Top Marketing Events & Conferences of 2013

Digital marketing industry changes so fast that it’s of crucial importance for every professional marketer to keep abreast of the major marketing industry news and events.

Visiting different trade shows, summits, forums and marketing conferences is a great opportunity to become immersed in sharing your knowledge with the brightest and the best people in the industry.

These events are very important tools in everyday marketer’s job, and they are vital to achieving your professional goals.

So, let’s not waste our time and pass on choosing the marketing events that’ll bring some value to our businesses.

Date: February, 3-6 (Amelia Island, FL)
Event: iMedia Summit
Official Overview: “This February, iMedia's Brand Summit will expose the ways in which smart, successful brands use emerging technology and tactics to reach and connect with their customers at every level, on every device. Don’t miss this flagship event.”

Date: Starting February 5, 2013, spread over four weeks (online event)
Event: Content Success Summit
Official Overview: “Content Success Summit 2013 is a live online conference that'll enable you to increase your exposure, grow a loyal following and achieve sales growth with content marketing techniques. The world's leading content marketing pros will show you how.”

Date: February, 6-8 (Miami Beach, FL)
Event: Email Evolution Conference
Official Overview: “Showcasing new ideas in email & digital marketing, this dynamic event offers an immersive forum for cross-channel marketing attendees, speakers, sponsors and exhibitors to draw inspiration from one another and explore new technologies and techniques. For the past 5 years, we’ve focused on the ever-changing and evolving world of email marketing, providing you with the best ways to capitalize on the high ROI this low-cost communication tool can provide both on its own, and integrated with social, search, mobile, video and other email enhancers.”

Date: February, 8 (online)
Event: Digital Marketing World: Content Marketing
Official Overview: “Digital Marketing World: Content Marketing—a free virtual conference designed to push your content marketing forward. Reserve your spot today and get ready for three actionable sessions designed to help you create better content, get found by prospects, and maintain lasting relationships with your customers.”

Date: February, 11-13 (San Diego, CA)
Event: Online marketing Summit
Official Overview: “OMS provides expert-led education and collaborative engagement on the latest insights, best practices and strategies in digital marketing. This approach is fused with the contextual relevance for how digital marketing influences and impacts marketing and business at-large, enabling practitioners to immediately create greater impact within their organization and with their audiences.”

Date: February, 18-21 (London, Great Britain)
Event: SES London
Official Overview: “SES London—Europe's leading digital marketing event. Covering the latest trends and challenges facing the online marketing industry, SES London provides guidance from leading experts on Search, Social Media, Display, Mobile, Email and more. With 3 days packed full of essential content to help you navigate the digital landscape and a 2-day expo featuring leading vendors in the industry, along with a host of networking opportunities, SES London 2013 will once again be the leading European forum for digital marketers.”

Date: February, 19-21 (Las Vegas)
Event: MarketingSherpa Email Summit 2013
Official Overview: “MarketingSherpa Email Summit 2013 – the largest vendor-neutral, research-based email marketing event.We have a full slate of sessions aimed at overcoming your top email challenges with case studies, quick win clinics, bonus sessions, expert panels and more. Here are just some of the many topics covered: e-mail innovation, data management, content creation and creativity, personalization, segmentation, live testing, mobile & video, social media integration, improving conversion, pristine list management.”

Date: February, 25-28 (Palm Desert, CA)
Event: eTail West
Official Overview: “Launched in 1999, eTail is the premier online and multi-channel retail conference dedicated to supporting the growth of the retail industry by facilitating high-level networking opportunities and providing leading industry knowledge. Every year, eTail brings together 2000+ senior-level eCommerce and marketing professionals from cross-industry, including but not limited to; Apparel, Accessories, Sporting Goods, Beauty, Consumer Electronics, Hard and Soft Goods, Home Furnishings, Books, Music, Luxury, Travel, Office Products, Department Stores and more to find solutions for their top challenges.”

Date: March, 4-6 (Sydney, Australia)
Event: Content Marketing World Sydney
Official Overview: “Content Marketing World is the largest gathering of content marketing professionals in the world. This year we are bringing the show down under! Content Marketing World is the one event where you can learn and network with the best and the brightest in the content marketing industry. You will leave with all the materials you need to take a content strategy back to your team – and – implement a content marketing plan that will grow your business and engage your audience.”

Date: March, 11-13 (San Jose, CA)
Event: Search Marketing Expo – SMX West
Official Overview: “SMX West delivers all of the search engine marketing topics and trends you need to know to stay ahead of the curve - whether you’re an SEM expert or just getting started. Participate in your choice of more than 60 sessions on search engine optimization (SEO), paid search advertising (PPC), social media marketing, local and mobile search, landing page conversions and more.”

