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)

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