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What are the best digital marketing conferences in 2023 that you absolutely need to attend?
We’ll share 21 such conferences in this article.
Meet new people, learn new things, spot new business opportunities - what’s not to like about marketing conferences?
The problem is that not all conferences are equally good. Nor do all of them cater to agencies and marketers.
This is why we’ve put together this comprehensive list of the world’s top marketing conferences in 2023. All the events listed here focus (either directly or indirectly) on agencies and the people who work in them - creatives, marketers, and managers.
To make it even easier to stay on top of your favorite events, we’ve also created a printable calendar. Grab your copy below and print it out so you never miss an event again.
The conference industry is booming.
Every month, there are a handful of marketing-focused events around the country. These can range from glitzy, 50,000-attendee-strong extravaganzas to intimate 500-people workshops.
What kind of event you choose to attend will depend on what you hope to get out of the experience. The kind of broad exposure you can get at SXSW or Adobe Summit can’t be matched by a small-scale event.
At the same time, your learning will be richer, deeper, and more intimate at smaller events.
To help you out, we’ve included both small and large-scale events in this list. Everything is organized by month to make navigation easier.
Do note that in the case of some conferences, the exact event dates haven’t been announced yet, so we have to go by their dates from last year.
A note about prices: Unless otherwise specified, the event registration prices mentioned below are for a comprehensive pass (or all-access pass) paid at a regular (not early bird) rate. The prices are indicative only; the conference can change them at their discretion.
Conferences in March:
1. SXSW
Location: Austin, TX
Dates: March 10 - 19
Pricing: $1,995 for an all-access pass
Focus: Content creation and technology
As an event, SXSW needs no introduction. One of the largest events of its kind, SXSW brings together musicians, filmmakers, technologists, and creatives across industries in a weeklong celebration of creativity and culture.
While not an obvious fit for agencies, attending SXSW should still be on your agenda in 2023. The networking opportunities are great, but you’ll also get to know what’s happening on the cutting edge of creativity.
2. Social Media Marketing World
Location: San Diego, CA
Dates: March 13-15
Pricing: $1,697 for an all-access pass
Focus: Social media marketing
Organized by Social Media Examiner, this popular conference covers, as you can expect, social media marketing. Speakers include leading experts across platforms, including Mari Smith (Facebook), Jay Baer (ConvinceAndConvert.com), and Ann Handley (MarketingProfs.com).
3. SMX West
Location: SMX, MunichSan Jose, CA
Dates: March 15-16
Pricing: 1,299 euros for an almost all-access pass - silver all-access tickets sold out (gold tickets remain).
Focus: SEM & SEO
MarketingLand’s premier west coast event, SMX West has been a fixture on the marketing conference circuit for years. The 2023 version will be spread over two days and will feature speaking sessions as well as interactive workshops.
Rather than superstar speakers, SMX usually features speakers with hands-on experience. This makes it a great event for anyone who wants to master SEO & SEM, within or outside an agency setting.
4. Adobe Summit
Location: Chicago, IL
Dates: March 21-23
Pricing: $2,095 for a regular pass
Focus: Marketers, creatives, and agencies
As an agency, Adobe sits at the heart of your creative operations. New entrants have tried wrangling away its crown, but Adobe’s creative suite remains the default toolkit for working with images, illustrations, and videos.
So you can imagine that Adobe’s flagship event, the Adobe Summit, would be a massive event.
2023’s edition promises to be no different. With sessions from heavy hitters, it’s the go-to event for agencies and creatives looking to play in the big leagues.
5. Digital Summit: DC
Location: Phoenix
Dates: March 29-30
Pricing: $895 for an early bird platinum pass
Focus: Digital Marketing
DigitalSummit.com runs some of the best-attended conferences on digital marketing in the US. and brings together some of the best marketing brains from around the country.
The 2023 edition promises to feature a long lineup of industry thought leaders and visionaries, like Brian Solis (Best Selling Author and Futurist), Jacob Brown (Amazon), and Anna Hrach (Convince and Convert).
