Getting the Most out of Marketing Conferences

Speakers. Sponsors. And swag. Who doesn’t love getting to go to a good conference? But with so many events to choose from, how do you pick the right ones and make the most of the experience? Let’s do a deep dive into the wide world of marketing conferences.

This is related to a recent episode we did about continuing education for marketers. We wanted to take a deeper look at learning from conferences & events.

Choosing Which Conferences to Go to

• Cost: charging people actually helps more people show up
• Location: can you afford to travel? Are there conferences near you?
• Content: how broad is the conference theme? What are the breakout topics?
• Speakers: any big names or brands you recognize?

Choosing Which Sessions to Attend

• Hopefully, the conference lists some of the breakouts or sessions ahead of time.
• Take the time to print off this list and review it.
• Have a game plan on which ones you’d most like to attend.
• This is especially important if you’re going as a team, so you can divide and conquer.

Networking at Conferences

• Networking isn’t always easy, but it’s a big advantage of conferences.
• Conferences should have a space for introverts to recharge from talking to people.
• Wear that name tag and bring some business cards.
• Visit the sponsor booths, get some swag, and hear what they have to say.

Taking Notes at Conferences

• Bring a pen and paper, or a (fully-charged) laptop
• Grab something interesting you learn from each speaker.
• Mark 1-2 items that you can implement immediately when you get back to the office
• Be sure to write down their name and contact info when possible.
• Download digital notes if they offer it and make plans to review them later.

Beyond just going, you could…

Being a Conference Sponsor

• Conferences are good chances to get in front of your target audience.
• Think about attending a conference before becoming an official sponsor.
• How your booth is setup and what swag you have impacts your conversations.
• Consider doing a giveaway (that’s relevant to the audience) to collect leads.
• Setup a dedicated landing page with trackable URL for conference attendees.
• Have an automated email series ready to go for the email addresses you collect.

Conferences we like

• Digital Summit
• WordCamp
• DigiMarCon
• Inbound (by HubSpot)