Staying in the loop is one of the most difficult things about digital marketing, but it is also one of the best for inquisitive marketers. Perhaps ironically, the best way to stay on top of all things digital is to step away from your computer and rub shoulders with fellow digital marketers in meatspace.
What better place to do exactly that than at one of Ireland’s many digital marketing events?
To that end, we have compiled a list of digital marketing events in Ireland, including the really big and smaller, more intimate ones.
1. Business, Marketing & Finance Open Event – January 8th
The year 2019 in digital marketing starts with the Business, Marketing and Finance Open Event which is taking place on January 8th, at IBAT College Dublin. It is an opportunity for everyone who is thinking about getting some formal business education to learn about the different specialist programmes at IBAT. The reason why we have included this open event on our list is that Digital Marketing is one of those programmes, accredited by the Digital Marketing Institute, so you know it is a good one.
2. Introductory Digital Marketing Lecture with DMI – January 9th
We are staying with IBIT for our next one, and its Introductory Digital Marketing Lecture. It is actually a free open lecture that will provide you with a taste of the special programme we’ve mentioned earlier. At the event, you will learn about the course, the people teaching it, the industry validation and much, much more. For digital marketers who are looking for formal education, it is definitely an event worth attending.
3. Facebook for Business – Practical Session – January 10th
The Ards and North Down Borough Council’s Economic Development Department is one of the more active government organisations out there, at least when we are talking digital marketing. Their first workshop of the year is called Facebook for Business and it is taking place on January 10th, at the Signal Centre in Bangor. It is a workshop geared towards more inexperienced business owners and digital marketers, which covers the nuts and bolts of Facebook marketing.
4. The Nutshell of Social Media Marketing – January 14th and 15th
On January 14th and 15th, there is another social media marketing workshop, organised by Plugmedia at the Tara Building in Dublin. The trainer is one of Ireland’s seasoned veterans of social media marketing, Samuel Lyons, who will go over the basics of Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube with the attendees. The workshop will focus on the business impact of social media and how to best integrate various social channels in an overall marketing strategy.
4.1 LinkedIn for Sales Workshop – Tue 15th January
Join Louise from SmartFox for LinkedIn for Sales (Beginners) workshop. Taking place on Tuesday 15th January, in the Rochestown Park Hotel, Cork. Booking and more information.
5. Advanced Digital Marketing & Social Media Workshops for the Construction Industry – January 16th
The next event on our list is quite specific when it comes to its target audience, but this does not mean only marketers and business owners in the construction industry will be able to benefit from it. Advanced Digital Marketing & Social Media Workshops for the Construction Industry is organised by the Construction Industry Training Board and it will be facilitated by Emma Gribben, a renowned digital marketing consultant. The workshop will cover SEO, Google Analytics and Ads, Social Media and more. It will be held at the Park Avenue Hotel in Belfast.
6. Boost Your Social Media for 2019! – January 16th
On January 16th, the Women’s Inspire Network and Samantha Kelly are hosting a Boost your social media for 2019! workshop that is all about, you guessed it, social media. As you would expect from the person behind the @TweetingGoddess handle, the focus will be on Twitter, but this does not mean other social channels will be ignored. It is an intimate workshop with only 15 seats available, so if you’re interested, you should probably act soon.
7. Marketing Breakfast in Partnership with MCCP – January 16th
On January 16th, the Marketing Institute of Ireland is hosting one of its Marketing Breakfasts, this time in association with the MCCP. The breakfast is hosted at the Fire Restaurant and the topic for the day will be the importance of human needs and emotions in the world that is all about technological disruption. Kay McCarthy, Jo Wood and Michael Brown will be representing MCCP, and Meabh Quoirin, CEO & Co-Founder at Foresight Factory will also be there.
8. SEO – Get Your Business Found Online – January 18th
On January 18th, the Belfast Academy of Marketing is hosting a masterclass called SEO – Get Your Business Found Online at the Ashton Centre, Mount Lennox Hub in Belfast. The workshop will cover the basics of SEO, but also dive into local SEO and the relationship between SEO and social media.
9. Master Media Content – January 19th
The We Can & We Will organization and Alan Hennessy from Kompass Media are holding a very interesting workshop called Master Media Content at the Plaza Hotel in Dublin on January 19th. The workshop is all about creating superb quality, eye-catching graphics for online content, which is something even the most seasoned digital marketers often don’t know how to do.
