Marketing conferences to attend in 2023

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by Digital PR agency Search Intelligence. See their case study at the end of the newsletter.

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Google is hosting a Search Central Live event in San Francisco on August 10th and I will be presenting on the topic of building a strategy for SEO.

If you want to attend, you need to sign up here by July 21st, and they will choose who gets to attend by July 28th.

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Why attend conferences?

Prior to the Covid lockdowns I went to 2-3 marketing conferences per year. The disappearance of conferences during the pandemic gave me a new appreciation for the value of going to the actual conference and not just watching sessions in the comfort of my home.

It is certainly valuable to hear and learn from industry thought leaders, but in my opinion, I don’t think virtual access to watch conference sessions on demand is worth the cost of the ticket. There are even some community colleges where you can take multiple classes for the same price as a virtual ticket to a 2-day conference!

I am not certain of any exact business revenue or skills that I specifically gained from conferences, but it’s fair to say that if not for all of those conferences I would not be where I am today in my career.

Conferences are about the people

Much of my industry network is driven by the amazing people I met at these conferences and would see at event after event. The people I text and chat with on a regular basis about marketing are people I only met at these events. This network has supported my growth in so many ways, and I am forever grateful to the employers and managers who both encouraged and paid for me to attend.

I also was incredibly fortunate that I worked for a brand that many conference organizers desired to put on their marketing materials, and I was afforded a chance to speak on many stages even before I had a great message. Nonetheless, these opportunities allowed me to perfect my public speaking, hone a message, and build an offering that was compelling for conference organizers once I did not have a brand behind me.

(If you are organizing a conference or event, please get in touch if I can participate. )

Best marketing conferences to try to attend

With this background to set the stage, I am a big believer in making sure that conferences and events where you don’t just learn but also network are on your calendar for the year.

Here is a list of all the conferences I know about happening through the rest of 2023. If I missed any, let me know and I will add it.

1. HubSpot INBOUND

   1. Location: Boston

   2. Website: https://www.inbound.com/

2. Content Marketing World

   1. Location: Cleveland

   2. Website: https://www.contentmarketingworld.com/

3. Social Media Marketing World

   1. Location: San Diego

   2. Website: https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/smmworld/

4. Adweek

   1. Location: Various locations worldwide

   2. Website: https://www.adweek.com/events/

5. MozCon

   1. Location: Seattle

   2. Website: https://moz.com/mozcon

6. Marketing Nation Summit (by Marketo)

   1. Location: Various locations in the United States

   2. Website: https://www.adobe.com/experience-cloud/events/summit.html

7. Brighton SEO conference

   1. Location: Brighton, UK & NOW San Diego

   2. Website: https://brightonseo.com/

8. SMX Advanced

   1. Location: Berlin, Germany

   2. Website: https://smxadvanced.eu/

9. Barbados SEO

   1. Location: Barbados

   2. Website: https://barbadosseo.com/

10. SparkTogether

    1. Location: Virtual

    2. Website: https://sparktoro.com/sparktogether

11. DMO Advanced

    1. Location: Napa

    2. Website: https://digitalmarketers.org/pages/dmo-advanced

12. Pubcon

    1. Location: Austin

    2. Website: https://www.pubcon.com/

13. GrowthHackers

    1. Location: San Francisco

    2. Website: https://growthhackers.com/conference/

14. State of Search

    1. Location: Dallas

    2. Website: https://www.stateofsearch.org/

How to Choose the Right Conference for You

When choosing a conference to attend, there are a few things you'll want to keep in mind:

• Your interests and goals: What are you hoping to learn from the conference? Do the sessions resonate with you?

• The conference's focus: What is the focus of the conference? Are you interested in a specific industry or topic? I try to always attend events that are outside my areas of expertise so I learn new things.

• The conference's speakers: Who are the speakers at the conference? Are they experts in your field? Are they people you want to and can meet? Networking with speakers is one of the most valuable things you will gain from the right conference.

• The conference's location: Where is the conference being held? A place like Las Vegas is easy for everyone to get with lots of places to stay while a great location like Honolulu will be expensive to reach and stay.

• The conference's cost: How much does it cost to attend the conference? Is it within your budget? Everyone has a limited budget they can spend on events every year and you might be able to stretch that budget to multiple events if you choose lower-cost conferences.

In a future post, I will share how to get a learning and development budget for conferences if you don’t yet have one.

Please share any conferences I missed!

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