The High 10 Advertising Conferences to Attend in 2024
Advertising occasions are again.
Bear in mind after they took a success after each firm was pressured to go distant in 2020?
By now the advertising convention scene hasn’t simply recovered. It’s grown greater than ever, estimated to succeed in $2.2 billion in worth by 2028.
Attending the precise occasion appears like hanging the proper steadiness between your consolation zone and large profession growth.
You get to socialize and chat in regards to the subjects you’re employed on on daily basis and, on the similar time, the brightest minds in your {industry} are in the identical room as you.
Whether or not you need to study and talk about SEO, social media advertising, AI, or paid adverts, there are some occasions you possibly can’t miss.
Listed below are the highest advertising conferences to attend in 2024.
Why These Conferences Matter
There are two the explanation why you need to attend B2B advertising occasions.
The primary one is that digital fatigue is actual, no matter your function.
Most entrepreneurs spend their days sitting in entrance of a display, analyzing knowledge from search engine marketing instruments, writing new content material, or scheduling posts in a social media calendar.
Going to an occasion provides you a break to hang around with different friends face-to-face, which issues quite a bit no matter your function:
- When you’re a solo marketer, you can also make new buddies, construct enterprise partnerships, land new purchasers, or open a door for a future function.
- When you’re a digital advertising supervisor, the networking alternatives can assist you uncover new expertise and scale your crew.
The second motive is that occasions carry immense development to your advertising profession.
Why? As a result of top-tier conferences are a goldmine of innovation and development.
You get to listen to and speak to {industry} leaders shaping the way forward for on-line advertising, who’ve already overcome the identical challenges you’re going through now.
And people consultants aren’t there simply to ship keynotes.
Most often, keynote audio system additionally grew because of constructing networks and connections, similar to you are able to do on the occasion.
See how Tim Sanders, a bestselling writer and former Yahoo govt, places it:
“Your community is your web value.”–Tim Sanders.
Why Hassle Going to In-Particular person Occasions?
Attending a digital advertising convention implies spending cash on tickets, flights, lodging, lunch, and extra.
Can’t you simply do the identical in a web based occasion, for much less?
The reality is that, as a lot as they can assist you study new ways, you merely miss a number of the networking expertise in case you don’t have in-person interactions.
That’s why two-thirds of events and meetings have reverted to offline codecs.
Right here’s what you get from in-person occasions:
- Advertising data and ways: At these occasions, you hear first-hand experiences from advertising leaders and creators, making it straightforward to return with contemporary methods to use to your work
- Connections and partnerships: Most occasions deal with networking and connecting you with friends. This provides you the prospect to fulfill different entrepreneurs for recommendation, insights, or suggestions in your concepts
- Inspiration: Attendees are genuinely excited by the primary subjects of the occasion. You’ll get an immense push ahead that motivates you to sort out profession challenges or purpose for a promotion
How We Selected the High 10 Conferences
In fact, not each occasion is value paying for.
Listed below are the standards we use to choose essentially the most impactful advertising conferences for 2024:
- High quality of the audio system: These conferences have a formidable lineup of audio system with a monitor document of selling success
- Networking alternatives: These occasions make networking straightforward, with a deal with roundtables, events, or espresso and lunch breaks, as an alternative of simply keynotes
- Chopping-edge keynotes: Occasions ought to assist you to keep on high of selling developments. These occasions cowl essentially the most modern, up-to-date, and actionable subjects
- Measurement: Conferences with hundreds of attendees make it tough to community. Smaller crowds make it simpler to get essentially the most out of the agenda and discover beneficial contacts
1. Highlight by Semrush
Date: October 30, 2024
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands (In-person)
Key Matters: Digital advertising, search engine marketing, AI, promoting, social media, content material advertising, and advertising methods
Featured Audio system: Elfried Samba (Butterfly 3ffect and ex-Gymshark), Sophie Miller (Fairly Little Marketer), Michael Corcoran (Frankly and ex-Ryanair), Mike King (iPullRank), Jon Evans (Uncensored CMO), and many others
What’s distinctive about it: The one-day accelerator format, that includes 60+ best-in-class audio system, 10+ keynote shows, and 50+ mastermind periods, all packed right into a single occasion
Who’s it for: Entrepreneurs, creators, businesses, enterprise leaders, and anybody seeking to acquire a aggressive edge within the digital advertising panorama
Let’s begin with Spotlight, Semrush’s advertising convention.
