The MarketingProfs B2B Forum is hands-down one of the BEST conferences you can attend as a marketer. The keynotes are inspiring, the sessions are high-quality and the vibe makes you feel at home. Ann Handley and the MarketingProfs team work incredibly hard to orchestrate this great event each year and it shows.
The team at TopRank Marketing has been attending conferences like this one for decades and has been able to hone our focus to make the most of the time and investment that are made. Below are some highlights to help you get the most bang for your buck at events.
5 Tips for Getting the Most out of Marketing Conferences
Speaking
Events like MarketingProfs B2B Forum are always looking for established marketers or up-and-coming subject matter experts to take the stage and share their learnings with attendees. This year, TopRank Marketing CEO Lee Odden hosted a panel on the confluence equation featuring some of the top minds in B2B influencer marketing which included Konstanze Alex from Dell (client), Amisha Gandhi from SAP (client) and Luciana Moran from Dun & Bradstreet.
Having attended that session myself, I could see the room abuzz with B2B marketers taking to Twitter and their notes to absorb as much as possible from this power-panel. Here is some feedback from a couple of the session attendees:
This is gonna be full of juicy nuggets if it is anything like every other #influencerMarketing panel I have been on with @AmishaGandhi. #MPB2B https://t.co/OCKDdP95Ll
— Stacey DePolo ?? (@sdepolo) November 15, 2018
Fantastic panel of experts on B2B Influencer Marketing featuring ?@leeodden? ?@Konstanze? ?@AmishaGandhi? at #mpb2b #InfluencerMarketing #B2BMarketing pic.twitter.com/pQJgt5nske
— Tim Williams (@WilliamsTim) November 15, 2018
At this year’s event, I had the honor of presenting my first solo session for MPB2B. I had a great time walking the audience through a fun, Stranger Things themed presentation that walked through 3 best practices and 3 stories for better B2B influencer marketing. Here are some of my favorite tweets covering my session:
Thank you @azeckman for making your #MPB2B #InfluencerMarketing presentation tactical AND fun! Hard to do but you pulled it off ???#stangerthings @MarketingProfs @toprank pic.twitter.com/Du0Bp3xwRv
— Rebecca Haynes (@rebeccaerin86) November 15, 2018
Tip: Influencers are people too. Don’t treat them simply as a service. Find out what they’re interested in, create content or experience around that to recognize them before you start working together. @azeckman #mpb2b
— Stephan Hovnanian (@stephanhov) November 15, 2018
Great tips and advice from @azeckman, not only on engaging the right types of influencers, but also how to create a positive and engaging experience for them. #MPB2B (and there were demagorgons, so win!) pic.twitter.com/PI56FEQRtS
— Margaret Uttke (@MargaretUttke) November 15, 2018
Event Content Creation
Publishing content (in many forms) is a great way to retain and share the information you gather at these events. And let’s face it, after a few days of learning, it can be easy to forget. Whether you’re creating video, audio or static content that is long-form, short-form or in-between; content creation is a must! Below you’ll find some of our event coverage from MPB2B.
How Dell, SAP and Dun & Bradstreet Collaborate with Influencers to Scale Successful B2B Content
How B2B Marketers Can Drive Growth in the Age of Assistance
How Collaborating with Influencers can Help You Save the Day and Change the World of Marketing
How High-Impact Marketers Approach Marketing Strategy
Webinars That Wow: 5 Tips for Creating Engaging Webinars
Host IRL Events
Many of us work in a business environment where we don’t have the opportunity to connect with our clients or partners in-person very often. Events like this one present a great opportunity to host an evening or afternoon where you can connect some of your favorite customers (and let’s face it, people) together for some great conversation.
Participate in Podcast Interviews
At marketing events, you’ll often find one or many podcasters ready to take advantage of the fact that there are a number of smart marketers on the premises and conduct podcast interviews live. This year, TopRank Marketing CEO Lee Odden joined podcast queen Kerry O’Shea Gorgone for a sit-down interview at the event.
I ?? interviewing smarties (like @leeodden of @toprank) at #MPB2B! If you’re at the event on Thursday, swing by the Learning Lounge between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. and share your smarts with the @MarketingProfs audience! pic.twitter.com/H0fQKDjlbI
— Kerry O’Shea Gorgone (@KerryGorgone) November 14, 2018
Be Social
When you’re surrounded by like-minded marketers, it makes for a great opportunity to connect. That can be sitting down during lunch and making new connections, or following along with the conversation on social media. For many marketing events, Chris Penn creates a visualization of the most talked about and engaging brands or people at an event. I’m happy to share that our brand, our CEO and myself were recognizable for each-day of the event because of our desire to connect and be social.
Who’s who on the eve of #MPB2B? Click the link for @trustinsights interactive map of who’s most talked about at @marketingprofs premier #B2B event: https://t.co/sMSSmINUid pic.twitter.com/8Ox28F80XQ
— Christopher S. Penn (@cspenn) November 14, 2018
Thank You MarketingProfs!
You have outdone yourselves again. Each year the conference keeps getting better and better and we are incredibly thankful that we get to be a part of it. See you again next year in Washington DC!
If you had a chance to attend the event, PLEASE feel free to share some of your favorite moments below.
