As I write this post at the beginning of 2022, we are still in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic which is preventing many of us meeting for large conferences in-person.
That being said, there are an increasing number of marketing conferences that are planning to move ahead this year in hopes that the situation improves, so this will be the first year since 2019 that so many conferences are planned.
No one can predict what will happen in the next few months, but should things drastically improve, I expect more conferences to be slated for the second half of 2022. Otherwise, even some of the ones I am writing about here have a possibility of being canceled..
That is my disclaimer for this post, but if you still have hopes attending an in-person social media conference this year, you’ll want to check out these social media conferences!
While there are many reputable conferences that are doing it virtually this year that could be mentioned here, I only want to blog about those that plan to meet in-person.
It goes without saying that social media is always changing. There is no better way to tap into the collective wisdom of experts than by attending social media conferences where you can:
- learn from subject matter experts, such as corporate practitioners, well-known bloggers, authors, and speakers, in the field
- network with other corporate practitioners and professionals to compare notes on best practices
- discover new social media tools that might help you do more with less
- stay ahead of the curve!
Rather than create a comprehensive list of all of the marketing and social media conferences that exist, I provide you my annual list of conferences that I have vetted from either presenting at, attending, or knowing first-hand of the experiences from others who have attended. Social media conferences with a strong track record obviously are featured in this list, but I also went out of my way to add new and promising events to the list as well as some other major conferences that I might have omitted from previous lists.
This year’s list I further narrowed down the social media conferences to only those that are planning to have it in-person.
If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of digital and social media marketing, these are the must-attend social media conferences in 2022! Social media conferences are presented in chronological order for your convenience with information about the date and events venue city.
Note that there are still many conferences where dates have been announced but speakers have not been. Make sure you bookmark this page and check back often as speakers will be added as they are announced.
February 28-March 2, 2022, Scottsdale, AZ
B2B Marketing Exchange is a large conference held every year to bring B2B marketers together to evaluate the best in up and coming business marketing solutions. B2B is unique among many of its peers, in that it focuses on creating personal connections through one on one sessions and mentorship opportunities. Attendees can also dig deeper into specific subjects through hand on education and smaller sessions, in addition to larger speaker sessions.
These are the sessions I recommend you check out if you were planning on attending:
- Jay Baer: How Social Tokens, NFTs, and Crypto Will Change Your Business Model Forever
- Marcus Sheridan: Good To GREAT B2B Digital Marketing In 2022 & Beyond: From World-Class Website Content To Self-Service Tools, How To Reach A New Level Of Trust, Traffic, Leads & Sales Online (Marcus Sheridan)
- Pam Didner: How To Create A High-Performance Team Among Sales/Ops/Marketing
- Amisha Gandhi: Creating A Connected Customer Journey To Deliver An Experience That Converts
B2B Marketing Exchange is geared toward business to business marketers, and is best for those who are looking to get a more hands-on, personal education about new marketing techniques.
March 14-16, 2022, San Diego, CA
Having spoken at every Social Media Marketing World (so far!), I can personally attest to the amazing speakers and content that you can learn from.
These are the speakers and sessions that I recommend you check out if you were interested in attending.
- Michael Stelzner: Social Media Marketing in 2022: What the Newest Research Reveals
- Joe Pulizzi: How Social Tokens, NFTs, and Crypto Will Change Your Business Model Forever
- Mari Smith: The Ultimate Facebook Success Formula for Better Leads and More Sales
- Ann Handley: The Art of Storytelling: How to Create Better Content With Stories
- Marcus Sheridan: The Most Trusted Voice: 7 Keys to Making Magical, Trust-Building Content
- Robert Rose: Content Marketing In 2022: How to Deliver Differentiated Value
- Tim Schmoyer: How to Use Story to Improve Your YouTube Growth
- Luria Petrucci: How to Create Professional Quality Live Video Without Blowing Your Budget
- Pat Flynn: How to Start a Podcast from Scratch and Reach an Entirely New Audience
- AJ Wilcox: Advanced LinkedIn Advertising for the B2B Marketer
* Affiliate link
April 27-29, 2022, Orlando, FL
The Association of National Advertisers is having its first-ever conference to go over social media strategies. Although it is no stranger to in-person events, the authorities on content marketing at the ANA have recognized the need for a more robust format with which to discuss content marketing and the many different aspects of content marketing–including blogs, email marketing, video marketing, and influencer marketing–with a focus on customer experience, customer service, and actionable takeaways to help your company or brand’s content marketing truly shine.