What makes Highlight particular is its core proposal: you include advertising challenges and go away with a plan and a group of friends.
To make that occur, the Spotlight agenda combines 60+ audio system, 10 keynote shows, 50+ mastermind periods, and 500+ entrepreneurs seeking to flip concepts into motion.
The concept is so that you can deal with the subjects you are enthusiastic about and customise your convention expertise to deal with your particular advertising challenges.
That is an intimate occasion specializing in very high-impact networking and personalised periods so that you simply join with the precise individuals. On high of that, you additionally get a pre-event celebration and post-event cocktail.
Need extra proof?
Right here’s what different entrepreneurs say about previous Semrush occasions:
“The subjects have been present, and the audio system offered beneficial perception and recommendation on maneuver via these difficult occasions. I’ve by no means left a convention feeling this motivated.”– Megan C.
2. South by Southwest (SXSW)
Date: March 8-16, 2024
Location: Austin, Texas (In-person)
Key subjects: Tech, advertising innovation, movie, music, schooling, and tradition
Featured audio system: Peter Deng (OpenAI), Dara Khosrowshahi (Uber), Ed Bastian (Delta), Dwayne Wade, and Selena Gomez
What’s distinctive about it: The mix of selling with expertise and humanities, an immersive competition expertise, and many cross-industry networking alternatives
Who’s it for: Entrepreneurs, content material creators, innovators in tech and entrepreneurship, and anybody within the convergence of tech, advertising, and creativity
South by Southwest (SXSW) is rather more than a advertising occasion.
As a substitute, it congregates each movie, interactive media, and music festivals.
Specializing in the advertising space of SXSW, the occasion itself is filled with thought-provoking keynotes and discussions round the way forward for promoting and tech.
Panel audio system come from different backgrounds, and that makes this occasion a uncommon occasion the place you possibly can hear talks from J.J. Abrams, Meghan Markle, Sydney Sweeney, and the world’s main innovators in the identical place.
3. On-line Advertising Rockstars (OMR)
Date: Could 7-8, 2024
Location: Hamburg, Germany (In-person)
Key Matters: Entrepreneurship, Digital advertising, internet marketing, tech, and innovation
Featured Audio system: Valentin Stalf (N26), David Schneider (Zalando), Delicia Lachance (Westwing), Blake Chandler (TikTok)
What’s distinctive about it: Its large expo with a vibrant environment mixing advertising insights with leisure
Who’s it for: Digital entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs, tech fans, and anybody seeking to be impressed by cutting-edge advertising practices
The OMR competition is a two-day advertising occasion that pulls over 70000 guests yearly.
With such a big venue, it turns into tough to navigate and not using a map. This may make OMR overwhelming–if you wish to get essentially the most out of it, prepare for 2 intense days of keynotes!
One of many causes for its measurement is the truth that OMR additionally has an expo present with corporations like Google, Amazon, and Meta, and a separate space for masterclasses on advertising subjects.
4. AWSummit Bucharest
Date: September 12-15, 2024
Location: Bucharest, Romania (In-person)
Key Matters: Online marketing, monetization platforms, content material creation, social media, and ecommerce.
Featured Audio system: Sasha Vitez (Google), Anna Gita (Maxweb), Francis Wolff (Digistore24)
What’s distinctive about it: The deal with rising markets, the tailor-made periods addressing advertising challenges, and the two-sided community of associates and creators
Who’s it for: Content material creators and entrepreneurs in areas like internet affiliate marketing, ecommerce, search engine marketing, social media, or electronic mail
AWSummit is a advertising convention with a narrower deal with internet affiliate marketing, efficiency advertising, advert networks, and content material advertising.
