As content marketers, we spend most of our time sitting in front of a screen, buried in a Google Doc.
But sometimes, it’s a good idea to leave the desk and interact with other people—preferably at your employer’s expense 😉
Conferences are a great excuse to hang out with other content marketers, chat shop, learn new tricks, and learn how to do a little work today with productive AI.
Without further ado, here are the biggest and best content marketing conferences happening in 2026.
| The conference | When | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Content Jam | April 22-23 | Chicago, USA |
| CopyCon | April 24 | On the Internet |
| Social Media Marketing World | April 28-30 | Anaheim, USA |
| Ahrefs Evolve Singapore ⭐ | May 14 | Singapore |
| VidCon | June 25-27 | Anaheim, USA |
| Creator Economy Live East | July 28-29 | New York City, USA |
| The Podcast Movement | September (dates TBA) | New York City, USA |
| INBOUND | September 16-18 | Boston, USA |
| THE STORY | October 1-2 | Nashville, USA |
| The World of Content Marketing | October 5-7 | Denver, USA |
| Ahrefs Evolve San Diego ⭐ | October 12-13 | San Diego, USA |
| LavaCon | October 25-28 | Charlotte, USA |
Date: April 22-23
Location: Chicago, USA
Ticket prices: Starting at $395
Website: https://www.contentjam.com/
Notable speakers: Andy Crestodina (Orbit Media), Talia Wolf (Getuplift), Liza Adams (GrowthPath Partners), Pam Didner (B2B Marketing), Karine Abbou (GEO Architect)
Andy Crestodina created Content Jam because he was tired of conferences where you don’t approach the speakers. Here, the speaker-to-attendee ratio is intentionally small—you’re having dinner conversations with people whose blogs you’ve been reading for years.
Day 1 is an AI Search Masterclass, where you’ll learn how to optimize the way people search now (not three years ago). Day 2 is the main conference, full of tactical sessions that assume you are not starting.
And the party? People fly in from other continents for this two-day event. That should tell you something.
Date: April 24
Location: On the Internet
Ticket prices: From £149
Website: https://www.copywritingconference.com/
Notable speakers: Kristy Martino, Harriet Meyer, Lauren Pope, David McGuire
The literary conference will become a reality in 2026 with a provocative theme: “AI vs Humanity.” ProCopywriters brings together commercial copywriters to tackle the big questions: how do we stay relevant? How do we use AI without losing our souls?
CPD certified sessions mean they count towards professional development. Early bird ends February 28, and Pro members save even more.
Date: April 28-30
Location: Anaheim, USA
Ticket prices: From $1,447
Website: https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/smmworld/
Notable speakers: Michael Stelzner, Shannon McKinstry, Dr. Nici Sweaney, Pat Flynn
Social Media Examiner has spent 13 years perfecting this conference, and it shows. They take their “100% free guarantee” seriously and enforce it ruthlessly. Every speaker is there to teach, not to sell.
The new Anaheim location gives them more space for AI Business World, which is the second conference included in your ticket. With 1,900+ attendees, it’s big enough to have amazing speakers and diverse perspectives, but small enough that you’ll keep meeting the same people and build 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 great value.
Date: May 14
Location: Singapore
Ticket prices: Starting at $339
Website: https://ahrefsevolve.com/singapore/
Notable speakers: Tim Soulo (Ahrefs), Sasha Gusain (Canva), Dan Petrovic (DEJAN), James Norquay (Prosperity Media), Charlotte Ang (TrafficBees)
We’re bringing Evolve to Singapore for one day of amazing SEO deep-dives. If you are in the APAC region and want to connect with the Ahrefs team in person, this is your chance. Our CMO Tim Soulo will be there, along with some of the brightest minds in regional SEO.
What makes Evolve different? We focus on the details: the speaker system, the location, the day’s travel, even the coffee. It’s intimate by design (we want real conversations, not just passing word tags), and each session is built around one question: what will help you plan better tomorrow?
Whether you’re running an agency, building a startup, or leading an in-house content strategy, you’ll walk away with strategies you can use immediately, and maybe a few new friends who speak your language.
Date: June 25-27
Location: Anaheim, USA
Ticket prices: Starting at $159
Website: https://www.vidcon.com/anaheim/
Notable speakers: Jasmin & James, Anthpo, Emmy Combs, MeganPlays, DangMattSmith, Brave Wilderness, Law By Mike
Fifteen years on, VidCon is still a place where the creator economy makes sense. Three different experiences are happening at once: Community (for fans who want to meet their favorite creators), Creator (for people creating channels and learning art), and Pro/Industry (for brands, agencies, and platforms that find creative relationships).
