If you’re a social media professional or aspiring to be one in any way, Social Media Marketing World is the event you need to be at.

What do you get when you cram 7,000 social media professionals into the San Diego Convention center for 3 days? Why, Social Media Marketing World of course!

Without a doubt this is the biggest live event in the social media world. With the biggest names in the business in attendance.

Important: Get your ticket now and save on your ticket price. Skip to the end to grab your ticket now, before it’s too late!

In the words of Guy Kawasaki,

If you’re in the social media business, you’d be an idiot not to come.

I couldn’t have said it better.

But if Guy’s commentary isn’t enough, I’m going to give you my inside scoop, having gone two years in a row, on why you need to be at this conference.

To date, SMMW has always been the most fun conference I go to every single year.

I want to give you my insider look at why I believe this is the must-attend social media marketing event of the year.

Thought Leadership

If you follow any great social media thought leaders, odds are you will find them at the conference. Some of the speakers include:

And that’s only a fraction of the amazing lineup of speakers.

It draws the greatest minds in the industry— between whom you’ll learn more than you’ll ever need to be successful online.

Oh, and did I mention… I’ll be there as a track leader!

That should be reason enough to go, right? Okay, maybe not– so keep reading.

Meet Your Social Media Marketing Heroes

Let me tell you the story of my first ever Social Media Marketing World. I went there with the sole purpose of seeing the people I look up to in the social media world, live, in person.

I didn’t expect to actually meet them, shake their hands and have actual conversations with them. But that’s exactly what happens.

Life-changing conversations.

You see, the folks at Social Media Examiner have been extremely intentional to encourage the speakers to be amongst the crowd, networking and having conversations. More on the networking in the next section.

Because of this, I’ve been able to get to know, on a personal level, some of the folks I have looked up to for years.

I got to spend time with Chris Brogan who has mentored me from afar (whether he knew it or not) through his blog posts and a handful of back-and-forth emails.

Thanks to the amazing Peg Fitzpatrick I was able to go to dinner with none other than Jay Baer, who gave me some of the best speaking advice I’d ever gotten.

Next time, I’ll make sure I tell Jay that I’m taking a photo.

But to make that dinner overwhelmingly special to me, joining us also was:

Yep, that’s right. Guy Kawa-freaking-saki.

Also there that night was Anne Handley (who also gave me great speaking advice), Michael Stelzner (founder of SMMW), Carlos Gill, Mari Smith and a boatload of other influencers.

All because of the connections I made and the relationships I built at this conference.

Pictured with me above is Rebekah Radice, Brian Fanzo, and (again) Peg Fitzpatrick. We still haven’t figured out who the photo-bomber throwing the peace sign was.

So, for me, the most compelling reason to go to Social Media Marketing World year after year has been to be amongst, and meet your heroes.

Put the Networking Back In Social Networking

Nobody does networking events as well as Social Media Examiner. At least, nobody that I’ve ever seen. And I’ve been to a lot of conferences.

The planning team has put an immense amount of thought and intentionality behind the networking side of the conference. If you walk away without making some valuable connections— you must have slept through it.

The relationships I have been able to cultivate through the power of this event have been second to none.

You have to be willing to network though. Understand that people come to this event to network with other business professionals. And you know the tickets aren’t cheap, so the people here are serious and don’t need to be convinced about the value of social media and digital marketing.

So. Much. Fun.

Take the business out of Social Media Marketing World and you have:

• A party on the U.S.S. Midway
• A themed party on the second night (details to come soon)
• Most likely a Karaoke jam at some point
• Did I mention it’s in San Diego?

If you like to work hard and play hard, you will have your fill of both— and then some!

All Access, All Recorded, All for You

You couldn’t possibly be at all 100+ sessions happening over the course of the 3-day conference. Luckily, you don’t need to be since they are all recorded.

As an attendee, you get full access to every single recording for up to a year after the event.

So Much Content for Your Audience

Take it from me— turning your experience at the conference into content for your audience can be pure gold.

Some of my SMMW notes, for two years, have been some of the most visited (and revisited) content on the site. Can you say evergreen?

Not to mention it’s also highly repurposable content as well. You can create quote graphics, recap videos, and continue to recycle that content in other posts as well.

Some people would gladly pay a much higher premium for this kind of content creation. And at Social Media Marketing World, you’ll have more than you could ever possibly create.

Go to Social Media Marketing World

This event is 3 days of intensive networking, education, creative stimulation, and fun. There’s no reason not to go— especially if social media is any part of your professional career or business.

So be there. And make sure you tell me in the comments that you will be there— I want to meet you! Reserve your ticket!

So, who’s headed to Social Media Marketing World 2020 with me? You can leave a comment by clicking here.