What makes it stand out is the mixture of mainstream and non-mainstream industries. Regardless of being area of interest, it’s grown from a small convention born in 2014 to a three-day occasion with over 2000 attendees now.
It’s additionally obtained a balanced agenda with keynotes and panels, seminars, and networking alternatives that vary from boat events to govt lunches and pace shows.
5. DMEXCO
Date: September 18-19, 2024
Location: Cologne, Germany (In-person)
Key Matters: Digital advertising, ecommerce, tech, and innovation
Featured Audio system: Sylvain Le Borgne (JCDecaux), Nadine Bartenschlager (NIVEA), Dora Osinde (Ogilvy Germany), Susanne Franz (Volkswagen)
What’s distinctive about it: The large exhibition with cutting-edge tech showcases, quite a few networking occasions, and 200+ hours of periods on digital advertising developments.
Who’s it for: Entrepreneurs, tech fans, ecommerce professionals, and anybody within the intersection of selling and expertise
Quite than specializing in a selected vertical inside advertising, DMEXCO is an occasion that encompasses digital advertising and tech as an entire.
What’s Most worthy about DMEXCO is its convention, the place {industry} leaders, advertising professionals, and tech pioneers speak on groundbreaking subjects round digital enterprise.
It options 800+ audio system and 14 completely different levels, so if you wish to watch plenty of them, set a while apart to undergo the occasion’s recordings.
However there’s extra: the occasion additionally hosts an expo the place corporations like Google, Netflix, Amazon, Shopify, and others share their newest developments and product bulletins.
6. INBOUND
Date: September 18-20, 2024
Location: Boston, Massachusetts (In-person and digital)
Key Matters: Inbound advertising, gross sales methods, AI, operations, and buyer success
Featured Audio system: Kieran Flanagan (HubSpot), Shannon Duffy (Asana), Alex Lieberman (Morning Brew), Sam Jacobs (Pavilion), Ryan Reynolds
What’s distinctive about it: The spectacular lineup of keynote audio system, the massive quantity of particular person periods, and the personalised periods crafted for particular roles
Who’s it for: Entrepreneurs, gross sales and buyer success professionals, entrepreneurs, and anybody seeking to get extra from inbound advertising
INBOUND is Hubspot’s convention, combining keynotes with workshops, networking, and HubSpot product bulletins.
This is among the most packed conferences on this information, with 200+ audio system and 180+ particular person periods.
Such a packed lineup may be overwhelming, so the occasion additionally has hand-picked agendas which are extra particular to sure roles, like AI-driven leaders, startup founders, or content material entrepreneurs.
7. BrightonSEO UK
Date: October 3-4, 2024
Location: Brighton, United Kingdom (In-person)
Key Matters: search engine marketing, search advertising, knowledge evaluation, and content material optimization
Featured Audio system: Marcus Tober (Semrush), Sujata Ghosh (Dyson), Tom Winter (SEOwind)
What’s distinctive about it: The truth that it’s centered on search advertising, bringing collectively among the greatest audio system within the {industry}.
Who’s it for: search engine marketing professionals, digital entrepreneurs, knowledge analysts, and anybody seeking to enhance their advertising expertise
BrightonSEO is the world’s largest search advertising convention. It initially began as a chat in a small room above a pub, organized by Kelvin Newman.
Now, BrightonSEO now receives over 6000 attendees from all around the world.
Its method combines search engine marketing workshops, coaching periods, and keynotes from famend audio system like John Mueller (Google) or Olga Andrienko (Semrush).
An enormous bonus level is that you may attend BrightonSEO free of charge: with a poll ticket, you get to enter one of many two days of the occasion.
8. Content material Advertising World
Date: October 22-23, 2024
Location: San Diego, California (In-person)
Key Matters: Content material advertising, storytelling, AI, and content material creation
Featured Audio system: Lane Scott Jones (Zapier), Amanda Natividad (SparkToro), Robert Rose (Content material Advertising Institute).
