What You’ll Learn at CTAConf 2019: Agenda, Speakers, and More

In the market for a marketing conference that’s totally immersive and genuinely actionable? 

The sixth annual Unbounce Call to Action Conference (CTAConf) is coming up fast (September 25 to 26!), and we’re super excited to share all the details of this year’s “Raise Your Marketing IQ” agenda. Learn from 20 incredible speakers sharing their tips, insights, and hard-earned marketing know-how while tucking into delicious food, making great connections, and taking in the beauty Vancouver has to offer.

We know there are a lot of marketing conferences out there. But CTAConf is the only one with a thorough roadmap for high IQ marketing—the kind of marketing your competitors will wish they’d done.

We’ll dive into six core elements of marketing IQ: design (spatial ability), copywriting (language ability), data and analytics (mathematical ability), process (memory), human aspects and personalization (emotional intelligence), and how to bring these all together (strategic thinking).

Each session reflects one or several of these aspects—a framework inspired by the facets of traditional IQ. And if you’re interested in rolling up your sleeves for some hands-on learning, we’re also hosting an optional day of marketing workshops the day before CTAConf kicks off (more on those below)!

What to Expect

• Twenty extraordinary speakers who are not just thought leaders but practicing marketers who really know their stuff. No fluff, no panels, and no recycled content.
• A one-track, “all-inclusive” experience from the cushy seats and world-class venue of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre to gourmet food trucks, healthy snacks, parties, and more.
• Over 1,000 fellow marketers ready to mix, mingle, and learn with you in beautiful Vancouver, BC!

The CTAConf 2019 Agenda

This year’s speakers have been selected for expertise in one (or several) of the six elements of high-IQ marketing, innovative approaches to their craft, and practical experience. Have we mentioned they’re all awesome speakers and overall great people, too?

Plus, one stage means one track. You won’t have to choose between sessions and miss out on half the insights you paid for—just grab a snack, take a seat, and eat up every morsel of information.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn. For the full agenda (and to grab your tickets now for 15% off), head to the CTAConf site and use the promo code “CTAConfMarketingIQ” upon checkout.

Machine Learning for Marketers with Britney Muller, Senior SEO Scientist at Moz

The biggest bottleneck in Machine Learning/AI is people like you with domain expertise and great ideas! Help your industry innovate by attending this Machine Learning (ML) crash course. You’ll walk away with a foundational understanding of ML, the tools necessary to implement ML models, and the confidence to consider ways in which it can be applied to help you with everyday work.

What you’ll learn in Britney’s session:

• How machine learning is becoming more accessible to marketers.
• How to use machine learning to free up more time for strategic planning.
• Basic machine learning understanding to allow you to think of the next genius application.

The Top 7 Chatbot Marketing Hacks of All Time with Larry Kim, CEO of MobileMonkey

Messaging is the primary communication channel for billions of daily active users, offering enormous selling potential to marketers who can master conversational marketing tactics and strategies at scale.

Larry will cover how to activate chatbots in the sales and marketing funnel in exciting new ways, including how to automatically qualify leads while simulating person-to-person salesmanship and leveraging crazy-effective psychological influence principles to increase conversion rates from chat marketing.

What you’ll learn in Larry’s session:

• How to leverage chatbots in the sales and marketing funnel to engage and qualify leads.
• How to increase conversion rates from chat marketing using conversational influence principles.
• How to drive tons of traffic into your chat marketing funnels.

How to Build Buyer Personas That Help You Win More Loyal Customers with Sonia Thompson, CEO of Thompson Media Group

Business is about belonging. The stronger your buyer personas are, the easier it is to deliver products, services, and experiences that make your customers feel like they belong with you. But too often, buyer personas unintentionally exclude customers who don’t neatly fit into the “mainstream,” causing them to go off in search of another brand that serves them better. This problem grows more prevalent as consumers become more diverse across many areas.

What you’ll learn in Sonia’s session:

• How to intentionally build inclusive buyer personas.
• How to get more customers, particularly diverse ones, to love your brand.

