How many social sites do you know? Offhand you can name up to 10, from Instagram to Twitter. But there are hundreds of them, including blogs, video hosting and even forums. Each of them is an opportunity to develop a brand. Only one question remains: which platforms to use in your niche and how to properly
build a strategy for social media? This is what you can find out at the relevant conferences, the best of which are presented below.
Difference from Simple Marketing Conferences
The last few years of
marketing has been a transition to digital sources of promotion.
Social media has become the key to increasing brand awareness, transferring the value of a product or service and finding potential customers.
Social media is an important component of any modern marketing strategy. However, their capabilities and significance are so wide that now it is not enough to consider this issue only in the
context of a general marketing conference.
Social media congresses are not just a meeting of several colleagues, but huge events that are held for several days. This is an opportunity to study different platforms in more detail, get exclusive information, find contractors and grow professionally.
Social Media Week
Site: SMWATX,
SMWLA,
SMWNYC,
SMWLDN
Place: Austin, Texas, USA; Los Angeles, California, USA; New York, USA; London, Great Britain
Date: 26-28 February, 2020; 17-18 June, 2020; 5-7 May, 2020, 21-22 October, 2020
Cost: $556; $384-944; $719-1999; prices for a conference in London are still unknown
Social Media Week is one of the
largest events in this area. It is held annually in more than ten cities. So, in 2020, conferences will be held in London, Los Angeles, Hamburg, Warsaw, Kiev, Toronto and other cities. It brings together thousands of marketing, media and
technology professionals from around the world. Thanks to this event, you will receive a ton of unique social media management insights.
Key topics:
- Facebook Analytics;
- content creation through communication with the audience;
- brand development (conferences) strategy;
- what the client can teach;
- definition of a user profile;
- other.
A large-scale event requires an appropriate level of
speakers. Regardless of the venue, you can hear speeches by niche leaders. For example, Alexis Davis (founder of The Content Plug) and Enish Dhawan (CEO and founder of PurPics) will perform in Texas, Christine Patrick (CMO PepsiCo) and Peter Sherman (senior vice president of Warner Media) in Los Angeles, and in New York - Gary Vaynerchuk (Chairman of the Board of Directors of VaynerFX) and Joe Marquez (CEO of Attention Capital).
Digital Summit
Site: Digital Summit
Place: Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Los Angeles, California, USA; Tampa, Florida, USA and others
Date: 24-25 March, 2020; 1-2 April, 2020; 6-7 May 2020
Cost: $295-995
Another
large-scale event, which takes place from West to East and from North to South of the USA over the year. Every year there are more than 20 opportunities to get to Digital Summit, so time and place will not become obstacles for you. The summit is dedicated to
social media and
digital marketing. It gathers almost an army of speakers and visitors anywhere. Here you can find out everything from an advertising campaign strategy to data analysis.
Key topics:
- the formation and role of content;
- interaction with the audience through social networks;
- development of personalized UI / UX design;
- the importance of data analysis;
- formation of an effective strategy.
As with
Social Media Week, at Digital Summit you get a chance to hear niche leaders. For example, Reshma Saujani (founder and CEO of Girls who code) and Jim Marsh (SVP in HBO) will speak in New York, and Kerry Smith (content strategy lead on Twitter) and Scott Dickers (founder of The Onion) in Los Angeles).
Social Media Strategies Summit
Site: SMSS
Place: Chicago, Illinois, USA; New York, USA
Date: 28-30 April, 2020; 27-29 October, 2020
Cost: $1999-2989
The third event, which is held in several locations. This conference is aimed at marketing professionals. Here you can get acquainted with case studies, as well as take part in practical exercises. Heads of marketing departments should pay special attention to
SMSS Higher Education, where in addition to the intricacies of marketing, they consider working with subordinates.
Key topics:
- development of content strategies;
- promotion strategy through social networks;
- strategies for working with Paid Media;
- brand development and attracting a new audience.
Every year, the organizers attract speakers from
world-class companies. This year, the speakers included Miri Rodriguez (Microsoft Global Global Internship Program Manager), Jason Burns (Senior Digital Marketing Manager at Lowe’s), Lauren Powell (Digital Analytics Manager at PepsiCo) and others.
Influencer Marketing Strategies Summit
Site: Influencer Marketing Summit
Place: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Date: 29-30 April, 2020
Cost: $1999-2989
The Influencer Marketing Summit is an event that is being held for the first time as part of the
Social Media Marketing Summit and requires special attention. Influence marketing today plays an almost key role in promotion, therefore, considering it in one session is no longer enough. So, the organizers of SMSS in 2020 decided to devote two days to this topic, to conduct narrow-profile studies and speeches.
