Conferences are a great excuse to meet other marketers, learn cutting-edge tactics, and just simply hang out and make friends!
Even better if it’s on your company’s dime.
I asked Daria Samokish, our Head of PR and Conference Partnerships, for the list of conferences we’ve shortlisted that are worth attending. Without further ado, here are the best marketing conferences happening throughout 2026.
| Conference | When | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Adobe Summit | April 19–22 | Las Vegas, USA |
| Social Media Marketing World | April 28–30 | Anaheim, USA |
| BrightonSEO Spring | April 30 – May 1 | Brighton, UK |
| OMR Festival | May 5–6 | Hamburg, Germany |
| SaaStr Annual | May 12–14 | San Mateo, USA |
| Ahrefs Evolve Singapore ⭐ | May 14 | Singapore |
| Cannes Lions | June 22–26 | Cannes, France |
| MAD//Fest London | July 7–9 | London, UK |
| The Business Show Asia | August 26–27 | Singapore |
| Dreamforce | September 15–17 | San Francisco, USA |
| INBOUND | September 16–18 | Boston, USA |
| DMEXCO | September 23–24 | Cologne, Germany |
| Ahrefs Evolve ⭐ | October 12–13 | San Diego, USA |
| Web Summit | November 9–12 | Lisbon, Portugal |
| Product Marketing Summit | Various dates | Multiple cities |
Date: April 19-22 (Preconference April 19; Online April 20-21)
Location: Las Vegas, USA (The Venetian) + free online
Ticket Prices: $2,195 (standard); free online
Website: https://summit.adobe.com/na/
Notable Speakers: Shantanu Narayen (CEO, Adobe), Jensen Huang (CEO, NVIDIA), Shailesh Jejurikar (President & CEO, Proctor & Gamble), Iliza Shlesinger
Adobe’s flagship Digital Experience Conference draws ~12,000 in-person attendees plus unlimited free online viewers. It features 200+ sessions across 13 tracks covering Analytics, B2B Marketing, Commerce, Generative AI, and Content Supply Chain.
Highlights include Sneaks (innovation previews), free Adobe certification exams for in-person attendees, and evening networking events. If you can’t make it to Vegas, the online attendance is completely free.
Date: April 28-30
Location: Anaheim, USA
Ticket Prices: From $697 (virtual) to $1,997 (All-Access)
Website: https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/smmworld/
Notable Speakers: Michael Stelzner, Mari Smith, Sean Cannell, Pat Flynn
Social Media Examiner has spent 13 years perfecting this conference, and it shows. They take their “100% pitch-free guarantee” seriously and enforce it ruthlessly. Every speaker is there to teach, not to sell.
New for 2026: AI Business World runs concurrently, essentially a second conference included in your ticket. With ~3,000 attendees from 50+ countries, it’s big enough for diverse perspectives but small enough that you’ll keep running into the same people and building real relationships.
The virtual pass gives you 18 months of recording access, so if you can’t make it in person, you’re still getting massive value.
Date: April 30 – May 1
Location: Brighton, UK
Ticket Prices: Free (ballot, waitlist) to £1,150 (workshop + conference)
Website: https://brightonseo.com/
Notable Speakers: Dr. Pete Meyers, Aleyda Solis, Erin Simmons, James Brockbank
The world’s largest search marketing conference started above a pub in 2009 and now draws 5,000+ attendees. Known for practical, focused 20-minute talks and an exceptionally welcoming community.
For 2026, it co-locates with Hero Conf (the world’s largest PPC & paid social conference), included with your ticket. The pricing structure is notably accessible: free single-day tickets are available by ballot, though you’ll likely hit the waitlist at this point.
Date: May 5-6
Location: Hamburg, Germany
Ticket Prices: From €529 to €1,699
Website: https://omr.com/en/events/festival/
Notable Speakers: Tom Brady, Scott Galloway (NYU), Heidi Klum, Roland Emmerich, Christian Sewing (CEO, Deutsche Bank), Brendon Kraham (VP, Google Search Ads), Laura Nestler (VP Community, Reddit), Leonardo Aizpuru (Global CMO, Nespresso)
Europe’s largest digital marketing and tech festival, OMR draws 67,000+ visitors, 1,000+ exhibitors, and 800+ speakers across five stages. The vibe is part conference, part trade show, part music festival.
The speaker lineup is absurd: Tom Brady talking brand building, Scott Galloway doing his thing, Heidi Klum on personal branding, plus heavy hitters from Google, Reddit, Deutsche Bank, and Nespresso. Topics span AI, social media, e-commerce, creator economy, and performance marketing.
