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The higher education digital marketing landscape never stays stable for long. So what’s in store for university and college digital marketers in 2024?
Some of the best higher education digital marketing conferences this year will share and discuss the latest ideas and innovations in the sector and offer valuable insight into trends to watch for and how to adapt to them.
We predict the trends and topics for 2024 higher education digital marketing will be centered around new student recruitment innovation and ideas, authentic storytelling, and optimizing the funnel to drive interaction at every touchpoint.
As we jump into 2024, here’s our take on the higher education digital conferences you don't want to miss this year.
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- UCISA24 Leadership
- Utterly Content
- 2024 UPCEA Annual Conference
- Ellucian Elive 2024
- THE Digital Universities UK
- CASE Annual Conference on Marketing and Branding
- Higher Education Marketing Conferencep
- EduWeb Summit
- #PSEWeb
- HighEdWeb Annual Conference
- HE Connect 2024
- ContentEd Live
- EDUCAUSE 2024
- AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education
When: March 13-15, 2024
Where: Edinburgh, UK
What it’s about:
The UCISA Leadership Conference is an annual event that focuses on inspiring and enabling leadership in the field of IT within the higher education sector and includes conference sessions, an exhibition area, and networking opportunities.
It's aimed at senior IT professionals in the higher education sector and covers a wide range of topics related to leadership, technology, and innovation in higher education.
UCISA24 will feature discussions on a variety of topics, such as digital transformation institutional showcases, stories, and experiences from various organizations, as well as subjects like sales, marketing, business administration, HR management, content management, engineering, and soft skills.
UCISA 2024 attendees can enjoy a bit of Beatles history in Liverpool this year
When: March 21-24, 2024
Where: Online and globally
What it's about:
Utterly Content brings together a collaborative higher education community and is designed mostly for higher ed professionals in content strategy, content design, and content marketing. It usually offers a balanced program of case studies, applications, and peer learning.
The event features 90-minute intensive learning blocks, each focusing on a specific theme related to content strategy, design, or marketing, with practicable tools and advice and a discussion on the topic of shared experiences between attendees. It’s a flexible format, with recorded sessions available for up to 3 months after the event.
Keep up to date with Utterly Content on X (formerly Twitter)
When: March 26-28, 2024
Where: Boston, Massachusetts, US
What it’s about:
UPCEA’s (University Professional and Continuing Education Association) Annual Conference is a platform for knowledge exchange and networking for deans and other senior university leaders, key staff, and teams working on professional, continuing, and online education programs.
This year, the conference will include key themes like AI, inclusivity and diversity, organizational transformation, engaging faculty, and more. There are interactive and concurrent sessions, which reflect the varied topics and areas of practice of the UPCEA community, as well as networking opportunities.
UPCEA 2024 will be held in historic Boston
When: April 7-10, 2024
Where: San Antonio, Texas, US
What it’s about:
ELive 2024 is organized by Ellucian, a leading provider of software and services built for higher education, and attracts thousands of people. Also known as "eLive24,” the conference focuses on themes of innovation, partnerships, resilience, access, and inclusion in addressing the challenges facing universities and colleges.
It's ideal for higher education professionals who work in administration, IT, academics, and any staff using technology to support teaching, learning, and student success. The conference features keynote presentations, educational sessions, networking opportunities, and access to the latest solutions and services offered by Ellucian and its partners. Themes this year will include the latest trends in educational technology, best practices for leveraging IT to support teaching and learning, student success, and administrative efficiency, as well as insights into the future of higher education and the role of technology.
Elive 2024 attendees can visit the Alamo, not far from the San Antonio River Walk
When: April 16–18, 2024
Where: Exeter, UK
What it’s about:
Times Higher Education’s Digital Universities UK 2024 event gathers higher education, industry, and policy leaders to highlight topics related to digital capabilities, technology, and innovation in higher education, as well as the need for resilience, access, and inclusion. More than 500 attendees are expected.
This year’s conference will feature interactive panels, case studies, live demos, workshops, and discussions on recent higher ed challenges and opportunities associated with digital transformation, including how knowledge and learning can be exchanged globally. This year, the event is hosted in partnership with the University of Exeter.
Watch highlights from THE Digital Universities UK 2023
Note: Digital Universities US 2024 edition is scheduled May 6–8, 2024 in St. Louis, Missouri, US, and is hosted in partnership with Washington University.
When: June 24-26, 2024
Where: Chicago, Illinois, US
What it’s about:
The Annual Conference on Marketing and Branding is organized by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), and it’s designed for higher education chief marketing officers and mid-level branding and marketing professionals, as well as anyone considering launching a brand initiative at their university.
The conference will provide insights on the core competencies needed to move from research to the creative components of the branding process, starting the branding process, building the optimal organization, determining metrics that matter, and developing creative work that supports branding efforts.
This year's conference will be held in Chicago, and easy-to-reach destination
When: June 26, 2024
Where: London, UK
What it’s about:
The Higher Education Marketing Conference is organized by Inside Government, a division within GovNet Communications, and it’s specifically designed for higher ed marketing chiefs, deans, directors, officers, managers, and officers, as well as anyone involved in recruitment.
Key themes in 2024 will resolve around innovative recruitment marketing campaigns, enhancing brand distinctiveness and market positioning, delivering high-impact authentic campaigns, optimizing the student recruitment funnel, and how to develop a competitive market positioning.