10. Advanced Facebook – January 22nd
On January 22nd, the Down Business Centre in Downpatrick will host the Advanced Facebook workshop facilitated by Emma Gribben, an international digital marketing trainer and consultant. The workshop will cover Facebook Live and Canvas, as well as advanced Facebook Ads. In addition, the attendees will also learn about doing competitions on Facebook for increased engagement.
11. Become a LinkedIn Power User – January 23rd
LinkedIn is going through something of a renaissance, especially in the B2B arena. Because of this, we had to include the Become a LinkedIn Power User session organised by RedStorm and facilitated by their CEO, Carol O’Kelly. The event will take place at the National Concert Hall in Dublin and it will provide the attendees with strategies and tactics to turn LinkedIn into a full-fledged marketing and sales channel.
12. Amplify Digital Conference Seminars – January – March
Amplify Digital is mostly famous for their annual digital marketing conference which attracts marketers from all over Ireland. However, they also hold regular seminars which will, for the first time ever this year, be held at different locations around Ireland. The next four seminars will be held at Dublin on January 30th, Cork on February 6th, Belfast on March 6th and Galway on March 27th. The seminars are intermediate to advanced and they cover Digital Strategy, Paid Advertising, SEO, Video, Social Media, and Website Conversion.
13. Social Media Dublin 2019 – February 1st
The first really big event in 2019 is the Social Media Dublin 2019 conference which will be taking place on February 1st, at the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel. The discussion topics will include everything from blogging for business to social media and virtual reality; from using data and analytics to inform strategy to using social media for crisis management. The following are just some of the companies whose people will be speaking at SMD 2019: Airbnb, YouTube, Twitter, Coca-Cola and many, many others.
14. Mastering Google AdWords – February 12th
We have already mentioned the Ards and North Down Borough Council as being very active in setting up digital marketing workshops. In February, they are doing one called Mastering Google AdWords. It is mostly an introductory course on Google AdWords – understanding different ad formats, setting up some basic campaigns and things like that. If you are in the area and looking to learn the ABCs of Google paid ads, this might just be the thing for you.
15. 3XE Conversion Marketing eCommerce & CRO – February 14th
3XE events are always some of the biggest ones of the year and 2019 will be no different. The first one, the 3XE Conversion Marketing eCommerce and CRO is scheduled for February 14th, at Croke Park. The speakers will include Paul Rouke from PRWD, Teresa Heath-Wareing from THW Marketing, Mogens Moller from Sleeknote, Guido Jansen from Magento, Chris Out from Rockboost and many others.
16. Digital Media Awards – February 15th
The annual Digital Media Awards are among the most eagerly awaited events in digital marketing and the 2019 Awards are being held on February 15th at the Clayton Hotel. It is the perfect opportunity to find out which agencies have done the most in the previous year and also network with the biggest names in Irish marketing.
17. Social Media 1-Day Workshop – February 19th
On February 19th, the Belfast Academy of Marketing is holding another one of their 1-day workshops, this time focusing on Social Media. It will be focusing on real, applicable Social Media strategies and tactics that you can put into practice that very day. The masterclass will take place at the Ashton Centre, Mount Lennox business hub.
18. Advertising on Social Media Workshop – February 20th
On February 20th, the Armagh Business Centre is organising the Advertising on Social Media workshop in association with Digital By Emma. Emma Gribben will be covering topics such as identifying the ideal audience and planning social media campaigns that will be supported with paid options for increased reach and engagement. It is a rare workshop focusing on paid socials and as such, quite interesting in our opinion.
19. DMX Dublin – March 7th
DMX Dublin has traditionally been considered Ireland’s largest marketing event and the 2019 conference is shaping up to be more of the same. It will take place on March 7th in the Aviva Stadium. The speakers include Iain Noakes from The Economist, Fiona Spooner from the Financial Times, Leonie Lynch, the founder of Juspy and many more. The conference agenda will become available in February.
20. Marketing Campaign Planning – March 12th
On March 12th, the Ards and North Down Borough Council will be hosting yet another workshop of interest for digital marketers. This time, it is the Marketing Campaign Planning workshop which will focus on something that often gets overlooked in digital marketing – coming up with a comprehensive, big-picture strategy for specific campaigns.
