Check out highlights from the 2018 event.
Content Marketing World
Date: Sept. 3-6, 2019
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Host: Content Marketing Institute
Why attend: Some 3,600 attendees are offered 120 sessions presented by experts from around the world, covering strategy, storytelling, ROI, demand generation, AI, etc. The 2018 event featured Tina Fey in a keynote Q&A. Plus, don’t miss the fun networking events like the opening night reception at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Read Brandpoint’s recap of the 2018 CMWorld event here.
Inbound 2018
Date: Sept. 3-6, 2019
Location: Boston
Host: HubSpot
Why attend: 21,000 participants from 100-some countries. “A community of people passionate about marketing, selling, and delighting customers in an inbound way. We bring together speakers who are passionate not just about improving the bottom line, but also about building a brighter, kinder and more inclusive future.”
LavaCon Content Strategy Conference
Date: Oct. 27-30, 2019
Location: Portland
Host: LavaCon
Why attend: For content strategists, documentation managers and senior content professionals who want to stay ahead of rapidly changing technology and customer demographics while connecting with vendors who can help with content challenges.
Information Development World
Dates: Nov. 27-29, 2018 (2019 dates TBA)
Location: Menlo Park, California
Host: The Content Wrangler
Why attend: An intimate conference for technical, marketing and product information managers to develop skills in building a “modern online technical resource center of your own. Laser-focused on helping you create a one-stop shop for product information.”
Content Marketing Summit
Date: Dec. 6-7, 2018 (2019 dates TBA)
Location: New York
Host: Innovation Enterprise Summits
Why attend: This event “brings together some of the most innovative brands, exciting start-ups and leading marketers that are driving creativity, using cognitive systems to leverage their brand engagement and building marketing strategies for tomorrow.” Speakers represent companies such as Google, Bloomberg, LinkedIn, Wall Street Journal and TripAdvisor. View all Summit events around the world from Innovation Enterprise here.
Marketing
Affiliate Summit West
Date: January 6-8, 2019
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Host: Affiliate Summit
Why attend: The performance marketing industry’s premier global event featuring high-level decision makers including online publishers, bloggers, media owners, traffic sources, advertisers, global brands, networks, technology firms, agencies, and other solution providers. Typically more than 6,000 attendees, 70 sessions, 100 expert presenters and 300 exhibitors. Check out Affiliate Summit events in other locations around the globe.
B2B Marketing Exchange
Date: Feb. 25-27, 2019
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
Host: Demand Gen Report
Why attend: More than 1,000 participants in 2018, with more than 85 workshops and case study sessions. Speakers include the industry’s top marketing professionals including analysts, authors and B2B practitioners from companies like Facebook, BuzzFeed and LinkedIn.
IRCE (Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition)
Date: June 25-28, 2019
Location: Chicago
Host: Internet Retailer magazine
Why attend: Over 130 sessions covering a range of topics relevant to online commerce. With nearly 600 vendors, come ready to find solutions to help your business succeed in every facet.”This conference and trade show offers you everything your business needs to stay ahead of your competition, in one simple location.” Seth Godin was featured as the 2018 guest speaker.
Brand ManageCamp
Date: Sept. 17-18, 2019
Location: Las Vegas
Host: ManageCamp
Why attend: Attendees learn about strategy, trends, storytelling, optimization, advertising, content, insights and more to help “take your brand to the next level.” The speakers are best-selling business authors, world-renowned experts, or up-and-coming mavericks, pushing the boundaries in their respective concentrations.
Forrester’s B2B Marketing & Sales Forum
Date: Nov. 5-6, 2019
Location: Austin, Texas
Host: Forrester
Why attend: 30-plus sessions that feature a deep dive into the implications of serving business consumers via “transparency across sales and marketing, smarter technology, consistent messaging and account knowledge throughout the lifecycle.” Check out Forrester’s consumer marketing forum in New York.
MarketingProfs B2B Marketing Forum
Dates: Nov. 13-16, 2018 (2019 dates TBA)
Location: San Francisco
Host: MarketingProfs
Why attend: The “place where leaders, innovators and people who make things happen gather to learn about the latest in B2B marketing and share the secrets to success as well as “belly laughs, creative networking, shenanigans and marketers’ off-the-clock antics.” 2018 speakers included Gopi Kallayil of Google, Nancy Durate, Kevin Carroll of Katalyst, Rashmy Chatterjee of IBM Cyber Security, among others.
