A Year on the Road: What SocialNext Heard from Marketers Coast to Coast
A Year on the Road: What SocialNext Heard from Marketers Coast to Coast
In 2025, SocialNext brought learning, connection, and community to cities across Canada through its marketing conferences and events. But attendees were not the only ones listening.
From January through October, SocialNext events brought together more than 3,000 marketers across Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Halifax, and Vancouver. Along the way, more than 1,000 marketers shared structured insights that informed a series of national reports by Digital Marketing Sector Council, offering a rare snapshot of what marketing work in Canada really looks like right now.
The details changed from city to city. The themes did not.
No matter where the conversations started, they kept circling back to the same realities. Teams are small. Expectations are growing. New tools keep arriving faster than time, training, or headcount.
Here’s how that story unfolded, one stop at a time.
SocialNext: Ottawa 2025 at the Bayview Yards, photo by Mat Higgins-Savidant
January: Ottawa. A new audience, familiar pressures
The year began with SocialNext: Ottawa (Jan 29–30), the first time SocialNext hosted an event in the city and the first dedicated specifically to non-profit and public sector marketers. That event is now called SocialNext: Non-Profit & Public Sector.
While formal survey data wasn’t collected at this stop, the conversations were telling. Marketers spoke about limited budgets, complex stakeholder environments, and growing expectations around digital performance. Many were being asked to modernize quickly while operating within tight constraints and high accountability.
It was an early signal that would repeat itself throughout the year. Different sectors, different mandates, same pressure.
Ottawa set the tone. The rest of the year filled in the details.
Tickets to SocialNext: Non-Profit & Public Sector 2026 happening on Jan 28-29 at the Ottawa Conference and Events Centre are on sale now! Get tickets.
SocialNext: Toronto 2025 at The Carlu, photo by Eyes Multimedia
April: Toronto. Tools everywhere, clarity in short supply
By the time SocialNext reached Toronto (April 21), the data started to confirm what was already being felt in the room.
Toronto marketers talked openly about AI, automation, and increasingly complex tech stacks. But when asked where teams were really struggling, the answers were less about tools and more about thinking. Strategy, communication, and critical thinking came up again and again, particularly when discussing new hires.
There was also a noticeable sense of ambition. Many Toronto teams are looking beyond North America, thinking about global growth and expansion. At the same time, readiness for global marketing remains low, revealing a familiar gap between where teams want to go and what they’re realistically equipped to do.
Sessions focused on strategic decision-making and navigating complexity mirrored what the data showed. As tools become easier to access, clarity and judgment are becoming harder to find and more valuable than ever.
Read the full Toronto report:Scaling Skills, Reaching Worlds: Marketing Voices from SocialNext – Toronto
Tickets to SocialNext: Toronto 2026 happening on April 9 at The Carlu are on sale now! Get tickets.
SocialWest 2025 at the Calgary TELUS Convention Centre, photo by Neil Zeller Photography
June: Calgary. Everyone needs content, few have the capacity
In Calgary at SocialWest (June 11–13), the conversation became more grounded and more practical.
The data showed what many already knew. Teams are lean, largely in-house, and responsible for an expanding list of responsibilities. Content, paid media, analytics, reporting, platforms, performance. Often handled by just a few people.
When asked who they would hire if budgets allowed, content strategists and copywriters rose quickly to the top. Even as marketing becomes more technical, the demand for strong storytelling hasn’t gone anywhere.
On stage, sessions about content performance, brand storytelling, and doing more with limited resources felt especially resonant. Calgary made something very clear. The scope of marketing work has grown dramatically, but team size has not.
Read the full report:Inside the Minds of Marketers: Real Voices from SocialWest – Calgary
Tickets to the 10th Anniversary of SocialWest, happening on May 27-29 at the Calgary TELUS Convention Centre, are on sale now! Get tickets.
SocialEast 2025 at the Halifax Marriott Harbourfront Hotel, photo by Mat Higgins-Savidant
September: Halifax. Willing to learn, unsure where to start
By SocialEast in Halifax (September 24–25), the national picture was coming into focus.
East Coast marketers described small teams with wide mandates, often paired with limited access to training and professional development. 49.7% identified AI and automation as the most impactful trend ahead, yet many also admitted they felt only somewhat prepared to use those tools effectively.
There was curiosity in the room, but also hesitation. A sense that AI is important, but not always well understood. That pattern showed up in the agenda as well. Sessions ranged from AI adoption to measurement, brand building, and operations, reflecting just how much ground marketers are expected to cover.
Halifax captured a defining tension of the year. The desire to upskill is strong. The path to doing it well is not always clear.
Read the full report: Inside the Minds of Marketers: Real Voices from SocialEast – Halifax
Tickets to SocialEast 2026 happening on October 29-30 will be on sale soon! Get updates.
SocialPacific 2025 at The Pipe Shop, photo by Neil Zeller Photography
October: Vancouver. Advanced tools, familiar limits
The year wrapped on the West Coast at Vancouver’s SocialPacific (October 29–30), where the data pointed to a stronger emphasis on AI, automation, analytics, and operational efficiency.
Vancouver marketers were more likely to prioritize hiring marketing operations and data-focused roles, signaling a push toward scale and measurable impact. At the same time, many described themselves as still experimenting, unsure how to move from adoption to transformation.
Sessions on operationalizing AI and turning data into decisions reinforced what had become a recurring theme by the end of the tour. The tools are largely in place. What’s missing is time, enablement, and sustained support.
Vancouver didn’t feel like a conclusion as much as a reflection of where things stand now.
Read the full report: Inside the Minds of Marketers: Real Voices from SocialPacific – Vancouver
Tickets to SocialPacific 2026, happening on September 23-24 will be on sale soon! Get updates.
The SocialNext Team at SocialPacific 2025, photo by Neil Zeller Photography
By the numbers: What marketers across Canada reported
Insights drawn from surveys completed by more than 1,000 marketers at SocialNext events across the country:
- 50–60% of marketing teams operate with three people or fewer
- 70–80% say they feel stretched or under-resourced
- 35–40% identify AI and marketing automation as their biggest skills gap
- Around 30% cite data and analytics as a major gap
- 60–65% already use AI, primarily for content creation
- Only 10–15% apply AI to automation, personalization, or deeper analysis
- Fewer than 20% feel fully resourced to meet current marketing expectations
The year in review: same story, different cities
Across every stop, the same patterns kept emerging. Marketing teams are small. Expectations continue to expand. AI and automation are reshaping workflows faster than teams can realistically absorb. Despite that, optimism remains strong.
What stood out most wasn’t frustration. It was resilience.
Marketers across Canada are adapting, experimenting, and pushing forward, often without the resources they need. They’re eager to learn, ready to evolve, and deeply committed to doing better work.
The message heard coast to coast was consistent and human. Marketing in Canada isn’t short on ambition or talent. It’s short on capacity.
Read the full National Synthesis: Canadian Marketing Realities in 2025: A synthesis of Social Next events surveys across Canada
Editor’s note
This story draws on findings from a 2025 research collaboration with the Digital Marketing Sector Council (DMSC), which surveyed more than 1,000 marketing professionals at four SocialNext events in Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, and Halifax. DMSC is a Canadian advisory council focused on aligning digital marketing education with labour market needs.
Shaniece MacNeil