If you are new to trade show exhibiting but are eager to get started as part of your marketing plan to gain new business, reach new customers or possibly break into a new market sector, the fundamental thing you need to establish is which trade show is going to be the best vehicle for you to present your company, your products and your services to your target market.
There are some basic things that will help you and some great online resources for choosing a trade show. My list below is not necessarily in order of importance, all the points are vital!
1. You need to establish your target market and then match it to the visitor types of particular shows. You can do this by checking the types of visitors that trade shows you have identified as ‘potentials’ attract. Once you have established that a show has the right sort of visitor profile, you can contact the organisers for a more detailed breakdown of visitors from the previous show.
2. You need to establish the area of floor-space you feel is the minimum you need to adequately show off what your company has to offer. Of course, if you are attending a trade show attached to a convention, you may find that all stands are allocated the same ‘table top display’ space or small booth. Otherwise it is worth checking out the likely cost of different-sized areas before you purchase your pop up displays stand so that you buy a stand that fits the size of area you are going to be able to afford!
3. You need to establish the budget that you have for your trade show exhibiting and how much you are prepared to spend on a particular show.
4. You need to establish how much you can invest in terms of manpower (sales people off the road during an exhibition are often (wrongly) not considered as an expense by new exhibitors).
5. You need to establish how far you want to travel and what geographic areas you are targeting.
Having established the foregoing clearly in your mind, here is a list of great online resources to help you in your search. If you have a site that you would like added to this list, please leave a comment below or contact me via the contact us page.
Biz Trade Shows
With over 17,000 trade shows listed in 242 countries, more than 6,100 trade show organizers listed and trade shows in more than 46 industry groups listed, this is a great resource for anyone wanting to find a trade show either as a visitor or as an exhibitor. You will find trade shows listed by type, by location, by venue and there is great information on the type of visitor, size of exhibition and so on. You will find a link to the trade show or organizer’s web site and it will get you started on your search – there is a very large US section.
Trade Show News Network
Trade Show News Network (TSNN) is a well-established online resource with data on more than 19,500 trade shows. You can subscribe to their bi-monthly newsletter. The site is easy to navigate and you can also use it as a directory to find suppliers and services connected with trade show exhibiting such as stand design, turnkey services and hundreds more! There is also a TSNN blog with great articles and information for anyone connected with trade show exhibiting.
Events Eye
This is another really useful site for worldwide trade shows and is great for searching within the US. You can search on trade show name, theme, location, date, organizer and, (helpfully), keywords. Basically, Eventseye searches the web for information on all these factors and collates the information for you so it is all easily accessible in one place.
If you want to exhibit in a particular state or city, check out the information provided by the tourist board for that area.
For example, if you know that you want to exhibit at a trade show in Las Vegas, go to http://www.lasvegastourism.com/las_vegas_trade_shows.htm where you will find a great starting point for getting all the information you need.
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