After the conference, there’s the HE Content Marketing Awards and an informal drinks reception for all attendees.
London's a popular destination for higher education conferences in Europe
When: July 9-11, 2024
Where: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
What it’s about:
The eduWeb Summit is an annual conference and trade show that’s been held for the better part of two decades, but last year, the format was reinvented, with industry track experts and higher education professionals who together tackled specific challenges polled from the higher education community.
This year’s event will feature workshops, master classes, a scholarship program, a leadership institute, networking, and the Summit Awards, but the topics haven’t yet been determined. Previous themes have been related to marketing, enrollment, advancement, and digital teams from colleges and universities.
The bell tolls for eduWeb Summit in Philadelphia this year
When: July 10-11 2024
Where: Olds College of Agriculture & Technology, Alberta, Canada
What it’s about:
#PSEWEB is Canada's largest post-secondary education web and communication professionals conference. It’s known for its inclusive community, and it’s a practitioner-led conference for college and university marketers, programmers, designers, digital architects, and community managers.
The conference emphasizes making connections between students, alumni, and communities, universities, and colleges through storytelling. Every year has a different theme, and the event usually includes community-led sessions, keynote speakers, and opportunities for professional development and networking.
Check out highlights from #PSEWeb 2023 in Victoria, B.C.
When: September 22-25, 2024
Where: Albuquerque, New Mexico, US
What it's about:
The HighEdWeb Annual Conference, also known as #HEWeb24, is organized through volunteers by the Higher Education Web Professionals Association (HighEdWeb), an international nonprofit educational association for digital professionals working at colleges and universities. The Annual Conference aims to provide affordable and valuable professional development for higher education professionals, and caters to a diverse audience, including marketers, managers, developers, designers, and programmers. It’s known for its authentic focus on inclusivity, diversity, and accessibility.
This year’s agenda hasn’t yet been published, but the conference usually features track sessions, a keynote, group discussions, and lots of after-hours socials. Themes cover a wide array of topics, ranging from strategy and accessibility to design and content, and presenters vie for the coveted Red Stapler Awards, a prestigious recognition of the best session in each track.
HighEdWeb is volunteer-led: check out opportunities to get involved
When: September 24-25, 2024
Where: Leeds, UK
What it’s about:
The HE Connect 2024 conference, organized by Boye & Company, brings together higher education professionals from mostly Europe and the US in a unique learning and sharing environment. The aim of the conference is to support higher ed professionals in accessing and sharing project expertise and experience in a welcoming environment.
The collaborative environment of the conference makes it a stand-out in the sector and is highly conducive to forming strong professional relationships between attendees, who will have each other for guidance through projects but also actively to contribute to each other's careers.
The sessions are quite varied, but all address higher education challenges with case studies, lessons learned, discussions, and more on topics like recruitment, trends, marketing, accessibility, digital sustainability, and much more.
Check out some of the discussions on HE Connect 2023 on LinkedIn
When: October 8-9, 2024
Where: Liverpool (UK)
What it’s about:
ContentEd Live, organized by Pickle Jar Communications, is a two-day annual event usually held in the autumn in the UK designed for professionals working in content strategy, content design, and content marketing within the education sector.
There's usually a broad range of topics covered, focusing on content strategy, editorial and content marketing, technology, recruitment marketing, alumni engagement, and fundraising. It appeals to a range of professionals in and working with the education sector, from marketing officers to developers, with some good opportunities for authentic networking.
When: October 21–24, 2024
Where: San Antonio, Texas, US
What it’s about:
The EDUCAUSE Annual Conference (run by the EDUCAUSE non-profit higher education association) is probably the largest higher education conference on our list, and it attracts thousands of people in the global higher education IT community. It’s a large gathering that aims to facilitate networking, idea-sharing, and professional growth for IT higher ed professionals and technology providers. There's an online component to the conference as well.
This year’s agenda hasn't been published yet, but the conference typically features talks and workshops with a focus on the latest trends in higher education technology, and it offers several types of networking opportunities as well as access to innovative technology solutions providers in the exhibit hall.
This year, along with Elive2024, EDUCAUSE will also be holding its conference in San Antonio, Texas
When: November 10-13, 2024
Where: Las Vegas, Nevada, US
What it’s about:
This annual event AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education organized by the American Marketing Association is designed specifically for marketers and professionals working within the higher education sector.
The Symposium is a vibrant conference where presenters and attendees share best practices, case studies, latest trends, and practical insights. This year, while the agenda hasn't yet to be made public, the focus will be on improving marketing strategies, enhancing the reputation of higher ed institutions, and ensuring financial strength in the changing higher education landscape, and will include topics such as marketing strategies, brand building, reputation improvement, enrollment success, and financial strength within the higher education sector.
Check out the photos from the 2023 AMA Symposium on Higher Education
The higher education digital marketing industry continues to prioritize innovative approaches and consistently encourages the higher ed community to stay on top of the latest developments in the sector.
We’re continuously impressed by the high quality and collaborative nature of higher education conferences organized across the globe, both the longstanding favorites as well as new post-pandemic events, and the wide range of topics discussed.
We’ll be present at many of these conferences. Will you be there? Come by and say hello to our team!
If you have other conferences you plan on attending, let us know on social media or in the comments below.