Where to be for SEO and marketing knowledge in 2018
Whatever your reasons for joining an SEO conference, whether to grow your professional network, to showcase your skills, or just to gain knowledge, you will only want to be where the best minds gather. And it’s time to save the date for some of the top SEO digital marketing events of 2018. Book your flights ahead of time to get the best prices. Also, many of these SEO events attract hundreds of people and the hotels closer to the conference centers tend to have no vacancies during those times. With no further ado, these are the top marketing conferences of the year ahead.
MailCon 2018 (January)
MailCon 2018 counts among the most anticipated events of January. It will take place in Las Vegas at the Caesars Palace. Between November 1 and December 31, 2017, you can still grab conference passes at $499. The price will rise for on-site purchases, and availability is not guaranteed. MailCon is an email marketing performance and deliverability conference, which gathers more than 500 email marketers, entrepreneurs, and technology leaders from all business sectors.
Social Media Marketing World 2018 (February)
The Social Media Marketing World 2018 is a mega-conference organized by the wizards behind Social Media Examiner. It will gather over 5000 marketers and creators with social media marketing and creator training sessions, networking opportunities galore, and a plethora of social media thought leaders like Guy Kawasaki, Chris Brogan, Mark Schaefer, Gini Dietrich, Shaun McBride, Christopher Penn, and many others. The event takes place at the San Diego Convention Center on Wednesday, February 28 to Friday, March 2, 2018. Tickets are still available on the official website of the conference.
C3 2018 (March)
C3 2018 will be one of the highlights of March 7-8. It’s a conference designed to show you how to do organic search marketing right. It will attract SEOs, content marketers, and digital leaders in New York City at the New World Stages off-Broadway.
SearchLove is a marketing event organized by Distilled. It attracts some of the most respected personalities in the field of search engine optimization, content creation, marketing, and analytics. In previous years, the conference’s stage was dominated by speakers like Rand Fishkin, Rob Ousbey, Justin Briggs, Larry Kim, Matthew Barby, and many others. In 2018, there will be three SearchLove events: March 26-27 in San Diego, June 7-8 in Boston, and October 15-16 in London.
MarTech (April)
MarTech is a marketing technology conference. They host several events every year, with the first scheduled at the San Jose Convention Center on April 23-25, 2018. They attract experienced professionals such as “marketing technologists, creative technologists, growth hackers, data scientists, and digital strategists.” The speaker lineup has not been announced but giving the location proximity to the famous Silicon Valley, you know you can expect stellar attendance. They’ll also hold a MarTech conference in Boston, and one in Europe at later (unnuanced) dates.
SEMPO Search Industry Forum is another industry must. It takes place April 5-6 at the Hyatt Regency Miami. It is appealing to search and social marketing professionals, as well as to all people who use SEO and SEM to grow their businesses.
MarketingSherpa Summit 2018 (May)
May 7-10, 2018, you can attend the MarketingSherpa Summit at the Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. Digital marketing experts will showcase concrete case-studies to prove how their strategies bring results, but also hands-on workshops to inspire hands-on learning.
The Customer Experience Forums by Forrester occupy an important position among the essential events of 2018. They have six CX Forums in 2018, as follows:
- CX Sydney in May 10, 2018 at Sheraton on the Park
- CXNYC 2018, taking place June 19-20 at New York Hilton Midtown in New York City
- CX Singapore, August 29,2018 at Marina Mandarin Singapore
- CXDC 2018, September 24, 2018 in Washington, D.C.
- CXSF 2018, October 2-3 in San Francisco
- CX Europe 2018, November 14-15 in London
Search Marketing Expo (June)
The Search Marketing Expo (SMX®) is one of those events that make history in the industry. A trademark since 2007, SMX brings together the most brilliant SEO and SEM professionals. They organize several events all over the world, but the most interesting is SMX Advanced on June 11-13 in Seattle. Earlier in 2018, you will have SMX West and SMX Munich in March, then SMX London in May. After SMY Advanced you can also attend SMX Paris in June.
MozCon 2018 (July)
This is a heavyweight. MozCon 2018 in July 9-11 will draw SEO enthusiasts at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle. Every serious SEO practitioner will attend this conference and newbies are also strongly advised to book their tickets early. Besides Rand Fishkin, you can expect many other industry leaders among the speakers. The schedule has not been announced yet.
Digital Summit (August)
Another series of annual conferences, Digital Summit, have several events, but the one in Minneapolis on August 21-23 will be very interesting due to speakers like Seth Godin, Neal Patel, Lee Odden and others. Sure, the roster for 2018 has not been announced, but the conventions will not disappoint. You can pre-register now to enjoy a discount on conference passes. Sessions and topics featured at Digital Summit include search, UX and design, content, email, mobile, social media, and strategy.
Another August highlight (21-23), the Content Experience 2018 in Toronto, will take place at the Royal Conservatory of Music. They promise “experiences that drive the buyer journey,” and they are open for registrations.
Content Marketing World 2018 (September)
Another power player in the digital marketing conference realm, Content Marketing World 2018, or CMWorld 2018, takes place September 4-7 at the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland. They boast more than 120 sessions and workshops presented by thought leaders like Jonathan Kranz, Lee Odden, Ann Handley, and many others. It is the most significant content marketing event of the year so you will want to be there.
Also on September 4-7, Inbound 2018 at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center promises to bring together some of the most brilliant minds of the moment in “inspiring keynotes, innovative talks, educational breakouts, hands-on lessons,” and much more. It will be hard to decide which of the two events to attend in September 2018, given that both conferences take place at the same time in different places.
Inc. 5000 Conference (October)
The Inc. 5000 Conference boasts some of the best business speakers in the world. They have not yet announced the schedule for 2018, but you can always expect names like last year’s Daymond John, Les McKeown, Brené Brown, Alex Kenjeev, Alan Mulally, and many others. The conference promises and delivers thought-provoking sessions that engage and inspire. They will also hold a black-tie gala perfect for making new business contacts in a relaxed, yet classy environment.
Share San Francisco is the flagship SEO conference by BrightEdge. In 2018, it will take place October 9-10 at the Westin St. Francis. Although the program has not been yet announced, you can expect an excellent roster of speakers and experts who will offer key insights into the latest trends in shaping search, content, and digital marketing.
MarketingProfs' B2B Marketing Forum (November)
In 2018, the MarketingProfs' B2B Marketing Forum takes place at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis on November 13-16. You can already save the date, and conference passes are also available at early-bird rates. The speakers were not announced, but you can expect the likes of Alison Levine, Andy Crestodina and Lee Odden among the attendees, if not better. Topics like “How to Deliver on the Promise of Content Experience,” “How to Mine Social Data for Actionable B2B Insights,” and “Make Email Great Again — With an Actual Strategy on How to Do That,” are just some examples of what participants enjoyed in 2017, and 2018 promises to be better.
Sure, this is a small choice of SEO and marketing conferences to inspire you. If you want more, you can always check out this list compiled by Marketingterms.com to find a more affordable event, or something closer to your interests and location. Many of the events of 2018 have not yet announced their dates and locations, so it’s a good idea to follow us for updates and news. This way you can also learn where and when to meet Carmelon specialists in 2018. We will continue updating this list as more information (dates, locations, pricing) comes in. As you see, there’s nothing scheduled for December 2018 yet, but things will change soon. If you have any conferences you would like us to feature, get in touch with the details.