If you’re in digital marketing in the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), this is basically mandatory. For everyone else, it’s worth the trip to Hamburg; the masterclasses and side events alone are worth the ticket price.
Date: May 12–14
Location: San Mateo, USA
Ticket Prices: From $749 (team packs) to $1,199 (early bird)
Website: https://www.saastrannual.com/
Notable Speakers: Jason Lemkin (Founder, SaaStr), Anton Osika (CEO, Lovable), Jeanne Grosser (COO, Vercel), Eleanor Dorfman (Head of Industries, Anthropic), Amjad Masad (CEO, Replit)
SaaStr dropped any pretense of subtlety and rebranded the whole thing to “SaaStr AI Annual.” They’ve embedded 200+ AI demos and workshops into what used to be a pure SaaS event.
The outdoor festival-style campus in the Bay Area fits 12,500–15,000 people. There are exclusive CXO Summits for CROs, CCOs, CMOs, and CFOs, plus a new Meet-a-VC matchmaking program with 100+ investors.
If you’re building or marketing SaaS products, this is where your people are. And if you’re in Europe, they’ve announced SaaStr.AI London for December 2026.
Date: May 14
Location: Singapore
Ticket Prices: From $339 (Standard early bird) to $1,139 (All-Access)
Website: https://ahrefsevolve.com/singapore/
Notable Speakers: Tim Soulo (Ahrefs), Sasha Gusain (Canva), Dan Petrovic (DEJAN), James Norquay (Prosperity Media), Charlotte Ang (TrafficBees), Viola Eva (Flow Agency)
Our third Evolve in Singapore, and the lineup keeps getting stronger. One day, 200 marketers, 11 keynotes, zero fluff. The speakers are practitioners who’ve actually built traffic in APAC markets, not just people who’ve read about it.
Sasha Gusain will break down how Canva scaled through product-led SEO. Dan Petrovic is sharing what he learned from probing Gemini and GPT a million times. And our CMO Tim Soulo will be there to talk strategy with the region’s sharpest SEOs.
Here’s the thing about smaller conferences: you actually meet people. Not “exchange LinkedIn requests and forget” meet but real conversations over lunch, during breaks, at the networking reception. We capped attendance specifically so that happens. Pre-sale sold out in a week, so if you’re in APAC and want in, don’t wait.
Date: June 22–26
Location: Cannes, France
Ticket Prices: From €625 (Connector/digital only) to €11,595 (Platinum)
Website: https://www.canneslions.com/
Notable Speakers: TBA
The 73rd edition of the world’s most prestigious advertising and creative communications festival. Running since 1954, Cannes Lions remains the global benchmark for creative excellence, attracting 13,000–15,000+ delegates from 90+ countries.
New for 2026: the Creative Brand Lion (a new award category) and LIONS Sport (a two-day programme dedicated to sport marketing). France has been named 2026 Creative Country of the Year.
Yes, the Platinum Pass costs more than some people’s monthly rent. But if you’re serious about creative advertising, this is the one event where the industry’s best work gets celebrated—and where deals actually happen on the Croisette.
Date: July 7–9
Location: London, UK
Ticket Prices: From £495
Website: https://www.madfestlondon.com/
Notable Speakers: Richard Ayode, Angela Affinita (Disney), Les Binet, Tugce Aksoy (Unilever), Charl Bassil (BBC)
Described as “Disneyland for brands,” MAD//Fest has rapidly become the UK’s biggest marketing festival, expecting 15,000+ brand and agency guests in 2026. The theme is “The Human Touch”, focusing on what sets humans apart amid AI’s rise.
It features 10+ stages with superstar speakers, brand innovation pitches, masterclasses, experiential activations, plus food, parties, and DJs across the Truman Brewery campus. The event operates on an invite-only guestlist model, primarily free for qualifying brand marketers and agency guests who apply.
Date: August 26–27
Location: Singapore
Ticket Prices: Free
Website: https://www.asiabusinessshow.com/
Notable Speakers: Melanie Sharpe Nseir (Microsoft), Hanny Gan (HP), Eugene Lam (ST Engineering), Matt Kurianzik (PayPal)
Free is a pretty compelling price point. The Business Show Asia is celebrating its 25th edition and billing itself as “Asia’s Largest Ever Business Event.”
250+ exhibitors expected, up from ~150 in prior years. They’ve added Masterclasses for hands-on mentoring and Speed Networking (rapid one-minute meetings) if you’re efficient about relationship-building.
If you’re looking to break into the Asian market or you’re based in APAC and want to see what’s happening across business, marketing, and tech, you just can’t argue with free admission.
