Approximately 13,000 trade shows take place annually in the United States alone. How can you ensure you don’t miss the right ones for your company? Where should you look for them? Are there any tools or services to help you find trade shows?
Some time ago, we asked a question about where to look for expos in the group for exhibitors. Here’s what people responded:
Let us go through different channels and tools you can use to find trade shows to visit.
Google (and any other search engine like Bing, Yahoo!, etc.)
Google ranks first in the voting, and it is clearly the simplest and most obvious tool for searching events.
Pros:
- It’s free
- It’s available for everyone
- Everyone knows it and uses it
- It definitely has all the events (somewhere)
- You don’t need to register; you just type in what you’re looking for straight away
Cons:
- Apart from the results you need, you might see a lot of irrelevant content
- It will take some time to prepare a significant list of events
- If the event organizer isn’t proficient in SEO or PPC, it might be difficult to find the event
- You might easily miss an interesting expo if you use only search engines
The thing with Google and other search engines is that you need to be quite good at coming up with the right keywords to use. It is so easy to overlook an exhibition that might become a game changer for your company. Most likely, you will see big events that spend a lot of money on promotion, but more niche and targeted ones may remain hidden.
Tip to use:
Think about your competitor that has been on the market for a while and visit events, or an industry magazine, or a big company in your area that definitely has event experts and visits many trade shows each year. Use their name and google something like “[name of the company] expo.” This will help you find undiscovered and relevant events for you.
Social Media
This is another easily accessible and widely used way to find trade shows near you (or not near you) to visit. LinkedIn and Facebook have their own event features, allowing event organizers to create dedicated pages and add information about their expos.
Another way to stay informed about upcoming trade shows is to follow pages of event organizers, expo centers, your competitors, industry influencers, and journalists. You can also be a part of industry groups where such events are announced.
Pros:
- It’s free
- You can find many events in one place
- If you visit particular expos every year, you can just follow their pages and stay informed
Cons:
- You will not find all the events there
- The search feature is less convenient than what Google offers
- You might easily miss an interesting event
Eventbrite, 10times, and Other Event Tools
These websites provide lists of different expos to visit. Let’s take a look at each of them.
3.1. 10times
Pros: They have a lot of events for various industries on their website, probably the most comprehensive one you can find. There are many filter options to make your search as targeted as possible.
Cons: Many companies are not happy with 10times. They may provide outdated information about events, and their approach to promotion is not ethical according to reviews you may find on Trustpilot. Additionally, the interface is not user-friendly, making navigation difficult.
3.2. Eventbrite
Pros: An easy-to-use tool for finding events, a large, legitimate database, and the option to follow event organizers to receive notifications about their events.
Cons: Many expos are missing, Eventbrite is not really focused on B2B events and trade shows, and it’s not easy to find expos if you’re looking for global events.
3.3. https://www.thetradeshownetwork.com/tradeshow-calendar
It is not a website focused specifically on showing trade shows (they might help you with your booth design, rentals, etc.), but you can find a trade show calendar there.
Pros: A tool focused on trade shows, a large database of expos for different industries, you can easily go to the website of each event, and basic filter features are available.
Cons: It might look too basic for someone. Unfortunately, this one also doesn’t have all the expos (but it’s still good!).
3.4. allevents.in
Pros: This tool is quite similar to Eventbrite. It’s easy to find events, and they let you look for them anywhere.
Cons: Like Eventbrite, they focus more on B2C events, and if you want to be an exhibitor, it’s better to contact event organizers directly on their website.
Journals and Magazines
It might be a bit outdated, but journals and magazines are still valuable in many industries.
Pros: Journals and magazines focused on specific industries usually provide a good range of trade shows, so you don’t need to scour the internet to find the expos you need. They also provide high-quality content, ensuring that events listed in the journal are legitimate.
Cons: It is not the most convenient way to find events. It is better to check online versions to stay updated.
Whichever way you choose to look for trade shows, ensure the event will take place by visiting its official website and contacting the organizers. Also, give yourself enough time to prepare for the show. It’s a significant investment for your business, so you’ll want to present your company in the best possible way.