Are you a seasoned marketer who invests in your professional growth each year? I hope this list of the best B2B marketing conferences helps you identify those that fit your business and career needs.
A large part of your career trajectory should be supported through ongoing education. Attending conferences is one key component you should add to your annual marketing activities and events.
One of the primary reasons people attend conferences is to meet like-minded people and industry peers. After all, for marketing speakers and attendees, marketing conferences bring together people from all over the world who share a common focus on the marketing field and its discipline.
While it’s easier and more convenient to increase your knowledge in marketing through personal reading, pursuing advanced degrees, industry books or taking online courses, they don’t always provide the same one-on-one professional experience or networking opportunities.
Therefore, attending marketing conferences can put you directly in front of established marketing thought leaders, cutting-edge data, tools and techniques. These components are important in order to become a successful senior marketing professional as you climb the corporate ladder within your organization, get hired onto a new marketing team, or run your own consultancy.
2022: Looking Back & What Lies Ahead
As we sit in early 2023, the situation remains pretty similar to 2022. Many B2B marketing events and conferences have yet to announce dates, and with good reason.
The pandemic is still with us. Announcing event dates prematurely may prove a poor investment as there hasn’t been a lot of reporting around the final bite Covid will take out of the events industry.
Although we have begun to see the comeback of in-person events, the hybrid type of events and fully online ones are here to stay. Also, we can expect free virtual events in early 2023 to engage with prospects, brands, and speakers to keep them warm in possibly Q3 or Q4.
In 2022, many organizers turned in-person conferences that typically span several days into the one-day online event. Others spread their event across three weeks, meeting a day each week to suppress Zoom fatigue.
One overarching trend: many didn’t attend online events live – they registered and watched on-demand Netflix style. Registrants found juggling WFM, families, and multi-day online events exhausting, even though they badly wanted to unite with friends and colleagues from previous years’ events.
With travel likely ramping up next year, organizations should focus and drop deposits on venues of choice for 2022/23 when conference wanderlust returns to itchy professionals missing friendly skies and conference friends.
7 Event Industry Predictions in 2023
Here are seven event industry predictions I’m making for 2023 and what lies ahead in the next several years with a surge to return to in-person events.
1. Contract Details Matter
Speakers and event venues should read each other’s contracts more closely and tie iron-clad legalese to safeguard loss.
2. Higher Venue Deposits
Conference centers and hotels will require higher, potentially non-refundable deposits. Choose wisely.
3. Speaker Competition Will Heat Up
Competition among professional speakers in 2022/2023 will reach an all-time high. Speakers should clearly define and differentiate their value as they compete against thousands of speakers for in-person events as venues ramp back up while supporting social distancing safety protocols.
4. Hybrid Events Will Flourish
Plan for a mix of pre-and post-virtual events and shorter in-person events. Typical 3-day conferences may morph into one, maybe two days. Weather permitting, conferences will take place outdoors to boost comfortability for attendees — unless you’re attending during a bloody hot AZ or stifling humid FL summer!
5. Supply & Demand Issues Rise
Plan ahead for beyond 2023 & 2024. Warmer spring and summer venues and temperate climates, like California, will be targeted at all-time highs where conferences can safely take place outdoors — think outdoor wedding style with open white tents!
6. AirBnBs & Exotic Destinations Will Enter
Smaller micro-events at boutique hotels, Airbnbs, or out-of-the-way, less competitive, exotic destinations will be imagined. Event planners could provide soup-to-nuts all-inclusive experiences where everything from flights, hotel, food, sessions, and activities are fully arranged for one package price — almost like a conference at sea.
7. Thought Leaders Will Come Together for Tighter Collaboration
Brands will build in-person masterminds and think tanks that bring influencers and thought leaders together to collaborate in mind-trust events.
Best B2B Marketing Conferences in 2023
Sales 3.0
February 16 & April 13-14, 2023 | Website
The Sales 3.0 Conference will provide executives in sales and sales operations with key insight and strategies to drive improved sales performance and revenue growth in a hybrid world. You’ll learn from sales VPs at industry-leading companies, technology influencers, analysts, and management and leadership experts.