21. Content Marketing 1-Day Workshop – March 15th
The Belfast Academy of Marketing is organising a Content Marketing workshop on March 15th. As part of the workshop, the attendees will learn what content marketing is, why it is important to do it, how to create and promote top-notch content and how to track the effectiveness of one’s content marketing campaigns. It is safe to say it will be an introductory-type workshop.
22. eCommerce Expo Ireland – April 9th
While eCommerce Expo Ireland is not strictly speaking a digital marketing event, it would be very irresponsible not to include it on our list. After all, digital marketing is an inseparable part of any ecommerce experience. Also, past eCommerce Expos have included some of the best digital marketing speeches and discussions. While the schedule and the speakers are yet to be announced, we are positive they will include quite a bit for digital marketers too.
23. Dublin Tech Summit – April 10th and 11th
In only two years, the Dublin Tech Summit has become the most exciting tech event in Ireland and, as such, it was guaranteed a spot on our list. The 2019 summit will be taking place on April 10th and 11th. Some of the speakers at DTS19 include Douglas Terrier (Chief Technology Officer at NASA), Werner Vogels (CTO at Amazon), Cassie Kozyrkov (Chief Decision Scientist at Google), Jeff Burton (co-founder of EA Sports), as well as innumerable other people from companies such as IBM, Intuit, WP Engine, Cisco, Darktrace, Samsung, Deutsche Telekom and others.
24. Email Marketing for Business – April 16th
On April 16th, the Down Business Centre is hosting a workshop called Email Marketing for Business. The workshop will be covering the basics of email marketing, as well as providing practical training for setting up a working email marketing campaign. It is a basic-level workshop, so if you are an experienced email marketer, you might want to pass on this one.
25. Smart Social Media for Travel Professionals – May 7th
It is a well-known fact that travel-based companies are among the best suited for social media marketing and the next event on our list is all about that. Smart Social Media for Travel Professionals will be held at Hilton Belfast and facilitated by Bruce Martin who specializes in social media for the travel industry. The workshop will cover social media marketing and the sales funnel for the travel industry.
26. AIM Awards – May 16th
All Ireland Marketing Awards are a household name for anyone who knows the first thing about the Irish marketing industry. This year’s AIM Awards Gala Awards Ceremony is scheduled for Thursday, 16th May at the Clayton Hotel. The awards will be given out for a number of categories, including the Digital Marketing Campaign Award, Online Channel Marketing Award and Mobile and Apps Marketing Award.
27. How to use Instagram – May 21st
As a growing digital marketing channel, Instagram has become the social network of choice for a number of companies, especially in the fashion and beauty industries. On May 21st, the Down Business Centre is hosting a workshop called How to use Instagram which will explore this social channel and review some of the top performing case studies.
28. TechConnect Live – May 30th
TechConnect Live is taking place on May 30th in 2019 and, as always, one of the programmes will revolve around digital marketing. The agenda and the speakers for TechConnect Live 2019 are yet to be announced, but going by past years, you can rest assured there will be plenty to hear and see.
29. Digital DNA 2019 – June 18th and 19th
Digital DNA is a 2-day business and tech event which will be held on June 18th and 19th in the St George’s Market, Belfast. Like always, it will cover 8 key themes: Marketing, Fintech, Cyber Security, Data, DevOps, Innovation, and Start-Ups. Besides talks from key players in those fields, it is also one of the premier networking events for Irish digital marketers with delegates from more than 40 industries attending.
30. Learn Inbound – August 15th and 16th
When we are talking digital marketing events in Ireland in 2019, there are a few must-attend ones and Learn Inbound is definitely one of them. It is the best place to learn the cutting-edge strategies and tactics in SEO, Analytics, PPC, CRO, PR, Content Marketing and Growth Marketing. Lean Inbound will take place on August 15th and 16th at the Round Room at the Mansion House. The speakers for 2019 have not yet been announced, but you can be sure they will be people you can learn plenty from.
31. 3XE Search Marketing SEO & SEM – October 23th
3XE Search Marketing SEO & SEM is taking place on October 17th and besides the date, very little is known. However, we all know how good 3XE events are and how much you can learn from the speakers that traditionally come to the events. In other words, save the date and keep your eyes peeled for updates.
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