Forbes CMO Summit
Dates: Nov. 14-16, 2018 (2019 dates TBA)
Location: Dana Point, California
Host: Forbes
Why attend: “Unique access to the world’s most influential leaders, policy-makers, entrepreneurs, and artists, uniting these global forces to harness their collective knowledge … and address the challenges of today’s complex marketing landscape.”
PRNews Media Relations Next Practices Conference & Video Boot Camp
Dates: Dec. 5-6, 2018 (2019 dates TBA)
Location: Washington, D.C.
Host: PRNews
Why attend: Learn how to conquer your biggest media relations challenges, including coping with shrinking newsrooms and fewer beat-specific reporters, media relations measurement, the ROI of brand newsrooms, working with influencers and bloggers, the impact of AI, crisis communications and more. In 2018, experts in video production will uncover the best ways to leverage video for social media channels. Use code BRANDPOINT for discounted tickets.
Global Growth Marketing Conference
Dates: Dec. 11-12, 2018 (2019 dates TBA)
Location: San Francisco
Host: Startup Socials
Why attend: More than 50 sessions “straight from industry leaders who’ve moved the growth needle at big brands like Google, Microsoft, Facebook, IBM, Reddit, LinkedIn and Slack.”
Social media
Social Media Strategies Summit
Date: March 19-21, 2019
Location: Anaheim, California
Host: GSMI
Why attend: The event features best practices in social media marketing from successful brands. 2018 featured speakers including Intel, Ben & Jerry’s, GE Healthcare and many others. The event is also held in Chicago, April 30-May 2; and New York, Oct. 15-17.
Social Media Week
Date: April 30-May 2, 2019
Location: New York City
Host: Social Media Week
Why attend: SMW is “one of the world’s premier conferences and industry news platforms for professionals in media, marketing and technology.” This year’s theme is, “Stories: With Great Influence Comes Great Responsibility.” This theme will spark conversation throughout the week on how brands can take meaningful action to be more truthful and real in their content and communication.
Social Media Marketing World
Date: March 20-22, 2019
Location: San Diego, Calif.
Host: Social Media Examiner
Why attend: With some 7,000 participants, bills itself as the industry’s largest social media marketing conference. Sponsor is considered the world’s leading online social media magazine for businesses, with more than 1.5 million monthly visitors.
AMPlify
Date: June 11-12, 2019
Location: Boston
Host: GaggleAMP
Why attend: Bills itself as “the only marketing event addressing the unique challenges associated with leveraging employees and stakeholders in your digital marketing strategies.”
Smart Social Summit
Date: Nov. 5-7, 2018 (2019 dates TBA)
Location: Austin, Texas
Host: Spredfast
Why attend: “Sessions about everything from the future of content to delivering bottom-line value of social to the C-suite.” Speakers include award-winning artist and activist Common, and executives from brands including the NBA, NFL, National Geographic, Taco Bell, Charles Schwab, Facebook and more.
Technology
ContentTECH Summit
Date: April 8-10, 2019
Location: San Diego
Host: Content Marketing Institute
Why attend: Formerly the Intelligent Content Conference, the refresh of this event will help senior marketing executives learn how to enable technology to improve processes to better execute their content strategy. The 2018 event drew 400 participants who learned from leaders representing Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Mayo Clinic, Cisco, Salesforce and others.
MarTech
Date: Sept. 16-18, 2019
Location: Boston
Host: Chief Marketing Technologist
Why attend: Some 2,200 people come to this event that delivers “a vendor-agnostic, graduate-level marketing, technology and management perspective designed to help you succeed in this software-powered marketing world.”
SiriusDecisions Technology Exchange
Dates: Dec. 10-11, 2019
Location: Denver, Colorado
Host: SiriusDecisions
Why attend: At this fifth annual event, more than 500 people will be updated on data-driven best practices research and new innovations across the B2B space. Breakout sessions with SiriusDecisions analysts cover niche topics and case studies. Related: The 2019 SiriusDecisions Summit in Austin.
Editor’s note: Would you like your marketing event added to this list? Please only send annual, U.S. events. Send us an email for consideration. This post is regularly updated.