Date: September 15–17
Location: San Francisco, USA
Ticket Prices: $999 (Launch special)
Website: https://www.salesforce.com/dreamforce/
Notable Speakers: TBA
Dreamforce takes over downtown San Francisco in a way that’s equal parts impressive and slightly insane. If you’ve never been, it’s hard to describe the scale.
The 2026 theme is the “Agentic Enterprise”: basically, autonomous AI agents running parts of your CRM. If you’ve been hearing about AI agents in enterprise software, this is where that future gets showcased.
Registration opens in April, and they’re running a sweepstakes through April 10 for free passes and travel. If you’re in the Salesforce ecosystem, or considering it, this is still the annual pilgrimage.
Date: September 16–18
Location: Boston, USA
Ticket Prices: From $1,199 (General Admission Tier 1) to $1,999 (VIP)
Website: https://www.inbound.com/
Notable Speakers: TBA
INBOUND is coming home to Boston where it all started in 2011, and you can feel the energy in how they’re planning 2026.
Eleven stages, 200+ speakers, people from 150+ countries, and that unmistakable HubSpot energy that makes you actually excited about Monday morning. The size could be overwhelming, but they’ve perfected the logistics over 15 years.
You’ll ping-pong between tactical sessions on AI agents and marketing automation, inspirational keynotes that remind you why you got into this industry, and hallway conversations that turn into real partnerships.
Date: September 23–24
Location: Cologne, Germany
Ticket Prices: TBA
Website: https://dmexco.com/
Notable Speakers: TBA
Europe’s leading digital marketing and tech expo draws approximately 40,000 visitors from ~90 nations, making it one of the largest marketing events globally by attendance. Features 17 themed conference stages, 1,000+ speakers, and 700+ exhibiting companies across 5 “DMEXCO Worlds.”
The 2026 theme is “Prompting the Future” with emphasis on AI, sustainability, ethics, and cross-sector collaboration.
Date: October 12–13
Location: San Diego, USA
Ticket Prices: From $899 (First Release, limited) to $2,099 (All-Access)
Website: https://ahrefsevolve.com/
Notable Speakers: TBA
This is our flagship event, and we’re a little obsessive about it. Two days, 600 attendees, 25+ speakers all focused on one thing: how to stay visible when search is fragmenting across Google, AI, social, and whatever comes next.
We don’t do panels where people talk in circles. Every session is a practitioner sharing real data, real workflows, real results. The kind of stuff that usually stays internal. And because we keep it small, you’ll actually talk to these people: at lunch, at the yacht mixer, in the hallways between sessions.
The All-Access pass gets you the yacht networking event with speakers and Ahrefs team, front-row reserved seating, 90-day session recordings, and access to the speaker lounge. First Release Standard tickets ($899) are nearly gone (only 9 left as of writing.) If you’ve been on the fence, this is the nudge.
Date: November 9–12
Location: Lisbon, Portugal
Ticket Prices: From ~€100 (student/early bird) to €4,000+ (Executive); currently 50% off (2-for-1 sale)
Website: https://websummit.com/
Notable Speakers: TBA
The largest tech conference in the world, Web Summit draws 70,000+ attendees from 157 nations, 900+ speakers, 2,700+ startups, and 1,800+ investors. While primarily a tech conference, it includes substantial marketing, media, and advertising tracks across its 20+ content streams.
Partners include Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Meta, Samsung, Adobe, and Visa. If you want sheer scale and the chance to bump into founders, investors, and executives from every corner of tech, this is it. VIP passes include private evening receptions and curated networking.
Date: Various (San Francisco Sep 9–10, London Dec 2–3)
Location: Multiple cities (US, Europe, São Paulo)
Ticket Prices: From $750 (PMA Members) to $1,999 (Pro+ Membership)
Website: https://world.productmarketingalliance.com/
Notable Speakers: April Dunford, Scott Baker (IBM), Tim Carr (Oracle), Allyse Slocum (Trustpilot), Chris Apaliski (J.P. Morgan)
Product Marketing Summit runs as a global series (16 cities across 2026) rather than one big event. Each summit now features five tracks: Product Marketing, Developer Marketing, Customer Marketing, AI for Marketers, and an exclusive CMO track.
They’ve expanded to São Paulo this year, which means Latin America finally gets a seat at the table.
If product marketing is your discipline, this is the dedicated community that speaks your language.
Final thoughts
I’ve focused this list on the biggest, most established marketing conferences with strong reputations, the ones where you’re most likely to walk away with genuine value (and maybe a few new LinkedIn connections who actually respond to messages).
Heading to a marketing conference that I haven’t covered? Share your recommendation with me on LinkedIn.