Conferences in April:
1. MailCon
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Dates: April 17-19 January
Pricing: $899 for a general ticket
Focus: Email marketing
As one of the few email marketing conferences in 2023, MailCon deserves a special mention on this list. Despite its effectiveness, email marketing is a woefully understudied practice, and MailCon hopes to change that.
MailCon packs in a ton of insight and actionable advice. 2023’s lineup has sessions from some of the top email marketers around.
It’s not the splashiest of conferences around, but any agency marketer looking to deep dive into email marketing shouldn’t miss it.
Conferences in May
1. Win Without Pitching Miami Workshop
Location: Miami, FL
Dates: May 1-4
Pricing: $2,795 for an all-access pass
Focus: Agency owners
How exactly do you win clients without any pitching?
That’s exactly what this conference aims to answer.
Focusing exclusively on agency leaders, this event brings together successful agency owners and veterans to share strategies and insight to win new business. Highly focused and intensive, this hands-on workshop will teach you actionable tactics to start getting valuable clients without the lengthy task of pitching and RFPs.
2. DigiMarCon Midwest
Location: Chicago, IL
Dates: May 3-4
Pricing: $1,033.49 for a standard ticket
Focus: Digital Marketing
This two-day event features a mix of networking, speaking, and masterclass sessions that focus entirely on digital marketing. One of the more popular events in the midwest, the 2023 edition features experts from some of the world’s top brands, including Microsoft, Adobe, and Facebook.
3. Owner Summit
Location: New Orleans, LA
Dates: May 8-9
Pricing: $999
Focus: Agency owners
This intimate event in New Orleans is designed for agency owners (and would-be owners) to network, learn, and grow. Great for small agencies who need help with strategy and positioning.
5. IBM THINK
Location: Orlando, Florida
Dates: May 9-11
Pricing: $1,499 early bird
Focus: Technology
IBM’s annual conference is, as you can imagine, an extravagant affair. While it doesn’t focus exclusively on marketing or the agency business, its sheer scale has lots to offer for agency principals and marketers. Besides the obvious networking opportunities, the 2023 edition also has lots of focus on topics that should interest any future-ready agency, such as Hybrid cloud, data, automation, AI, security, sustainability, and what’s next in computing.
6. AMI Build a Better Agency Summit
Location: Chicago, IL
Dates: May 15 - 17
Pricing: $2,395 standard rate
Focus: Agency owners
7. Social Media Week
Location: Queens, NY
Dates: May 16 - 18
Pricing: $909 early-bird, all-access pass.
Focus: Social media marketers
One of the most popular social media marketing conferences in 2023, Social Media Week is a premier marketing and media event. The 20230 edition will feature sessions from Teriq HassanEvan Jones (CMO of McDonaldsFender), Evan HorowitzWill Cady (CEOStrategy Director, Movers, and ShakersReddit), and Jason McClellanMaycie Timpon (CMOExecutive Director of Video, ShutterstockBuzzfeed). All in all, a great fit for agencies and marketers looking to dig into the nitty-gritty of social media.
The Agency Management Institute, founded by Drew McLellan (who is a fixture in our Agency Academy), organizes this annual summit for agency leaders. Unlike some of the extravagant conferences above, this one features more intimate sessions with a deeper focus on agency growth, leadership, and strategy. Speakers this year include Noel Andrews (Job Rack), Susan Baier (Audience Audit), and Mitch Joel (ThinkersOne).
Conferences in June
1. 4A Management Practitioners Forum
Location: Chicago, IL
Dates: June 7-8
Pricing: Details to come
Focus: Agency owners and senior marketing managers
Organized by 4A, this event focuses on helping agency marketers, principals and consultants hone their skills and network with a peer group. 4A dubs it a “forum”, not a conference. The agenda, consequently, fits the smaller scale with more focused discussions and insights.
2. VidCon
Location: Anaheim, CA
Dates: June 21 – 24
Pricing: Passes start at $799
Focus: Video Marketing
With its focus on video marketing and speaker lineup filled with YouTubers, this might not be the usual marketing conference. However, if you want to understand video, YouTube, and its Millennial and Gen-Z audience, this is a great event to attend. You might not walk away with the latest in video marketing technology, but you’ll get a better appreciation for content creation, especially in the video domain.
