Every year, close to 4,000 marketers from across the globe make a pilgrimage to Cleveland, OH for the annual Content Marketing World extravaganza — the largest content marketing conference in the world. And this year will be no different.
We’ve been attending CMWorld since the inaugural event back in 2011 — and we still get butterflies each and every year. The week’s schedule is filled to the brim with sessions and workshops from the industry’s leading marketers and experts, making it impossible not to look forward to what the conference has in store.
But with so many great speakers and a packed schedule, which sessions are a must-see? As CMWorld veterans, we want to help you plan ahead and get a front-row seat to the sessions that help you reach your marketing goals. Check out our list of can’t-miss sessions and things we’re excited for down below.
Helping You Win the Content Marketing Game
Since the original CMWorld, TopRank Marketing and its team members have been presenting at the conference to provide our expertise and help you drive better results for your business. And this year, we have not one, not two, but three crucial sessions and workshops for you to attend.
Lee Odden
CEO, TopRank Marketing
Rocket Science Simplified: How to Optimize, Socialize and Publicize B2B Content
Ninety-one percent of B2B companies use content marketing, but 50% of content gets 8 shares or less. What good is your out-of-this-world content if no one experiences it? In this space-themed workshop, you’ll join our fearless leader and Content Marketing Commander Lee Odden for an interstellar experience on how to effectively build content amplification into the before, during and after of the content creation process (rocket fuel not included). He’ll share the tips, tricks and tactics he’s learned over 17 years of working with content payloads of all shapes and sizes that have rocketed B2B brands to success.
Location: Room 3
Date: Tuesday, Sept. 4
Time: 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
The Confluence Equation: How Content and Influencers Drive B2B Marketing Success
What’s the secret formula to scalable, quality content? In this session from Lee, learn about how B2B brands, both big and small like SAP, Dell, Cherwell and DivvyHQ, are able to create more awareness, engagement, and pipeline with the confluence equation. As an influencer marketing pro, Lee offers a framework, formula, and plenty of tools for content and influencer marketing success.
Location: Room 3
Date: Wednesday, Sept. 5
Time: 1:45 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Ashley Zeckman
Digital Strategy Director, TopRank Marketing
Influencer Marketing Is Only for B2C Brands (& Other Lies Your Parents Told You)
When we think of influencer marketing, it’s hard not to think of popular influencers like Selena Gomez, Jake Paul, the Kardashian clan, and others. However, the problem is that those influencers primarily work with B2C brands. But, as Ashley Zeckman will tell you, influencers marketing isn’t only for the B2C marketplace — it also holds enormous opportunity for B2B brands. During Ashley’s session, you can expect real-life B2B influencer marketing case studies, influencer collaboration ideas, formulas for creating influencer content, and more.
Location: Room 3
Date: Wednesday, Sept. 5
Time: 1:45 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
7 More Can’t-Miss #CMWorld Sessions
1. Andrew Davis
Keynote Speaker & Best-Selling Author, Monumental Shift
Curiosity Factor: The Psychological Phenomenon Creative Content Marketers Employ to Earn and Own Attention in a Noisy World
With the rise of adblocker and dwindling attention spans, it’s harder than ever to capture and hold on to your audience’s attention. But, then again, people also spend hours upon hours binge-watching their favorite TV shows. So, why is our attention captured in one place, but not the other? Andrew Davis is coming to CMWorld with the answer.
Location: Exhibit Hall B
Date: Wednesday, Sept. 5
Time: 8:45 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
2. Dave Charest
Director of Content Marketing, Constant Contact
Breaking Down Content Silos: How to Create a Unified Customer Experience and Efficiencies in Content Creation
One of the top challenges content marketers face is producing content consistently and efficiently. Luckily, Dave Charest’s session promises to offer a new content framework that gets buy-in and alignment from the entire organization. As a result, content marketers can expect to create a more unified content experience for their audience and reduce content creation inefficiencies.
Location: Room 1
Date: Wednesday, Sept. 5
Time: 11:20 a.m. – 12:05 p.m.
3. Allen Gannett
CEO, TrackMaven
How to: 0 to 1 Million LinkedIn Video Views in 6 months
Video marketing represents massive opportunity for content marketers with over one-third of online activity being spent watching video. To help marketers take advantage of this opportunity, LinkedIn launched native video back in 2017 and Allen Gannett was one of its early adopters to much success. Now, Allen is sharing how he reached one million views in just under six months and how you can do it as well.
Location: Room 3
Date: Wednesday, Sept. 5
Time: 11:20 a.m. – 12:05 p.m.