Date: March, 18-19 (London, Great Britain)
Event: #SMWF Europe
Official Overview: “#SMWF Europe 2013 will be providing top-level strategic advice and insight around how to engage customers, manage brand perceptions, empower employees, monitor brands, devise social campaigns, and open new un-tapped audiences through diverse social media channels.”

Date: March, 18-21 (Toronto, Canada)
Event: E-Metrics Summit
Official Overview: “eMetrics Summit is “Big Data for Marketing!” From early adopters leading the effort to those still in discovery mode, this is the only comprehensive event dedicated to digital analytics and marketing optimization. As the leading conference covering the impact of data & technology on marketing, eMetrics Summit focuses on driving business results through data analysis and technology adoption.”

Date: March, 20-22 (Miami Beach, Florida)
Event: Content Strategies Summit
Official Overview:  “This event will rediscover the value of purposeful content that meets your business, brand, and user-experience goals. By bringing together the best of the best, we aim to make sense of the wealth of content in the digital world. This is the most practical, real world event of its kind, where corporate practitioners in content strategy, marketing and user-experience design come together to share ways to better manager, create, publish and deliver content in a content-chaotic world.”

Date: March, 20-25 (Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, Perth, Australia)
Event: 2013 Privacy for Marketers & Advertisers Workshop Series
Official Overview: “With $1.1 million fines being introduced for privacy breaches, it is essential that marketers and advertisers get it right! From February 2013 ADMA will be providing more detail on the new laws, and running a series of workshops to assist members with understanding how the new privacy laws will apply to all aspects of marketing and advertising. The workshops will be available to attend in person or to view by webinar.”

Date: March, 25-28 (New York, NY)
Event: SES New York
Official Overview: “SES Conference & Expo provides marketing professionals, brand advertisers, agencies, and business leaders with the knowledge and tools needed to traverse the dynamic digital landscape. Designed for you by industry thought leaders and innovators, our instructional program will meet your needs whatever your experience level.”

Date: April, 3-4 (New York, NY)
Event: Inbound Marketing Summit
Official Overview: “Inbound Marketing Summit (IMS) is the one event that brings together enterprise CMOs, business leaders, agency execs and their teams, awesome keynotes, expert panels, plus solutions providers and their tools, all in a dynamic, community-based setting. Learn about the latest in social strategy and branding, content marketing, online video, Social CRM, mobile payments and more. And explore how to turn your plans into action with exclusive demos, showcases and the multimedia experience you expect from The Pulse.”

Date: April, 5 (Knoxville, TN)
Event: Social Slam
Official Overview: “Social Slam is an annual one-day conference held each April in Knoxville, TN. Known for its line-up of world-class social media speakers, affordable pricing and phenomenal networking opportunities, Social Slam is one of the best opportunities to stay on top of social media trends and network with some of the top influencers in the space.”

Date: April, 7-9 (San Diego, CA)
Event: Social Media Marketing World
Official Overview: “Join 1,000 fellow marketers at the mega-conference designed to inspire and empower you with social media marketing ideas—brought to you by Social Media Examiner.”

Date: April, 8-10 (San Francisco, CA)
Event: Marketo Summit 2013
Official Overview: “There’s no disputing it. Today’s customers are more savvy, more social, and more marketing-proof than ever. Which means you need to be a lot smarter about how you pursue them. We live in a world where capturing leads is a science, not a guessing game. Where marketing and sales work together in profitable harmony. Where marketing’s impact on revenue isn’t just significant - it’s clearly measurable.  And Marketo is leading this change. This year’s Marketo Summit will tackle these issues and get your marketing automation on the road to even more success!”

Date: April, 9-10 (San Francisco, CA)
Event: Ad:tech
Official Overview: “ad:tech is the leading digital marketing event for marketing and technology professionals from all over the world – a marketplace for buying and selling, a community for networking, a forum for exchanging ideas and an opportunity for contributing to industry trends and initiatives.”

Date: April, 9-10 (Munich, Germany)
Event: Search Marketing Expo
Official Overview: “Participate in your choice of more than 15 sessions with English content on search engine optimization (SEO), paid search advertising (PPC), social media marketing, local and mobile search, analytics & conversions and more. Whether you are a beginner or SEM expert, you work at (or with) an agency or manage search marketing in house, SMX Munich has programming to fit your needs.”

