Last updated on December 26th, 2015 at 09:28 pm
It’s a tradition here at B2B News Network: Keeping B2B professionals updated on the most intriguing and important B2B conferences, from around the world. In the first half of 2016, a number of B2B-specific conferences are dotting the U.S., Canada, and the UK, whether it’s the widely heralded B2B Content2Conversion in Arizona or Demandbase’s Marketing Innovations Summit in San Francisco.
Here are six of the top conferences happening in the first half of 2016 that you should consider attending.
Social Media Strategies Summit
February 9-11, 2016 @ Las Vegas, Nevada
Wherever you sit on the social media radar in your B2B firm, the Social Media Strategies Summit promises to teach you about how content, brand storytelling, advocacy, the customer experience and technology can fuel your social media strategy.
Though this conference is not solely a B2B conference, it still offers many takeaways for the B2B pro eager to implement or expand its social media knowledge and footprint. Learn how to “establish brand trust through content creation and storytelling, optimize key social channels to engage your audience, measure and prove ROI to accelerate your business growth and revenue [and] harness the most powerful technologies to stay ahead of the pack.”
Attend a variety of social media workshops led by industry experts including Joel Ackerman, writer and director for the video campaigns of PooPourri, Orabrush and Red Bull, Jess Harris, Digital Marketing and Communications Strategist for Kabbage, Dean DeLisle, Founder and CEO of Forward Progress, Inc., and Jeff Gibbard, President and Chief Strategist of True Voice Media.
#SMSsummit @TrippBrockway @SMS_summit #content matters to the user – provide relevant content @getsocialjack pic.twitter.com/z0gVPBFISA
— Dean DeLisle (@deandelisle) December 9, 2015
Keynotes for the event include Beverly W. Jackson, VP of Social Media and Content Strategy, MGM Resorts International, Robert Michael Murray, Partner and Chief Innovative Officer for Matchfire Co., and Phil Pallen, Brand Strategist for the Phil Pallen Collective, LLC.
B2B Content2Conversion
February 15-17, 2016 @ Scottsdale, Arizona
With additional speakers, sessions and events still to be announced, the B2B Content2Conversion conference is looking stellar already. Keynotes for the 2016 conference include (among many other notable industry experts) David Meerman Scott, author of “The New Rules and Realities of Sales and Marketing,” Theresa Kushner, Vice President, Enterprise Information Management, VMWare; Jennifer Silverstein, Director of Demand Generation, Kaspersky Lab North America; Laura Ramos, Vice President, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research; and David Bruno, Marketing Director, Aptos.
The B2B Content2Conversion Conference focuses on content and demand generation, with real-world case study examples and actionable takeaways on targeting, engaging and converting potential customers into real ones.
Get the rules & realities of marketing & sales from author @DMScott at #C2C16 https://t.co/7p5LyvhklK pic.twitter.com/OUAIUkunRs
— B2B Sales & Marketing Exchange (@B2BMX) December 16, 2015
The conference promises to provide attendees with “a playbook to optimize your 2016 marketing plans, with access to:
- test drive the latest tools and apps to create interactive content
- plan your content calendar
- optimize your database to reach more prospects within your target audience
- measure the effectiveness of your campaigns
- get inside looks at award winning B2B content programs from current and past Killer Content Award winners
- blueprints for impacting revenue in later stages of the sales funnel with lead acceleration and sales enablement programs that increase conversion and close rates.”
West Kent B2B
March 10, 2016 @ Paddock Wood, Kent, UK
Hailed as the leading exhibition in Kent for over 30 years, these free series of conferences and exhibitions are an opportunity for businesses to promote to the business located in Kent and further afield. They begin in West Kent (listed above), and proceed to Ashford in Kent on April 10, Chatham in North Kent on June 29, concluding with Folkestone in East Kent on November 1.
The conferences promise to offer engaging keynote speakers (still to be announced for the 2016 event), informative 20-minute workshops on key business topics, speed networking sessions and networking breakfast and business advice sessions. Exhibitors will also be demonstrating their products and services.
The conference will also offer the following “Digital Marketing Taster Sessions”:
- Introduction to SEO,
- SEO — writing the basics,
- Don’t underestimate local media in your marketing plan, Why social media is important to your business
- Can you use YouTube to drive sales?
https://youtu.be/X_VhLGwsZg8
Marketing Innovation Summit for B2B presented by Demandbase
April 20-21, 2016 @ San Francisco
The promo copy sums up this conference succinctly: “With marketing technology more advanced than ever and companies starting to invest heavily in Account-Based Marketing, there’s never been a more exciting time to be a B2B Marketer! Join the most innovative and prominent B2B Marketers from around the world at this premier industry event.”