If you’re on the business side, the Pro Pass is where the deals really happen: tailored 1:1 meetings, brainstorming sessions with platform reps, and case studies from companies that have cracked the creator code. New for 2026: Expanded Gaming Zone, Sports Court, and Live Podcast Studio, because the lines between content types keep blurring.
The list of featured creators keeps growing (Jasmin & James, Anthpo, MeganPlays, Brave Wilderness), but this isn’t just about autographs; it’s about understanding where digital content is headed.
Date: July 28-29
Location: New York City, USA
Ticket prices: TBA
Website: https://creatoreconomylive.com/
Notable speakers: TBA
Filling the void left by the Creator Economy Expo, this event brings 50+ speakers from Disney, SHEIN, OLAPLEX, and FOX Entertainment to talk about the business of real creators. NYC’s program follows the same model as Vegas and Manchester: free passes for the first 500 arrivals of the product. If you’re a brand trying to crack the code of the creative economy, this is where you start.
Date: September (exact dates TBA)
Location: New York City, USA
Ticket prices: TBA
Website: https://podcastmovement.com/
Notable speakers: TBA
Tbuild an annual MEETING where the podcast industry comes together. This is not a novice’s hour; learn from people who run shows with millions of downloads, networks with multiple shows, and money making strategies that really work.
Whether you’re trying to get repeat ad placements, build a Patreon strategy, or just get your first 100 subscribers, there’s a track for you.
The four days allow you to dive in, make real connections, and apply what you learn between sessions. The hallway conversations alone are worth the trip.
Date: September 16-18
Location: Boston, USA
Ticket prices: From $1,199
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 of how they plan for 2026.
Eleven stages, 200+ speakers, people from 150+ countries, and the sheer power of HubSpot make you really happy on a Monday morning. The size may be a bit large, but they’ve been making things great for over 15 years.
You’ll ping-pong between tactical sessions on AI agents and marketing automation, keynotes that remind you why you got into this industry, and hallway conversations that turn into real relationships.
Date: October 1-2
Location: Nashville, USA
Ticket prices: From $797
Website: https://istoria.com/story/
Notable speakers: TBA
If you are tired of marketing tactics conferences and want to connect with your own whySTORY is calling your name. This Nashville gathering brings together purpose-driven creators and leaders who believe stories shape culture. It’s part conference, part revival meeting, part creative retreat.
Remember why you got into this game in the first place.
Date: October 5-7
Location: Denver, USA
Ticket prices: From $1,349
Website: https://www.contentmarketingworld.com/
Notable speakers: TBA
The Content Marketing Institute’s flagship event is heading to Denver, and this marks a new chapter for the industry’s defining conference. 3,400+ content marketers from 50+ countries, 100+ speakers, 120+ sessions.
Yes, the scale is huge, but somehow CMI makes it sound accessible. You’ll see old friends, make new ones, and leave with a notebook full of ideas that will shape your strategy for next year.
Date: October 12-13
Location: San Diego, USA
Ticket prices: From $899
Website: https://ahrefsevolve.com/
Notable speakers: TBA
Look, we can fill a conference center with 5,000 people. We don’t know. Evolve is intentionally kept to 500 attendees because we believe magic happens in small rooms where you can hear the speaker breathe, where you ask a question and get a real answer, where you grab coffee with Lily Ray or Cyrus Shepard and talk shop for 20 minutes.
We spend months devising a speaker program—real workers sharing what’s currently working in the trenches. Production quality? Yes, we are more about that. We care about these things because we want you to leave motivated, not tired.
Date: October 25-28
Location: Charlotte, USA
Ticket prices: From $2,450
Website: https://www.lavacon.org/
Notable speakers: Keith Boyd (Microsoft), Maria Romanovsky (TikTok), Jessica Reed (Adobe), Erik Bremer (Dell), Karen Brothers (3M), Amber Craig (Salesforce)
LavaCon is 24 years old and still a content strategy conference for the business. Yes, there are comfort llamas. Yes, it’s fun. But don’t mistake fun for fun; this is great content from Microsoft, Adobe, LinkedIn, and AWS that talks about how to really implement AI without destroying your content team.
The theme for 2026 says it all: “Beyond Proof of Concepts.” BOGO registration ends March 1st, so grab your buddies!
Final thoughts
I’ve focused this list only on in-person, content-specific conferences, but there’s a ton of content (even online events) happening throughout the year. For example, MarketingProfs’ B2B Forum will be held in Boston, USA from November 2-4.
Going to a content conference I haven’t attended yet? Share your recommendation with me on LinkedIn.
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