Date: April, 15-16 (San Francisco, CA)
Event: DemandCon
Official Overview: “DemandCon is the industry’s premier event for education and insight into the art of aligning and accelerating your company’s sales and marketing funnel. DemandCon’s content is presented by the world’s foremost thought leaders and covers information on the latest research, strategies and tactical best practices in B2B Sales and Marketing today.”

Date: April, 15-17 (San Francisco, CA)
Event: Conversion Conference West 2013 – San Francisco
Official Overview: “Conversion Conference is a worldwide conference series dedicated exclusively to issues related to optimizing the conversion rates of online campaigns. Experts and authors in disciplines ranging from web design, email marketing and persuasion principles to multivariate testing and usability converge for two days to discuss the latest tools and techniques available to help website owners and marketers increase the effectiveness of their online marketing efforts.”

Date: April, 22-23 (New York, NY)
Event: B2B Content2Conversion Conference
Official Overview: “The 2013 Content2Conversion Conference will present key insights into managing the content lifecycle, including topical takeaways such as: benchmark research on business executives’ content preferences, mapping out a buyer framework based on your key objectives, creating powerful content for SEO, social media strategies, cultivating a greater role in prospect’s discovery process, implementing content-based nurture programs.”

Date: May, 8-10 (San Diego, CA)
Event: Sirius Decisions Summit
Official Overview: “SiriusDecisions Summit 2013 is a unique three-day conference where SiriusDecisions analysts and top sales and marketing leaders from Fortune 500 companies and major SMBs share how b-to-b organizations are solving critical issues that hinder predictable growth. Each year, the theme focuses on aspects of how sales and marketing can, and should, intersect.”

Date: May, 21-22 (Los Angeles, CA)
Event: BlueGlassX
Official Overview: “Whether you're focused on SEO, Content Marketing, Conversions, Social Media, or PPC, our sessions integrate all areas of marketing so there is truly something for everyone. You will leave with a new outlook, new strategies and new ideas for marketing your business.”

Date: May, 29-31 (Chicago, IL)
Event: 2013 International BMA Conference
Official Overview: “With more than 1,000 expected to attend this year’s conference, you’ll be ablaze with new ideas and concepts to help move your organization forward. Mark your calendars now to learn from and network with b2b marketing’s leading trailblazers!”

Date: June, 11-12 (Seattle, WA)
Event: Search Marketing Expo Advanced
Official Overview: “SMX Advanced is the only search marketing conference designed exclusively for experienced internet marketers. Sessions are fast-paced, Q&A-packed frequently controversial, always informative … and don’t stop to cover the basics. Fluent in search engine marketing? Come to SMX Advanced and engage with others who speak your native language.”

Date: June, 11-13 (Chicago, IL)
Event: Conversion Conference Chicago 2013
Official Overview: “SiteTuners and Rising Media are pleased to bring Conversion Conference back to midwest for the second year. This highly-targeted event is ideal of digital/interactive marketers, e-commerce professionals, web designers, marketing analysts, and anyone who has responsibility for generating business online.”

Date: June, 12-14 (Toronto, Canada)
Event: SES Toronto
Official Overview: “SES Conference & Expo provides marketing professionals, brand advertisers, agencies, and business leaders with the knowledge and tools needed to traverse the dynamic digital landscape. Designed for you by industry thought leaders and innovators, our instructional program will meet your needs whatever your experience level.”

Date: June, 18-19 (San Francisco, CA)
Event: Inbound Marketing Summit
Official Overview: “IMS is returning to San Francisco next summer with an expanded focus on social business, content marketing, mobile technologies and the latest tools and tricks. Plus look for a new crowdsourcing experiment to be unveiled before the show!”

Date: July, 8-10 (Seattle, WA)
Event: MozCon
Official Overview: “Amazing Content from Industry Leaders. Actionable Tips and Deep Insights. Three Days and One Amazing Experience.”

Date: September, 9-12 (Clevelend, OH)
Event: Content Marketing World
Official Overview: “Content Marketing World is the largest gathering of content marketing professionals in the world. This year we are bringing the show down under! Content Marketing World is the one event where you can learn and network with the best and the brightest in the content marketing industry. You will leave with all the materials you need to take a content strategy back to your team – and – implement a content marketing plan that will grow your business and engage your audience.”

Date: September, 10-13 (San Francisco, CA)
Event: SES San Francisco
Official Overview: “This year's conference garnered nearly 3,500 registrants. Our agenda "make-over" featured new content in link building, paid search, optimization, e-commerce, analytics, big data, integrated marketing, and much more.”