Conferences in July
1. Marketing AI Conference (MAICON)
Location: Cleveland, OH
Dates: July 26-28
Pricing: $799 for an early bird, all-access pass
Focus: Marketing technology and artificial intelligence
This relatively new entrant to the marketing conference circuit focuses exclusively on artificial intelligence (AI) and its many applications in marketing technology. This is an entirely new domain but offers substantial benefits for early adopters. As an agency, it would be worth a stop just to understand what’s happening on the cutting edge of marketing technology.
Conferences in August:
1. MozCon
Location: Seattle, WA
Dates: August 7 - 8
Pricing: $999 for an early bird, all-access pass
Focus: Search Marketing
This popular annual conference by Moz focuses on search marketing. Over two days, you’ll get to deep dive into SEO and SEM, picking apart advanced organic search tactics and learning from the industry’s top thought leaders, thanks to Moz’s reputation in the SEO world. Star speakers this year include Amanda Jordan (Director of Digital Strategy, RicketyRoo) and Andi Jarvis (Strategy Director, Eximo Marketing).
Conferences in September:
1. Inbound
Location: Boston, MA
Dates: September 5-8
Pricing: $899 for a tier 2 pass
Focus: Inbound Marketing
Organized by HubSpot, INBOUND is one of the biggest marketing conferences around, and certainly the largest when it comes to inbound marketing. While 2023’s lineup of speakers hasn’t been announced yet, the 2022 edition saw insights from Neil Patel, Marcus Sheridan, Jane Goodall, Viola Davis, and Barack Obama!
If you work in inbound marketing, this is about as close as you can get to a “must-attend” conference in 2023.
2. PubCon Florida
Location: San Diego, CA
Dates: September 12-14
Pricing: $895 for a super early bird all-access pass
Focus: Digital marketers and agencies
Formerly owned and operated by DigitalMarketer.com, this conference still maintains the same theme: cutting-edge digital marketing. 2023’s edition features speaking sessions from experts from Microsoft Bing and Google
A great fit for agencies and marketers looking for hands-on, actionable training.
3. Dreamforce
Location: San Francisco, CA
Dates: September 12-14
Pricing: NA
Focus: Sales, marketing, and leadership
At this point, it’s safe to say that Dreamforce is the biggest business event in the world. It’s grown bigger than its original sales-focused roots and now attracts interest from top leaders across the globe.
The 2022 edition was massive - it had high-profile speakers like Bono, Jane Goodall, Mathew McConaughey, and Jennifer Hudson.
You can expect the 2023 edition to be similarly impressive. Even though it’s not agency-focused, anyone looking for insight and top-shelf networking should attend Dreamforce.
4. Content Marketing World Conference and Expo
Location: Washington, DC
Dates: September 27-28
Pricing: All-access, early bird at $12,999
Focus: Content marketing
Content Marketing Institute’s annual conference is one of the top gatherings of the best brains in content marketing. Content creators, agencies, and marketers flock to it each year to discover the latest in content and marketing.
Lined up for 2023 are speakers like Jay Acunzo, Jessica Bergmann, Bonin Bough, and Tequia Burt.
Conferences in October:
1. MarketingProfs B2B Forum
Location: Boston MA
Dates: October 4-6
Pricing: All-access early bird passes at $1,695
Focus: B2B marketing
As a B2B marketer, you’re likely already familiar with MarketingProfs.
One of the most fabulous b2b marketing conferences in 2023, this forum is MarketingProfs’ flagship B2B-focused event. It covers every aspect of demand generation, including features from Ann Handley (MarketingProfs), Mona Chalabi (The Guardian), and Paul Roetzer (Marketing AI Institute).
Over to You
There are few better ways to immerse yourself in a topic, pick up a new skill, or learn from the very best in the world than a conference, summit, or workshop. The networking opportunities aren’t half bad either!
Use this list to plan your 2023 conference schedule.
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