Small businesses often rely on their existing resources for marketing and communications because advertising and digital marketing agencies are probably too high a cost to invest in. In a sense, this is in fact a good thing, since you have more direct control over your marketing activities, giving you the added benefit of specialization in the field of marketing communications as well. Moreover, digital media is fast becoming the most cost effective way to reach specific and mass audiences at the same time while being easy to manage.

How do you keep track of the latest trends, however? How do you know what’s hot and what’s not so you can use the correct methods to better your brand’s standing in the marketplace? This is probably why most digital marketing conventions and workshops are so well attended. The problem is that there are so many of these events out there in this day and age, so deciding on which one works for you becomes yet another dilemma you have to deal with.

Here are 3 factors that will help you decide on which digital marketing event to attend the next time you want to give your marketing plans a 21^st century boost:

1. THE SPEAKERS

Look at the entire list of speakers and presenters from keynote addresses to panellist and more. Ideally these need to be individuals with profiles that are current and active to ensure that they are the movers and shakers whose ideas you could adapt to your own business. A bunch of old hands primarily dominating the conference won’t give you current ideas. You need to know that the speakers will discuss current topics and trends that will help you grow your business.

2. THE NETWORK

Who else is attending the conference? Are they people who are similar in terms of industry or business type as yours? Do they run similar sized businesses to yours? The point is that networking opportunities at conferences like this are as important as the speakers because it is an ideal platform to meet and share ideas amongst each other that could be of much value to you and your business. You could have similar problems and solutions to share with each other that would help you create long terms relationships, taking you collectively forward as small business owners.

3. THE RESOURCES

No one is going to be listening to every word every speaker says. This is why you need to ensure that your conference package includes additional resources such as copies to their presentations, speaker notes and other hand-outs that are offered physically or as online resources later on. Some conferences attempt to create on-going resources to ensure that you continue to engage with them year after year. In essence you need to attend a conference that goes beyond the conference itself in terms of expanding your knowledge