This will be the third year this summit is being hosted. The purpose of the event, according to the initial announcement in 2014, is to provide “an opportunity to bring together B2B marketing’s best and the brightest innovators in a forum where they can network, learn from each other and discuss what’s ahead…”
Businesswire announced last year that “the Marketing Innovation Summit focuses on the intersection of B2B and advertising, bringing together leading brands, technology providers and B2B marketers. Attendees will learn how leading businesses are connecting marketing and technology across an integrated marketing program, and hear innovation and success stories from brands who have transformed their marketing efforts, from advertising to website to revenue.”
https://youtu.be/FI2vukywnBI
The 2016 agenda has not yet been set, but highlights from the 2015 agenda were keynote addresses from Dan Siroker, Co-founder and CEO of Optimizely, Rod Brooks, President and CEO of Stop Hunger Now, and Steve Young, pro-football hall of fame quarterback and ESPN analyst. These were followed by track sessions which covered topics such as Sales and Marketing: B2B’s New Power Couple, Why the Data-Driven CMO is Winning, and Building the Business Case for B2B Personalization.
B2B Online
May 9-11, 2016 @ Chicago, Illinois
The B2B Online conferences are focused on digital transformation and e-commerce for manufacturers and distributors. It invites attendees to get inspired, make new friends, and learn more, faster. Its website says, “Our speakers are some of the greatest B2B marketing thought leaders alive today. They will shift your paradigms, challenge your assumptions, and spark new insights.
Speakers for the 2016 event have been announced, and include Andy Hoar, Principal Analyst, B2B, Forrester Research; Charlie Bonomo, Chief Information Officer, MSC Direct; Oskar Kaszubski, Global Director, eCommerce, Kimberly-Clark; and Martin Rohde, VP, B2B eCommerce, Hewlett Packard.
The agenda for the 2016 conference has not yet been released, but the 2015 agenda provided a “holistically digital event” which “specialized focus on distributors and manufacturers … We cover a full breadth of topics for both companies that are selling online and companies that are looking to build their online content and marketing.” And it promises that “You will walk away from B2B Online with a roadmap for your digital strategy and an idea of where you should take your first steps and prioritize your spend.”
Digimarcon Canada
May 19-20, 2016, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Digimarcon Canada 2016 offers to provide attendees with emerging strategies, the latest innovative technologies, best practices, and insights from successful digital marketing campaigns. According to the event’s website, “Conventional thought will be challenged, new ways of thinking will emerge, and you will leave with your head and notebook full of action items and ideas to lead your agency / team / account to even greater success.”
Attendees can expect to participate in networking opportunities to build their professional networks and find potential new business partners.
DIGIMARCON Digital Marketing Conferences 2016 Registration Open – Super Saver Rates (Save $200 off) #digitalmarketing pic.twitter.com/UMS3PyW7U6
— DigiMarCon – Global Event Series (@DigiMarCon) October 12, 2015
Topics for this year’s conference will include content strategy, web experience management, usability/design, mobile marketing, customer engagement, social media, targeting and optimization, branded search, marketing automation, analytics and data.
Speakers for 2016 are not yet announced, but 2015’s speakers included Luke Summerfield of Hubspot, Sameer Khan of IBM, and Kevin Jonas of The Jonas Brothers fame.
The Digimarkon conferences will also be taking places throughout the US from April to June, in Houston, Texas (cruise from April 10-17), New York, NY (May 12-13) and Santa Monica, CA (June 15-16).
B2B Summit 2016 presented by B2B Marketing
June 22, 2016 @ London, UK
Now in its fifth year, the B2B Summit brings together more than 750 B2B practitioners with in-depth practice sessions and case studies for marketing practitioners, and provides actionable insights to attendees. The event was “designed to help marketers meet their specific information needs as never before — with five streams of content on the hottest topics in the industry, all focused on practical, actionable insights … It’s a must-attend event for ambitious marketers seeking to take their brands and careers to the next level.”
One of the two keynote speakers have been confirmed already. Joe Pulizzi is the founder of the Content Marketing Institute, and author of Content Inc., Epic Content Marketing, Managing Content Marketing and Get Content, Get Customers.
The agenda for the event will be released in January, of 2016.
Did we miss a key B2B conference? What are you checking out in the New Year?