Key topics:
- technique of building a marketing strategy for influence;
- the state of marketing influence for 2020;
- the importance of friendship and trust in influence marketing;
- how to build a lasting relationship with influencers.
During the
summit, you will hear reports by Jim Tobin (founder and president of Carusele), Bette-Ann Schlossberg (Director of Influencer Marketing at Lyft), Gwenn Roni (Director of Influencer Marketing at Carhartt), Payton Dougherty (COO at PopShorts) and many others.
International Conference on Social Media Marketing
Site: International Conference on SMM
Place: London, Great Britain
Date: 23-24 April, 2020
Cost: €250-450 (from 24 March - €300-500)
This
conference is global in nature, but at the same time it focuses exclusively on the
development of marketing in business. The purpose of the event is to provide a platform for practicing marketers. It will share its latest research, ideas and reports.
Key topics:
- implementation of SMM in emerging economies;
- branding and customer perception;
- affiliate marketing strategy.
By attending this conference, you can
familiarize yourself with insights from Bhaskar Basu (Product Marketing lead at Microsoft India), Juhi Ketunen (Head of Sales & VP at Saalasti Oy) and many others.
Social Media Camp
Site: Social Media Camp
Place: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Dqte: 5-7 May, 2020
Cost: $450-550
This event is Canada's
largest social media conference. It attracts a huge number of delegates from different sectors and allows you to get acquainted with the intricacies of brand promotion from an economic, communicative and other points of view. This is not just a marketing conference, but an event that assesses the cultural impact of social media. The main uniqueness of the event is that the sessions are divided based on the level of visitors' skills. Therefore, you can not be afraid to get to a performance for which you lack experience.
Key topics:
- 3 ways to popularize the brand and increase sales;
- how to manage "online haters";
- marketing tools 2020.
This year, the
organizers invited Jillian Harris (founder of jillianharris.com, host of HGTV Canada), Nicole Smith (founder of Flytographer), Darian Kovaks (founder of Jelly Marketing) Philip Shaw (CEO Cleverclicks)).
Intrigue Summit
Site: Intrigue Summit
Place: New York, USA
Date: August, 2020 (exact date is still unknown)
Cost: not announced
Intrigue Summit is a meeting of
digital marketing professionals. The event gathers over 200 moderators and is based solely on question and answer sessions. The uniqueness of the summit lies in the fact that during each session several people speak at once, because the audience can get several different answers.
Key topics:
- storytelling of the brand;
- Big Data;
- AI in marketing;
- lead generation through social networks.
Despite the fact that the exact date and cost of the conference has not yet been determined, the organizers have already announced the speakers. Among them were: Christopher Desi (VP of Sales at PerformLine Inc), Johan Alein (Director of Marketing at Black Enterprise), Eli Orgel (Director of Marketing at The Rosenblum Law Firm) and others.
World Social Marketing Conference
Site: WSMConference
Place: Thessaloniki, Greece
Date: 21-23 October, 2020
Cost: €185-375
The mission of this event is to become a means of creating a movement for the dissemination of best practices in
SMM. The conference has been held for 5 years and during this time has shown more than 700 presentations and attracted more than 3,000 speakers. WSMC brings people together to make marketing a better place.
The list of speakers and
key topics is currently being compiled by the organizers. Previously, this information will be available on April 17, 2020. Therefore, if you are interested in visiting the WSMC, stay tuned for their updates.
Social Media Marketing World
Site: Social Media Marketing World
Place: San Diego, California, USA
Date: 1-3 March, 2020
Cost: $547-1547
Every year SMM World 2020 becomes something like a paradise for
marketers. Here you can not only learn about the latest approaches to advertising and promotion, but also make new friends. The conference has been held for 6 years and includes not only presentations and networking, but also regular parties. This is one of those events that every marketer needs to attend every year.
Key topics:
- YouTube for business;
- brand development through Instagram;
- the current state of video marketing;
- LinkedIn's role in promotion;
- content marketing strategy;
- correct analytics.
By visiting
SMMW this year, you will learn about the research and insights of Jay Bayer (founder of Convince & Convert), Mary Smith (founder of Mari Smith International), Michael Stelzner (founder of Social Media Examiner) and many others.
Social Fresh
Site: Social Fresh
Place: Orlando, Florida, USA
Date: 5-6 November, 2020
Cost: $797-1297
The conference has been held annually since 2008 and during this time has become one of the largest events in the field of social marketing. It brings together
leading world leaders, including Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, and many others.