This particular conference is designed for senior marketers who play a more substantial role in content creation, as in-person events like the ANA’s conference place a heavy focus on idea generation, creativity, and creating robust content strategies to push businesses and brands further in their content marketing efforts. Although it is not billed as one of the hybrid events being offered this year, the ANA’s conference does have options for those who are not able to attend the event in-person but still want to take advantage of all the ANA has to offer.
With speakers including the VP of Marketing for Subaru and Marriott International, the ANA’s conference is not one you’ll want to miss.
May 2-3, 2022, Online
OK – I lied. This is actually NOT an in-person event, but the speaker lineup is so impressive, I had to share it!
Billed as the world’s largest digital marketing event held online, Ad World 2022 offers social strategy information for people, brands, and businesses of all sizes and types. Ad World offers a substantial panel of experts including renowned names like Arianna Huffington, to help social strategy professionals develop the tools and techniques needed to make digital marketing campaigns succeed and build rapport with followers and customers.
Confirmed speakers include:
- Arianna Huffington, Thrive Global and The Huffington Post
- Seth Godin, author and thought leader
- Rand Fishkin, Co-Founder & CEO, SparkToro
- Kipp Bodnar, Chief Marketing Officer, Hubspot
- Eric Siu, Founder & Chairman, Single Grain
Although it might seem that becoming a content marketing ninja is impossible via an online conference, the format of Ad World 2022 makes it possible for more people to attend the digital marketing event and there are networking opportunities built in. From connecting with industry professionals who focus on social marketing to speaking to marketers who have tackled some of the most common digital marketing challenges, attendees can expect to learn plenty of tools to take their digital marketing efforts to the next level.
May 2-4, 2022, Phoenix, AZ
CEX – Creator Economy Expo is a new conference that helps content creators grow audience, drive revenue, sharpen up content operations and learn about Web3 (social tokens, NFTs, etc.) business models. The event is May 2-4, 2022 at the Arizona Grand Resort and is limited to 500 content creators. The lineup is already amazing, including speakers like:
- Dan Pink
- TikTok/Twitch star Leesh Capeesh
- Ann Handley
- Joe Pulizzi
- Brian Clark
- Roberto Blake
Simply put, this is a can’t miss event. I’ll be there, and if you can join me maybe we can hit the town for some sushi together. Join me and get a $150 discount to attend.
Why am I SO excited about this event? You’ll just have to watch Joe Pulizzi’s interview with John Lee Dumas to find out!
* Affiliate link
June 8-9, 2022, Toronto, Canada
The Canada-based summit is unique among the other offerings on this list, in that it focuses all of its attention on financial services and the different digital marketing campaigns and techniques that are required within that particular niche. Where many marketing conferences focus on offering a wide range of subjects and interests, the digital and social marketing efforts found in the Canada summit offer a very narrow scope in order to dive as deeply as possible into this area.
Confirmed speakers include:
The Canada summit is being hosted by senior-level marketers, but is available to the experienced marketer and novice alike, provided that you work within the financial industry. The summit’s strategy framework will help people in this industry build up, flesh out, and explore their digital marketing efforts, whether those efforts are newly developed or have been in place for years.
The Canada summit has not yet announced its full list of speakers, but virtual tickets are available for anyone wishing to attend this hybrid event in order to take advantage of the expert trainers expected to be in attendance.
June 8-10, 2022, Atlanta, GA
As its name suggests, the Social Shake-Up is a social media marketing conference designed for senior-level, cross-industry marketers and general marketing teams alike, who are in need of some changes to their day-to-day social routines. The conference covers a range of topics with expert trainers, though all will converge on one valuable point: the value of improving customer relationships through compelling and engaging social media strategy.