What’s distinctive about it: The dense agenda with 150+ advertising leaders, communications consultants, and creators sharing keynotes with a laser-sharp deal with content material advertising
Who’s it for: Content material entrepreneurs, content material creators, advertising businesses, inventive professionals, or anybody excited by communication
Content Marketing World is a 72-hour lengthy convention that gathers hundreds of entrepreneurs and over 150 best-in-class consultants to debate new ways and methods.
Your complete occasion revolves round one proposition: To be the place for actionable takeaways on content material advertising, irrespective of your function–from model managers to content material creators and everybody in between.
9. BrightonSEO San Diego
Date: November 19-20, 2024
Location: San Diego, California (In-person)
Key Matters: search engine marketing, search advertising, knowledge evaluation, and content material optimization
Featured Audio system: Andy Crestodina (Orbit Media Studios), Louisa Frahm (ESPN), Rand Fishkin (SparkToro)
What’s distinctive about it: Its sensible, hands-on periods, in-depth search engine marketing coaching, and alternatives for one-on-one mentoring with search engine marketing consultants
Who’s it for: search engine marketing professionals, digital entrepreneurs, and knowledge analysts
BrightonSEO San Diego is the US model of the unique UK occasion, combining on-line occasions, coaching workshops, keynotes, and keynotes from the world’s greatest search entrepreneurs.
The occasion already stands out for its keynote audio system, however if you add within the nice San Diego local weather and the Pacific Ocean views of the venue, this convention is just too good to overlook.
10. DigiMarCon
Date: Varied dates all through 2024
Location: A number of areas throughout America, Europe, Asia, the Center East, and the Pacific (In-person and digital)
Key Matters: Digital advertising, development hacking, content material advertising, electronic mail advertising, search engine marketing, and extra
Featured Audio system: Rand Fishkin (Sparktoro), Nadia Tan (Meta), Fernando Angulo (Semrush), Ashley Faus (Atlassian)
What’s distinctive about it: The worldwide attain and worldwide format spanning throughout 18 nations and the range of subjects masking the total spectrum of digital advertising
Who’s it for: Digital entrepreneurs, social media managers, search engine marketing specialists, analytics professionals, and anybody seeking to find out about content material advertising, electronic mail advertising, influencer advertising, and different areas
DigiMarCon is a convention and exhibition sequence, with in-person occasions throughout 18 nations.
It’s a legendary convention and, by now, it’s additionally grown into lots of of digital occasions and even a DigiMarCon cruise (sure, the proper excuse for taking a break from work).
The perfect half about it? Because it brings entrepreneurs from so many areas, each version focuses on a myriad of subjects, from social media advertising, search engine marketing, or conversion charge optimization to UX design, paid search advertising, and extra.
The way to Make the Most of Your Convention Expertise
Attending an occasion full of selling leaders and keynote audio system may be intimidating.
You end up surrounded by consultants who’ve a monitor document of corporations and tasks. Having the initiative to speak and community with them (and any attendees) takes some braveness.
On high of that, there’s plenty of info to soak up in every keynote. Some occasions on this checklist have lots of of hours value of talks.
However don’t fear–we obtained your again!
Right here’s maximize your convention expertise:
Getting ready for the convention
Preparing for the convention is vital to getting essentially the most out of it.
Initially, take a look at the agenda and choose the periods and workshops which are essentially the most related to your function and present challenges.
Does the agenda present audio system? In that case, look them up on LinkedIn or Google to get a way of what you would possibly study from them.
Networking can really feel intimidating, however you can begin doing it even earlier than the convention begins.
That’s why connecting with audio system is a good way to interrupt the ice and have some acquainted faces to look out for.
Right here’s an instance: in case you’re attending Spotlight, you possibly can join with Sophie Miller with an invite that explains the way you’re excited to listen to her keynote.