B2B Marketing Exchange
February 27 – March 1, 2023 | Website | Promo code MXSPEAKER25P for 25% off
The B2B Marketing Exchange is a great conference to attend if you want to understand how intelligent marketing, sales, and content can come together to create unforgettable content for your company.
Adobe Summit
March 21-23, 2023 | Website
This year Adobe Summit returns to Las Vegas. you will walk away with platform-agnostic insights in marketing, advertising, IT, and client services, diving deep into concepts such as marketing automation, innovation, and digital transformation. Learn and be inspired at any time with more than 200 sessions on demand.
LeadsCon
March 13-15, 2023 | Website
LeadsCon is a great event to connect with the lead gen community as performance marketers gather safely to navigate the future of the industry. Executive-level speakers provide new strategies and unique insights to start nurturing and converting more quality leads. Enjoy two days of networking and content featuring the top experts in lead gen and performance marketing.
MarTech
March 28-29 & September 26-27, 2023 | Website
The MarTech Conference gives you the opportunity to join online (and for FREE) to explore essential changes, challenges, and opportunities in consumer behavior, as well as the marketing technologies that can help you achieve your organizational goals.
Digital Marketing for Financial Services
April 26-27, 2023 | Website
Take advantage of this one-stop, two-day event and acquire all the information you need to drive conversion, create loyalty, and maintain your competitive edge in an increasingly complex financial services sector. Join thought leaders, experts, and professionals for in-depth idea exchange, and get tips to enhance your digital marketing efforts
B2B Online
May 1-3, 2023| Website
B2B Online is back this May for its 10 Year Anniversary! it’s the only event where the top minds in manufacturing and distribution meet and learn. You’ll receive the most disruptive digital, eCommerce, and omnichannel content and walk away with actionable insights to grow your profits faster.
With 500+ B2B Leaders, 60 unique sessions and 3 action-packed days – this is the place to be this spring. The perfect meeting place to shape the future of the industry.
Gartner Marketing Symposium | XPO
May 22-24, 2023 | Website
Gartner Marketing Symposium/Xpo 2023 offers attendees the opportunity to advance their thinking as strategic leaders and bring their marketing vision to life with the best mix of insight and research-backed sessions to cut through the hype and delve deeper into areas that drive results.
Access more than 100 sessions of the latest Gartner research designed to help CMOs and marketing leaders drive organizational growth. Each track has a particular area of focus that helps deliver what matters most to the business.
B2B Marketing Ignite USA
May 23-24, 2023 | Website | Promo code Speaker20 for 20% off | Early bird offer ends on the 27th February
Ignite USA in Chicago is where the B2B marketing industry will come together to make invaluable connections. Two days of inspirational talks, interactive workshops and roundtables. Don’t miss its 5 content streams, 80 thought leaders & award-winning experts, 400+ B2B marketing experts. Ignite USA is known for its vibrant atmosphere, giving you the opportunity to discuss your pain points and challenges in depth with the experts. You can follow #B2BIgniteUSA for the latest updates.
B2B Summit North America
June 5-7, 2023 | Website
Forrester’s B2B Summit is the go-to event professionals trust to deliver the information and insight they need to make bolder, smarter decisions. Bringing clarity and purpose, B2B Summit ‘23 is the forum you need to meet the demands of the new landscape and uncover endless possibilities to drive measurable impact.
Commerce Next
June 20-21, 2023 | Website
This June, the CommerceNext Ecommerce Growth Show returns to the heart of commerce, New York City. It will gather a dynamic community of trailblazers and change-makers to talk about the future of digital commerce and share the latest strategies for e-commerce acceleration.
Experience 120+ industry-leading speakers, 1600+ scaled retailers and innovative tech companies, and 50+ sessions with actionable insights.
B2B Summit Paris 2023
June 22, 2023 | Website
B2B Summit in Paris is France’s leading B2B marketing and sales trade show. For over a decade, they’ve been connecting thousands of B2B decision-makers each year to help them meet and engage with their future business partners.
Discover how sales and marketing professionals provide outstanding customer experiences and grow their businesses year after year. This year’s program is full of business cases, keynotes and “Connect & Exchange” sessions designed to empower B2B professionals to succeed in their mission.
