An expo center directory can help venues book more events by making it easier for event organizers to find your venue, do essential early research to determine if your venue is the right fit for their event, and even quickly and easily communicate with you directly to ask questions and get more information.
In other words, a comprehensive and free expo center directory, like AttendStar’s Venue Directory, offers a single source for you to generate leads and close deals without spending any additional money.
Here are some of the key reasons an expo center directory can help you book more events for your venue:
1. People Are Actively Looking Online for Venues to Hold Events
While the number of in-person events held in the United States declined significantly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, they’re starting to come back. Now is the time to get your venue listed in an online expo center directory, so people can find your venue when it’s time to book their events.
Research by Skift found that event organizers base their venue selections on a variety of criteria, including:
- Word-of-Mouth:4%
- Search Engines:3%
- Online Venue Directories, Listings, and Marketplaces: 34%
- Online Review Sites:5%
- Social Media:6%
- Venue Finding Agency / DMCS: 25%
- Exhibitions:5%
- Online RFP:4%
- CVBS / DMOS: 18/2%
- Offline / Paper Directories: 70%
Based on the data, one out of three event organizers actively use an expo center directory to find the right venues for their events. Your venue needs to be included in those listings or you’ll lose business.
2. Event Organizers are Looking for a Variety of Venues
Event organizers have become more creative with the types of venues they’ll consider for different types of events. As a result, they’re searching for a wider variety of venues than ever, and a free expo center directory, like AttendStar’s Venue Directory, evens out the playing field.
Rather than relying on search ads and only finding venues with the biggest paid search advertising budgets, event organizers can use a free venue directory to find a wide variety of options to choose from.
According to Skift’s research, event organizers are actively looking for the following types of venues:
- Hotels:3%
- Conference Centers:7%
- Unusual Venues:8%
- Outdoor Spaces:6%
- Exhibition Centers:7%
- Office / Working Venues:4%
- Universities:8%
- Non-Purpose Built Venues:2%
- Sporting Venues (including racetracks):8%
- Manmade Structures:5%
When an event organizer finds an expo center directory that is filled with a variety of venues, you can bet they’ll return and use it to find venues for all of their future events, and you want to make sure they can find your venue in it.
3. A Well-Written Description for Your Expo Center Directory Listing Gives You a Competitive Edge
There are many factors to consider when choosing a venue, and event organizers want to be able to find that information quickly and easily. With that in mind, your expo center directory listing should include a well-written description that truly sells your venue.
This is a situation where it makes sense to hire a seasoned copywriter who can help you craft compelling descriptions that not only promote your venue but also make it seem like the perfect place to hold a variety of events. Typically, directory descriptions are limited to a certain word or character length, but a great copywriter can say a lot in few words!
4. A Great Expo Center Directory Listing Reduces Questions and Obstacles and Saves You Time
Your directory listing should provide enough information so many questions event organizers have been answered without having to contact you. The goal is to make it easy for event organizers to choose your venue. Therefore, make it easy to work with you by giving them all of the details they need to bring your venue to the top of their list of options.
Nearly nine out of 10 event organizers (89.8%) research venues by contacting venues directly and asking questions according to Skift’s research. Think about how many questions you have to answer about your venue each day. Your goal should be to answer as many of those questions as possible within your directory listing to not only save time for you but also for event organizers.
5. Makes Open and Transparent Communication Easy
Skift’s research shows that some of the biggest frustrations event organizers have when trying to select a venue are related to a lack of open and transparent communication. In fact, the number one frustration for more than half of surveyed event organizers (50.8%) is slow response times from venues. In total, 35.7% organizers cited a lack of transparency as one of their biggest frustrations, and 34.3% said they were most frustrated by venues that don’t give them enough information to make a decision.
Based on the data, venues have an opportunity to position themselves against competitors and win more business by prioritizing open and transparent communications. When your venue appears in a directory like AttendStar’s Venue Directory, you’ll be able to communicate directly with event organizers without leaving the directory platform, which makes it extremely easy for event organizers to get all of the information they need in a convenient way.
Key Takeaways about How an Expo Center Directory Can Help You Book More Events for Your Venue
Ensuring your venue is easy to find and stands out from other venue options is the key to booking more events. If you own or manage an expo center or another type of venue that you’d like to get listed in the AttendStar Venue Directory so you can start booking more events, click here to visit the Directory landing page and sign up to be notified when it officially launches!