The speaker lineup for this year’s conference include:
- Beverly Jackson, a marketing VP for Twitter
- Sabrina Merritt, the founder and CEO of October Social Media
- Dwayna Haley, Chief Brand and Communication Officer for the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce
The Social Shake-Up is not your average social conference, in that it offers actionable insights on an arsenal of tools you might yet be using. As part of making sure your marketing campaigns are on the forefront of your industry, the Social Shake-Up tackles topics such as using up-and-coming social platforms, connecting more effectively with your audience, and even leveraging existing strategies and successes to expand your budget and reach.
June 10, 2022, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Social Media Day Halifax is considered Canada’s top conference for consideration if you are looking for a conference that focuses its digital marketing conversation on social media marketing, specifically. Unlike many of the other conferences out there, Social Media Day is a one-day conference, and packs in a host of digital growth tools and practical skills to improve your video marketing efforts, as well as your content and image creation efforts, all for social media marketing.
Confirmed speakers include:
Halifax’s social media event is designed to focus on Canadian businesses, and can be attended and utilized by people of all levels, from the very beginner in the social media marketing scene to social media experts. Special sessions in this conference will attend closely to how to implement social media strategy in a way that boosts your business, and helps you determine how best to fuse your business’ goals and needs with your existing or upcoming social media campaigns.
June 14, 2022, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Friends of Search is among Europe’s largest search conferences, with over 600 attendees expected each year. Friends of Search brings together businesses, marketers, and consultants together to dig deep into marketing’s most effective and up-and-coming strategies. Each year, Friends of Search accepts marketing plan submissions, and delivers awards to the individuals or businesses who present the most innovative marketing strategies.
Confirmed speakers include:
Friends of Search is designed for individuals and businesses who are experienced in the realm of marketing—particularly SEO and search engine marketing. The event is best suited to people who are least partly familiar with search engine marketing, and is not designed for beginners.
June 15, 2022, Frankfurt, Germany
The Growth Marketing Summit in Frankfurt is another one-day conference with a focus on growing digitally. From audience growth to content strategy, the Growth Marketing Summit places a heavy emphasis on learning how to effectively and consistently grow your user base and develop stronger relationships through your marketing campaigns. Unlike many other conferences offering a host of information in a few short days, Growth Marketing Summit emphasizes actionable items to maximize your optimization practices, and experience the growth your company needs to thrive.
Confirmed Speakers Include:
- Dan Ariely, Behavioral Economist
- Joost de Schepper, of Spotify
- Morgan Brown, of Shopify
- Sandra Wu, of himalaya
This conference is best for companies or brands that are looking to scale. If you are comfortable where you are, this may not be the right fit for you. If, however, you are looking to grow–and do so in a way that is measurable and sustainable–Growth Marketing Summit could be an excellent fit for your needs.
June 21-23, 2022, Charlotte, NC
Social Fresh bills itself as the only conference just for Social Media Managers. Social Fresh has been creating training and education to help brands become leaders in social since 2009 and this will be their first in-person conference since 2019. Having attended a past Social Fresh in San Diego, I can attest to the fact that this conference truly focuses on primarily having corporate speakers on stage who generously share real-life experiences from managing social media for their brands.
Confirmed Speakers Include:
- Saad Khan, Shopify – Senior Social Lead
- Tatiana Holifield, Hulu – Head of Brand Social
- Ted Harrison, Twitter – Head of Production, ArtHouse
- Karianne Stinson, Microsoft – Sr. Manager, Surface
Social Fresh is where you’ll learn how to create better content (faster), increase organic engagement, grow your audience, improve your content process, and more, jam packed with 20+ industry experts and brand leaders into 3 days of no-fluff, educational sessions.
August 23-26, 2022, Dallas, TX
Podcast Movement is a conference specifically designed for podcasting professionals who are looking to improve their own podcast and network with others in the podcast arena. Podcast Movement is the largest podcasting convention in existence, and each year, strives to bring together people from all backgrounds and interests to improve marketing strategies, podcast content, and podcasting equipment to diversity, expand, and support the global podcasting community.
I attended Podcast Movement for the first time in 2021 and highly recommend this event for beginner or advanced podcasters. Great sessions, great speakers, great people!