Date: September, 11-12 (London, Great Britain)
Event: Ad:tech London
Official Overview: “Connecting the digital media community for two days of purposeful learning and networking, ad:tech is a marketplace for buying & selling; a forum for exchanging ideas; and an opportunity to contribute to industry trends & initiatives. The event brings together leaders who are also doers shaping the industry: the exhibition presents progressive, innovative solutions and the conference features insights from high performing brand marketers.”

Date: September, 30 – October, 1 (Boston, MA)
Event: Conversion Conference Boston 2013
Official Overview: “Conversion Conference is headed to the Northeast! Enjoy two highly focused days with the brightest mninds in website optimization, digital marketing and analytics, featuring sessions on: website usability and design, conversion across different media and platforms, abandonment recovery, and much more!”

Date: October, 12-17 (Chicago, IL)
Event: DMA
Official Overview: “As all marketing becomes data-driven, marketers will need to up their game to not only anticipate their customers’ needs, but also deliver relevant, measurable, on-demand messaging—all the time—in an omnichannel marketing environment. Next year, DMA2013 will focus on meeting the tough demands of big data, global consumers, and shrinking attention spans so your integrated marketing efforts keep winning.”

Date: October, 21-25 (Las Vegas, NV)
Event: Pubcon
Official Overview: “Pubcon Las Vegas 2013, supported by the industry's leading businesses, speakers, exhibitors, and sponsors involved in social media, Internet marketing, search engines, and online advertising, will offer a week-long look at the future of technology presented by many of the world's top speakers.”

Date: October, 28-29 (London, Great Britain)
Event: SearchLove
Official Overview: “SearchLove is a two days single-track conference aimed at SEO practitioners wanting to advance their skills.”

Date: October (Boston, MA)
Event: Inbound Marketing Summit
Official Overview: “Boston's premiere Inbound Marketing Conference and Expo returns in October 2013 bigger, and better than ever! With a line up featuring the top voices in digital, social and mobile marketing, along with the latest tools – stay tuned for details about the next IMS Boston. Sign up here for info.”

Date: November, 4-7 (Chicago, IL)
Event: SES Chicago
Official Overview: “SES Conference & Expo provides marketing professionals, brand advertisers, agencies, and business leaders with the knowledge and tools needed to traverse the dynamic digital landscape. Designed for you by industry thought leaders and innovators, our instructional program will meet your needs whatever your experience level.”

Date: November, 6-7 (New York, NY)
Event: Ad:tech
Official Overview: “ad:tech is the leading digital media event for marketing and technology professionals from all over the world – a marketplace for buying and selling, a community for networking, a forum for exchanging ideas and an opportunity for contributing to industry trends and initiatives.”

Date: November, 18-21
Event: Dreamforce '13
Official Overview: “Dreamforce ‘13 will be here before you know it, and you can sign up to be the first to hear about all the details, including pricing.This year, Dreamforce broke all records, and next year is going to be even bigger and better with: all-new keynote speakers and an amazing band for the Dreamforce Gala, more than 800 breakout sessions—content for every role, 500+ partners in the Cloud Expo.”

Date: November, 20-21 (Las Vegas, NV)
Event: SMX Social Media Marketing Official Overview: “SMX Social Media Marketing is a two-day, tactic-rich conference that covers all key issues for getting the most out of social marketing, whether you’re tasked with driving organic traffic, managing paid campaigns, or stewarding your company’s brand with online reputation management and customer service.”

Still not sure whether you need attend any of those events?

Reasons for Attending Conferences

Here are a few reasons why you need to find some time in your busy schedule and attend at least several marketing conferences this year.

1. Learning and Sharing Knowledge.

You will be able to capture knowledge of the latest trends and challenges facing the digital marketing industry, learn new tools and the most useful features and how to implement them in your marketing campaigns to move your business to the next level, get answers to questions which you are conscious about or get approval of the direction your business is moving to.

2. Inspiring and Generating New Ideas.

Since there are so many creative and bright people attending marketing conferences, they definitely share their new and genuine ideas with other attendees. You may be inspired by someone’s presentation or personality, and that may lead to creating and considering your own innovative ideas or starting to thing about things differently.

3. Building Relations.

Attending big gatherings is a great opportunity to meet new people, communicate with them, build partnership relations that will help your business to grow, or find sponsors for your new projects.

Hope I have managed to assure you that participating in conferences is worth investing your time to.

Have you found anything interesting for yourself? How is your own list of marketing events to attend in 2013 looks like?  In case I have missed any of those you like to visit, share them with me.