MozCon
August 7-9, 2023 | Website
MozCon is “not your typical marketing conference”. While the world changes around us, SEO doesn’t stop. Attend three days of insights and tactical presentations from industry leaders in SEO, search marketing, mobile, conversion optimization, local search, and more.
Engage Marketing Conference
August 11, 2023 | Website
Engage Marketing Conference is a two-day digital marketing conference featuring informative learning tracks and panel sessions designed to provide expert insight into the latest strategies and technological advancements in digital marketing, social media, content, UX/design, creative, advertising, SEO, paid media, and more.
B2B Marketing Leaders Forum Asia
August 16-17, 2023 | Singapore | Website
Asia’s largest marketing conference for B2B CMOs and marketing leaders – sharing their strategies, technologies and leadership techniques for turning marketing departments into revenue-generating machines, securing larger budgets and a stronger voice in the C-suite.
Oracle CloudWorld 2023
September 18-21, 2023 | Website
Get more learning from experts, more networking with peers, and more solutions to explore when CloudWorld returns to Las Vegas this September. Embrace data and emerging technologies to understand better and engage customers across the new buying journey. Join marketing experts and practitioners embracing innovative technologies to engage customers in real-time.
Content Marketing World
September 26-29, 2023 | Website
Content Marketing World is the largest gathering of content marketing professionals in the world. At #CMWorld, you will experience over 100+ sessions and workshops presented by the leading brand marketers and experts from around the world that are customized to you. They have tracks covering every aspect of content marketing so your agenda can be built for you.
B2B Marketing Forum
October 4-6, 2023 | Website
For more than 15 years, MarketingProfs B2B Forum has been the conference where today’s leading B2B marketers gather for insights, networking, and laughs.
It’s 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. It’s an opportunity to learn about real-world, actionable insights on current tactics, tools, and strategies that stand the test of time. A perfect opportunity to get out of your comfort zone, do something new and be creative.
B2B Marketing EXPO
November 29-30, 2023 | Website
B2B Marketing Expo takes place in London, and it’s one of Europe’s leading marketing events connecting the most proactive marketing professionals with the tools, techniques, and innovations they need to be at the forefront of the ever-evolving world of marketing.
PlayPlay Content Summit US
December 7, 2023 | Website
The PlayPlay Content Summit US is a free virtual event you don’t want to miss. It’s time to embrace the revolution in your communication and content strategy and join the creators era. This conference is the perfect opportunity to empower your team with the knowledge and tools. Led by experts, the 2nd Content Summit will unveil trends, strategies, and tips for impactful marketing and communications in the future.
MAICON
TBD, 2023 | Website
Marketing Artificial Intelligence Conference (MAICON) is an event for practitioners and leaders seeking to drive the next frontier of digital marketing transformation within their organizations. Above all, MAICON is built to help marketers understand, experience, and improve their AI knowledge.
Digital Summit
Multiple Date and Locations | Website
Digital Summit events offer engaging digital marketing conferences in more than 20 U.S. cities. Check out the full lineup and pick your destination to learn from the most creative and innovative marketing talent and brands. You’ll find the latest and best practices in all aspects of marketing.
Content Marketing World: Pam Didner, Scott Monty, Kelly Hungerford. Ann Handley and Ekaterina Walter (Photo via Ekaterina Walter)
Book Pam to speak at your conference, event or workshop.
Pam Didner is a passionate B2B marketer who speaks worldwide each year. She has over 20 years of experience in sales enablement and product, partner, and content marketing for clients such as Cisco, Intel, 3M, and Microsoft.
Pam works with sales and marketing to distil complex challenges into actionable tasks and provides easy-to-follow templates and solutions. She helps marketers think strategically, act tactically, and connect the dots. A special place to see this in action is when she’s live on stage.
Find out more about working with Pam HERE.
Other publications:
Check out: The Top B2B Sales Conferences in 2023
Who is Pam Didner?
Being in the corporate world for 20+ years and having held various positions from accounting and supply chain management, marketing to sales enablement, Pam has a holistic view of how a company runs. She thinks strategically and then translates the big picture into actionable plans and tactics.