Confirmed Speakers Include:
This event is geared toward podcast creators of all experience levels. If you haven ot yet started, or have had a podcast for years, you can find a place at Podcast Movement, and benefit from the vast number of industry professionals available to offer panels, networking opportunities, and workshops.
September 27-29, 2022, San Diego, CA
The Traffic and Conversion Summit is designed to be an intensive summit, absolutely filled with actionable content that can readily take your marketing strategies from sub par to consistent, effective, and explosive.
I attended Traffic and Conversion Summit in 2021 for the first time and was blown away by the quality and quantity of speakers.
Confirmed speakers include:
Traffic and Conversion Summit is best for those who are looking for simple, straightforward, and powerful steps to increase marketing leads and take their business to the next level. Networking is also a large feature of Traffic and Conversion Summit, and is valuable for anyone seeking to make connections in marketing.
September 13-16, 2022, Cleveland, Ohio
The Content Marketing World convention is part convention and part expo, designed to bring the best content marketing professionals together to create a dynamic and informative convention. Convention features include sessions, workshops, and forums tailored to content creators and marketers. Large brands, individual marketers, and everyone in between are expected to attend Content Marketing World’s convention, each of them in search of more effective tools to generate a larger audience and support business growth.
Confirmed Speakers Include:
Content Marketing World is an open-call event, created to welcome marketing, public relations, and communications professionals. Attendees will learn how to more effectively communicate with target audiences, deliver compelling marketing materials, and create engaging, actionable marketing plans of action.
July 1, 2022, London, England
Formerly known as MarTechFest Global, AntiConLX is a self-described festival that focuses on all things marketing technology. AntiConLX prides itself on creating a relaxed, welcoming atmosphere, and wasting no time in getting down to the nitty gritty of the latest in marketing technology.
Confirmed Speakers Include:
AntiConLX is ideal for marketers who are seeking a laid-back atmosphere, with no frills or workshops. This particular summit is a single day, making it a great choice for anyone with a limited amount of time and a vested interest in marketing technology.
November 1-4, 2022, Lisbon Portugal
Web Summit is a large-scale web-related summit that offers six different themes from which to learn. These include commerce, marketing and media, society, developers and data, lifestyle, and business development. Within these themes are professional keynote speakers, workshops, and panels, all of which are designed to deliver innovative ideas for improving business practices across all aspects of marketing, creation, and management. Web Summit has been identified as the world’s best technology conference, and strives to live up to its reputation.
Confirmed Speakers Include:
Due to the nature of Web Summit’s focus on technology, professionals and amateurs in all areas of technology and web-based business are encouraged to attend. Attendees will learn more effective marketing strategy, the impact business has on society and the world at large, and the responsibilities businesses and entrepreneurs take on.
Are there any must attend 2022 social media conferences which are missing from the list? Please contact me and let me know!
How do conferences use social media? Social media can help in the success of a conference. It allows an organizer to reach out to potential attendees and create engagement with conference-goers. Nowadays, you can easily find a conference or an event by searching a hashtag, checking the speaker’s website, and even social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
How do you market Social Media 2022? Here are 5 marketing tips for an effective social media strategy: First, determine your target audience. Second, select the social media platform that works best for your brand/business. Third, produce quality content related to your strategy. Fourth, utilize marketing tools, and lastly, connect with fellow influencers within your niche.
What is a marketing conference? Marketing conferences are one of the best ways to acquire new knowledge and expand your network. Attending marketing conferences allows you to gather wisdom from experts in your niche. Most marketing conferences are joined by professionals, subject matter experts, well-known bloggers, authors, and speakers.
What is Digital Summit? Digital Summit is a series of marketing conferences including virtual, in-person, and hybrid events of digital marketing and strategies. It aims to educate, engage, and promote the growth of the digital marketing perspective among U.S regions. Every year, thousands of digital marketers, innovators, and entrepreneurs attend the summit.
Is Social Media Marketing Dead? No, social media marketing isn’t dead and it won’t be dead even in the next years. As of the recent statistics, 3.6 billion people worldwide use social media. That is almost 50% of the world’s population. It is also forecasted that it may increase to 4.41 billion in 2025. As long as the number increases, social media marketing will be relevant.