As B2B content marketers, it is critical that we stay on top of the latest trends. Although it is true that – to a certain extent – this can be achieved from behind a computer screen, it doesn’t make the most of what’s on offer. For example, by attending events, you can build professional relationships and expand your industry knowledge, ultimately growing your business. Events are also a great basis to hear from industry experts and get their personal insights on new and innovative topics, inspiring new content ideas and strategy. With so many upcoming events in the B2B marketing calendar for 2020, we thought it would be useful to outline a few you should consider attending.
B2B Marketing Expo, London, 25-26 March 2020
If you are looking for an event that can help you to develop and progress your marketing skills with a hands-on approach, then the B2B Marketing Expo is the event for you. Interest has grown rapidly in recent years and, as a result, the event attracts professionals from all over Europe. At the Expo, attendees can learn about new products, services and technology from over 700 exhibitors, including Cognism – who will be discussing how their SaaS technology utilises AI to identify consumer trends. There will also be talks and seminars about all things marketing related, including ‘B2B Scaled Intelligence’ with George Morris, Partner Manager at Facebook, exploring how businesses can increase their marketing efforts on the platform to support their B2B campaigns.
ContentTECH Summit, San Diego, April 20-22 2020
If you find the marketing world to be unpredictable, overwhelming and chaotic, then let the ContentTECH Summit help to make sense of it. The event centres around how technology combined with improved processes can be used effectively and in line with current strategies, to manage and deliver content and provide customers with a greater digital experience. Attendees can also learn about how upcoming technology trends will impact work in the coming years, enabling you to stay ahead of the curve. What’s more, many of the speakers are pioneers in the industry, providing attendees with valuable insights through keynote sessions and workshops on a range of different subjects. This includes sessions from professionals such as Robert Rose, who has provided content marketing and strategy advice for organisations such as NASA and Dell. Chris Penn, Chief Data Scientist at Chief Insights, is also holding workshops this year, exploring the fundamentals of data science as it applies to content marketing, where attendees can learn how to turn actionable data into creative and innovative content.
B2B Marketing Leaders Forum Asia, Singapore, 19-20 August 2020
The Asian economy is continuing to grow rapidly, resulting in more and more businesses focusing their attention in the region. The B2B Marketing Leaders Forum Asia, will be held in Singapore. This year, at the events’ centre is revenue growth, leadership and personal career advancement, targeting B2B CMOs and marketing leaders who can share their strategies, the technology they use, and their leadership techniques. Attendees can then use this knowledge to support revenue generation for their own marketing departments, alongside securing budgets and developing a strong voice in the C-suite. Although the speaker list has not yet been released for the Singapore event at the time of writing, we can get an idea of what topics will crop up based on last years’ event. Helen Kim, Senior Director & Head of Marketing Asia Pacific at Red Hat, shared her insights on B2B content marketing and social selling, and in particular, how the strategy behind social selling supported by tangible data delivers results.
Content Marketing World, Cleveland, October 13-16 2020
If you are looking to gather the materials and knowledge needed to take a content strategy back into your workplace, to grow your business and inspire your target audience, then join more than 4,000 other marketers from 60 countries for the event in Cleveland. Over 125 sessions and workshops are run across the event, covering many aspects of content marketing – so there is something for everybody. Although the schedule has not yet been released at the time of writing, the 2019 event offered workshops on topics including, how to develop your marketing videos into stories, to capture audiences. Keynote talks from Nilla Ali, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at Buzzfeed also took place, covering how content can drive brand loyalty, and tips on how to create content experiences that drive revenue. The event also emphasises networking activities – this included a fun run and an early-morning yoga session in 2019.
MarketingProfs B2B Forum, San Francisco, 3-6 November 2020
This is a smaller event, with approximately 1000 attendees last year, so it strikes the right balance between a sense of togetherness and the opportunity to meet and engage with new people. If you are seeking a program dedicated to unique challenges and opportunities that marketers in the industry face, then the MarketingProfs B2B Forum should be right up your street. Not only will talks explore new ideas when building marketing programs and strategies, but there will also be an emphasis on closing the gap between what attendees know and what they need to know to excel within their roles. What’s more, the first day comprises a practical workshop, which will cover topics from content strategy and marketing to writing and storytelling – areas in which all marketers can benefit. However, this event does not only offer workshops and talks. In 2019, they hosted events to give the attendees an unforgettable experience, including a casual get together – ‘Breaking the B2B Ice’ and a ‘B2B Block Party’.
We all know that it is crucial to stay ahead of the industry curve in this sector, to stand above competition and continue to deliver great results and insight for content marketing campaigns, whether in-house or agency based. Events can help you to do this. Even though the events listed here are probably five out of hundreds, we hope we have inspired you to attend or find out more. If you have a favourite event or have participated in any quirky ice breakers, let us know at [email protected].
Photo by Miguel Henriques on Unsplash
