This year sees the evolution of online marketing conferences to include webinars, panel discussions and, of course, presentations!

While the landscape has changed, the importance of attending a live event where industry experts can speak and interact with you remains. Here’s a run down of the new features, speakers and topics you’ll want to watch out for at this year’s leading events.

Webinars

To ensure you stay ahead of the curve, conferences have evolved to include virtual presentations and interactive forums where you can ask questions and get some one-on-one time with speakers and other conference attendees. Webinars are the closest thing to a ‘traditional’ conference experience, but thanks to the expanding world of platforms like Googles Hangouts and Zoom, you can participate in an online marketing conference from the comfort of your home.

Webinars are popular choices for online marketing conferences because they allow presenters to interact with attendees while providing those attending with the information they need, without the need to travel. This is highly useful for those who can’t travel far or at all due to Covid restrictions or financials reasons.

Panel Discussions

Panels offer a great alternative to traditional presentations with Q&A sessions, where expert opinions are shared among a select group of people. While the format is similar to a panel discussion, you’re not necessarily restricted to just one speaker to get your message across.

The benefit of a panel is the variety of opinions offered by subject matter experts, which hopefully helps you make the right decision for your business. The downside is the lack of natural interaction between attendees, something that makes conferences so special. Despite this, online marketing conferences have moved towards panels as they allow more experts to participate and present, while lowering travel costs.

Presentations

Once you’ve been to a couple of conferences you’ll realize how much they prefer presentations as the main source of information. This year sees the rise of the virtual presentation, where participants can simultaneously view a PowerPoint or Prezi and engage with attendees via a video window.

Presentations can be a great way to keep your content fresh in the minds of your audience, while also ensuring you stay relevant to the ever changing world of digital marketing and online marketing.

Keynote Speakers And Headliners

Conferences like the BIG Marketing Summit attract top tier speakers who enjoy the opportunity to share their expertise with a large audience. As the name would suggest, keynote speakers get the honor of presenting a key note speech at the beginning of the conference. These are often times high profile figures in their field, whose content is often times very in-demand.

Similarly, headline speakers are usually big name marketers or business owners who’ve achieved extraordinary feats in their fields, and bring a certain level of credibility and brand appeal with them to the conference stage.

Emerging Tech And Marketing

With so many industries going digital, it’s inevitable that marketing and communications will evolve to reflect these changing times. The emergence of artificial intelligence, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality among others mean that marketing will become less focused on traditional advertising and more about engaging with customers through various platforms and devices.

This means marketing will evolve to reflect the growing importance of digital media, as well as emerging technologies like blockchain and IoT. So while we might not see a sudden shift in this year’s conference program, keep an eye out for futuristic themes and content that will make you think differently about marketing and communications.