4. Ashley Ward
Digital Marketing Strategist, SEMrush
Does Your Content Work: The Art of Measuring Content Marketing Succes
As the Digital Marketing Strategist for one of our favorite tools SEMrush, Ashley Ward’s session already got our attention. But the fact that she’s addressing content marketing success and how to measure content ROI, has us hooked. So, if you’re one of the 45% of marketers that are unsuccessful in tracking content marketing ROI, this session is a must-attend.
Location: Room 20
Date: Wednesday, Sept. 5
Time: 12:20 p.m. – 1:05 p.m.
5. Ann Handley
Chief Content Officer, MarketingProfs
What Gives? How a Reader Challenge Kicked Me in the Patootie (and What We Can Learn From It)!
As content marketers, it can be easy to just crank out content and become writing machines. But in focusing on the mechanical production of content, we often forget why we’re creating it in the first place. Ann Handley’s keynote promises to remind us of that purpose and show us how asking critical questions can lead us in the right direction.
Location: Exhibit Hall B
Date: Wednesday, Sept. 5
Time: 4:35 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
6. Megan Golden
Head of Global Content Marketing, LinkedIn
The Secret Sauce: How LinkedIn Uses LinkedIn for Content Marketing
Research has found that over 80% of B2B leads come from LinkedIn. Talk about impressive. If you haven’t mastered the lead generating power that LinkedIn can offer, there is no one better to learn from than the platform itself. In this session, Megan Golden shares how LinkedIn uses their own platform for marketing, giving you a behind-the-scenes look at their secrets to success.
Location: Room 26ABC
Date: Thursday, Sept. 6
Time: 11:05 a.m. – 11:50 a.m.
*LinkedIn is a client of TopRank Marketing
7. G David Cunningham
Director of Demand Generation, SnapApp
Quality, Not Quantity: Spark a Real-Life Content & Demand Gen Love Story With Content That Converts
Content plays a key role in nurturing leads and turning them into quality prospects or converting them into won opportunities. In order to do that, however, G David Cunningham suggests focusing on quality, not quantity content. If lead generation is your top content marketing goal, he’ll offer solutions to your conversion problems, including a proven approach to creating quality content, examples of high-quality content, and more.
Location: Room 25ABC
Date: Thursday, Sept. 6
Time: 2:35 p.m. – 3:20 p.m.
What We’re Looking Forward to the Most
Lee
This will be my eighth consecutive year speaking at CMWorld and I’m looking forward to everything, from meeting with other marketing professionals to catching up with friends and influencers that are too numerous to list to connecting with many of our clients, including teams from LinkedIn and DivvyHQ.
I’m also looking forward to seeing Ashley Zeckman give her first solo presentation at the conference and my team from TopRank Marketing having an incredible learning and networking experience.
Last of all, I’m looking forward to connecting with the 50-plus people registered for my B2B Content Promotion workshop and those who will be attending my B2B influencer marketing presentation.
Ashley
This is my fourth Content Marketing World and I swear it just keeps getting better! I’m really looking forward to connecting with old friends and making new connections with talented marketers from around the globe. And I’m sure it goes without saying, but the opportunity to see Ann Handley and Tina Fey at the same conference is a dream come true.
Jane
Since TopRank Marketing clients hail from all over the globe, I’m especially excited for some in-person quality time with our friends at DivvyHQ and LinkedIn.
The Content Marketing World schedule is packed with opportunities to learn from content marketers with fresh perspectives and insights, and I’ll be vying for a front-row seat to as many sessions as I can.
Nick
I’ve never been to Content Marketing World, or Cleveland, so I’m just generally looking forward to the experience as a whole. I love video games, so the theme of this year’s conference is particularly appealing to my inner geek.
Tons of sessions on the agenda have caught my eye, and I can’t wait to hear some of the top pros in the industry share their insights. I’m also excited to finally meet a number of our agency’s clients face-to-face after many email exchanges and video conferences. And last but not least: Tina freakin’ Fey. #LizLemon4Life
Anne
Personally, I’m most looking forward to Ann Handley’s keynote. I had the chance to see her keynote last year’s Digital Marketing Summit in Minneapolis and was blown away. She made me laugh. She made me cry. She made me feel empowered. Her speech was a great reminder that our marketing needs to tell a story and evoke emotion from our audience. I can’t wait to see what she has in store for CMWorld.
The Countdown Is On
Content Marketing World 2018 is less than two weeks away. And that means it’s crunch time. Make sure you have your schedule all mapped out so you don’t miss out on the speakers you want to see the most. In fact, you might want to download the CMWorld mobile app to start organizing your schedule and save the sessions listed above.
Stay tuned to TopRank blog and follow @TopRank on Twitter for daily updates from the event.