This fashion, it’s simpler to mix attending keynotes and connecting with friends who would possibly assist you to propel your profession ahead.
When you’ve picked your favourite periods to attend, attempt to align them together with your firm and profession targets.
What do you need to get out of them?
How will they assist you to sharpen your expertise, uncover new methods, or discover beneficial partnerships?
The following step earlier than the convention begins is constructing your schedule.
Some conferences may be hectic, with lots of of audio system. Attempt to prioritize the keynotes, workshops, and actions you don’t need to miss.
Lastly, don’t neglect to carry your necessities for studying and networking, like a pocket book, your laptop computer, or some enterprise playing cards.
Studying and networking through the occasion
When you’re on the convention, it’s time to dive into conversations, social gatherings, and even casual espresso breaks.
After attending the keynotes and talks you’ve shortlisted, be sure to introduce your self and ask questions when assembly friends who have been excited by the identical subjects.
When you meet a marketer or keynote speaker who is usually a beneficial connection, ensure to comply with up with a LinkedIn or Twitter message or a fast electronic mail to thank them for the chat.
If attainable, make the connection much more memorable by mentioning a selected matter you talked about. Exhibiting real curiosity in them can result in nice conversations.
What’s subsequent after the convention ends?
After the convention, your job is to revisit all of the insights you’ve gained.
Undergo your notes, spotlight the important thing takeaways, and suggest new ways that you simply need to apply to your function straight away.
Bear in mind to succeed in out to your new contacts earlier than an excessive amount of time passes. A easy thank-you word can go a protracted technique to preserve the connection alive.
Most of those conferences are very lively on LinkedIn, Twitter, and different social media.
Keep engaged with the group by commenting on post-event discussions and becoming a member of boards (just like the INBOUND one).
This may open much more alternatives for profession development via studying and networking with consultants.
Budgeting and Convincing Your Boss
Advertising occasions may be fairly costly, and costs usually vary from $200 to $1500 for traditional tickets.
If you would like VIP experiences, which could embrace personal dinners or one-to-one consultations and workshops, then ticket costs can simply soar to over $2500.
On high of this, don’t neglect journey and lodging (which may be pricey relying on the occasion location), meals, transportation, and extras like post-event drinks.
Attending a convention is an funding. In flip, to get your organization and supervisor to sponsor your journey it’s essential justify its return on funding (ROI).
Fortunately, we’re right here to assist. Right here’s create a proposal to persuade your organization:
- Write an in depth breakdown of all prices. Doc the funds wanted to attend the convention, together with tickets, journey, lodging, and another bills
- Spotlight the advantages of attending. Clarify how the occasion is said to your organization’s enterprise targets. This explains how attending can be good for you and to your supervisor too
- Join keynotes together with your present work. Level out the periods, keynote audio system, and workshops that align with the tasks you’re engaged on
- Discover alternatives to your complete firm. Spotlight the audio system, sponsors, or attendees who may assist your supervisor discover new leads, meet companions, uncover new expertise, or scale your crew
- Make a plan to return again with beneficial insights. Supply to share your learnings with a presentation or report, in order that the entire crew advantages out of your attendance
Professional Tip: Supply to attenuate prices the place attainable. To do that, purchase early-bird tickets, share your lodging with different crew members who attend, or choose budget-friendly journey choices that make your proposal extra interesting.
Be part of the Proper Occasion to Change Your Profession Trajectory
Being in the identical room with the precise advertising leaders can change your profession without end.
These occasions are the place to find greatest practices that take your skillset to new heights, construct connections that flip into enterprise alternatives, or discover inspiration that turns into advertising profession development.
To make that occur, it’s essential choose the precise convention, put together forward of it, and arrive with a “ready-to-network” mindset.
Tie all of the ways and developments you’ve gained with your online business targets and your complete crew will perceive the tangible worth that B2B advertising occasions carry.
Don’t miss out on these conferences–particularly Spotlight by Semrush in Amsterdam, designed to assist entrepreneurs illuminate the trail from concepts to real-world affect!