Data-Driven Empathy: 7 Hidden Sources of Your Visitors’ Hopes and Fears with Andy Crestodina, Co-Founder and CMO at Orbit Media Studios

Marketing is empathy. Digital marketing is about data-driven empathy. The job is to use clues, reports, and tests to find what our audience needs and serve it to them quickly. But the problem is that there’s just too much data out there. So the trick is to use the right data to find the best insights fast.

What you’ll learn in Andy’s session:

• How to learn what people think of your brand and what they want to know about it.
• Which of your site’s pages are least satisfying to your visitors and why.
• Which information needs you may be ignoring.

The Marketing IQ Manifesto with Oli Gardner, Co-Founder of Unbounce

Great marketing doesn’t feel like marketing. But much of what we experience favors a low-IQ approach: emails asking for a 15-minute call, followed by five more emails “bumping” it to the top of your inbox because you might have missed it. We didn’t miss it; we simply don’t want it.

The Marketing IQ Manifesto is a new methodology for creating marketing that matters. It embraces diversity, choosing extra, and being real, resulting in high-converting experiences that respect our audience’s needs and who they are.

What you’ll learn in Oli’s session:

• The ten guiding principles of a high-IQ marketer.
• The six elements of marketing IQ and how they come together.
• The MIQ Checklist, an actionable guide to intelligent growth for your business.

Plus an Optional Day of Marketing Workshops

Before CTAConf even starts, we’re hosting a full day of hands-on workshops with Unbounce Experts. You’ll walk away with frameworks, models, worksheets, mastery of the Unbounce platform, and other specialized, in-depth information to raise the bar in these (totally optional) workshops.

Workshops are only available for conference attendees—upon registration, you’ll receive a special URL to reserve your workshop spot. Be sure to act quickly as seats are limited and have filled up super fast in years prior.

The workshops are an affordable $99 CDN, taking place on Tuesday, September 24 at The Sheraton Vancouver City Centre (which is also our preferred hotel option just minutes from the main CTAConf venue).

Build Your CTAConf Experience

Do you get a little nervous before conferences? (I do.) Do you wonder who you might meet, how the venue’s laid out, what and when you’ll be fed, and what to expect besides amazing speakers? (Also same.)

When we call CTAConf an immersive experience, we aren’t kidding. We want you to feel totally comfortable, taken care of, and excited to soak up everything the conference has to offer—both on and off stage.

A concert-style venue

The Queen Elizabeth Theatre hosts the Vancouver Opera, Ballet, and Broadway Across Canada. That’s right, this stage has seen everything from multiple CTAConfs to full productions of Hamilton. Expect super-comfy seats, an expansive stage with crystal-clear presentation screens, and world-class production value.

Breakfast, snacks, and Vancouver’s favorite food trucks

Nothing is worse than trying to learn and network when you’re hangry. So we’ve made sure your tummy stays full—and it won’t be with a dry ham sandwich or depressingly weak coffee. 

Adventure out into the Vancouver sunshine (yup, September is still sunshine season!) and hit up one of seven food trucks. Or go ahead and try all seven—they’re on the house, after all.

Relax, unwind, and connect with great people

From our casual welcome reception to (seriously) fun after-party, you’ll have more than enough opportunity to meet fellow attendees, make new connections, or catch up with old ones over drinks (of the cocktail and mocktail variety) and tasty apps.

Meet our awesome sponsors

The CTAConf experience extends through our sponsors. Each sponsor is planning a secret, unique experience just for you—which means we encourage you to venture to each of their booths.

Would you like to see your own company on this list? Learn about our sponsorship packages here.

Explore gorgeous Vancouver

If you’re coming to Vancouver for the first time—or one of many trips—you don’t want to miss out on an opportunity to explore the city. From top restaurants and museums to outdoor parks and city sights, there’s a ton to see and do.

Check out last year’s roundup of local and visitor recommendations to help make the most of your time in our little slice of the Pacific Northwest.

Join Us!

On behalf of the Unbounce team, we can’t wait to meet you and hope you’ll join us this September! And if you have any questions at all, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at ctaconf@unbounce.com.