*Updated: May 12, 2025
Invitations and social media posts about business conferences probably pop up in your inbox and LinkedIn feed on a regular basis. But you might find yourself wondering “Are business conferences worth it?” You hear about the benefits of traveling to conferences, but you’re still not sure if it’s right for you.
It’s an understandable reaction. But there are a lot of reasons to attend conferences. As long as you choose the right events, attending business conferences can help you grow your company and boost your bottom line.
Why attend conferences and events in the first place?
Time and again, we’ve seen how attending a conference can bring many advantages to your business. These include:
- Expanding your network. Connect with potential partners in complementary services, who could help to expand your SMB offering
- Building trust. When you turn up at SMB conferences, you show your clients that you care about their perspective, which helps them see you as a trusted advisor.
- Enhancing credibility. Speaking on panels and hosting workshops helps to cement your thought leadership and establish you as an authority in the small business world.
- Staying informed. Business conferences and events are the best way to keep up to date with changing trends and SMB pain points, and to check out your competition.
- Generating leads. SMB conferences present excellent opportunities to meet potential clients and attract new customers.
Now that you understand the value conferences bring, we’ve broken down the top conferences for 2025 that any SMB-serving organization should look out for.
Best B2B events in 2025
SaaSter May 13-15, San Mateo County Events Center, San Francisco Bay Area, CA
SaaSter promises three packed days of actionable content and meaningful takeaways from the movers and shakers of the SaaS world. It brings together top founders, VCs, and executives to share their ideas, best practices, and solid suggestions, alongside valuable networking with investors, thought leaders, business owners, and SaaS enthusiasts.
B2SMB 2025 Leaders Forum May 14-15, 2025 – Sonoma, CA
The B2SMB institute serves to connect leading organizations that serve SMBs, and its annual conference offers an important opportunity to talk shop with fellow SMB-facing organizations. It’s an important event for anyone who’s passionate about supporting SMBs.
Attend the B2SMB Leaders Forum to learn about the latest pain points, trends, and needs that concern your SMB clients, collaborate with companies that complement your SMB offering, and gain actionable insights into the world of SMB growth.
Baba Summit May 19-21, Denver, CO
The Build A Better Agency (Baba) summit should be circled on the calendar of every small-to-mid-sized agency owner. It’s an opportunity to learn best practices for running, promoting, and growing a profitable agency. You’ll network with fellow agency owners, share ideas, and come away reenergized and ready to expand your bottom line.
Siinda Live May, June, and October 2025 – Various locations in Europe
Siinda is a European-based association that connects decision-makers from leading digital marketing, local search, and tech companies from all over the world. It runs a number of Siinda Live events throughout the year in various European locations, which serve as a crucible for growth and innovation.
Siinda events are worth attending for the networking opportunities, but you’ll also benefit from learning about the white-hot trends in AI, Search, and Digital Marketing verticals.
AABP Summer Conference June 15-18, Ottawa, CA
The Alliance of Area Business Publishers, or AABP, unites dozens of city and regional business magazines and tabloids from across North America. It runs a number of events throughout the year that enable executives and business leaders to network, swap recommendations, and keep up with trending issues in the media world.
ADMA Audience Summit, June 23-25, Las Vegas, NV
Once a year, ADMA invites everyone who’s interested in the news media world to come together for a three-day summit. You’ll want to hear from representatives of the country’s leading news media companies, meet powerful speakers who share new ideas, trends, and approaches, and form useful new connections with investors, thought leaders, and potential business partners.
Digital Marketing World Expo & Conference 24-25 June 2025, London, UK
The Digital Marketing World Conference is the headline event for anyone in the marketing and marketing technology space. It brings together thought leaders and innovators in a range of fields, including AI, digital transformation, social media marketing, CRM, omnichannel, CX, and more. Hear from digital marketing’s rock stars, and build your business network.
DigiMarCon East 2025 July 7-8, New York City, NY
The DigiMarCon East conference covers more topics around digital marketing, media, and advertising than we could list here. It’s the place to come to hear the most innovative speakers, discover the fastest-growing trends, and learn about skills and technologies that take digital marketing and media businesses to the next level.
LMA Fest 2025 August 18-21, Chicago, IL
The LMA Fest is all about local media. It covers a range of issues around bringing in revenue, building opportunities, and what’s coming in the future of local media. It offers two tracks, one for C-level executives and one for digital sales managers, so that you can focus on the topics that are most important for your business.
IFA Conference September 5-9, 2025 – Berlin, Germany
The IFA Conference is billed as the world’s largest consumer and electronics trade show, making it a must-attend for organizations that serve manufacturers and retailers. The sessions and panels ensure that you’re up to date with the latest product innovations and trends, helping you understand your SMB clients’ concerns and pain points and refine your own customer offering.
IBC Conference September 12-15, 2025 – Amsterdam, Netherlands
The IBC Conference is a global event for media, entertainment, and technology professionals, covering everything from broadcast innovation to AI-driven content creation. You’ll find an extensive hands-on exhibition, thought-provoking panels, and sessions discussing new trends in content distribution.
Attend the IBC conference to learn better ways to connect with your clients, network with potential partners, and build relationships with startups and entrepreneurs that could benefit from your services.
Ignite Conference September 17-19, 2025 – Copenhagen, Denmark
Organized by TM Forum, Ignite is the go-to event for digital transformation in the telecom and enterprise sectors. This year, the conference focuses on agility, efficiency, and innovation as pathways to growth. You’ll learn useful strategies that can bolster your customer relationships, and gain new methods to help your SMB clients to drive their own digital transformations.
Digital Transformation Conference October 1 2025 — New York, NY
The Digital Transformation Conference is essential for small business owners looking to leverage technology for growth. It’s a one-day event that covers a lot of insights, trends, and best practices. You’ll want to come to network with entrepreneurs, startup founders, and SMB owners who are on the hunt for digital tools and support from an organization like yours.
Web Summit November 10-13, 2025 – Lisbon, Portugal
Web Summit is focused on exploring where technology is going next. It’s also a highly regarded occasion for generating leads, meeting new collaborators, and collecting solid contacts for future mentors, advisors, or partners.
Put it in your calendar to ensure that you’re part of the cutting edge of tech discussions, and can learn about what’s on the horizon for the wide and varied tech industries.
Best SMB events in 2025
Small Business Expo March-December 2025 — various cities across the US
Acclaimed as the largest small business conference, trade show, and networking event in the US, the Small Business Expo is a series of events held throughout 2025 in various cities across the United States. It brings together education, relationship-building, and marketing opportunities.
SMB owners come to promote their company, learn new ways to grow their business, and connect with vendors, suppliers, and organizations like yours that help them to grow and take advantage of new business opportunities.
National Small Business Week Virtual Summit May 6-7, USA
Once a year, the Small Business Administration (SBA) holds a week celebrating the hard work and impact of small businesses. Within that week lies the free two-day virtual NSBW summit, offering online presentations by thought leaders, business resources and expert advice, and virtual networking rooms, to support established and aspiring entrepreneurs to build and grow their businesses.
ATOMICON June 10, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK
Billed as one of Europe’s largest conferences, ATOMICON focuses entirely on helping small business owners grow their businesses. It promises zero pitches, with every speaker, session, and workshop centering around motivating SMB owners and giving them the tools and skills they need to thrive.
2025 IDEA World – IDEA Health & Fitness Association July 17–19, Sacramento, CA
IDEA World’s annual conference is a celebration and educational opportunity for personal trainers, fitness instructors, studio owners, and anyone working in the health and fitness space. It offers hundreds of inspirational sessions, valuable insights, new trends, and the chance to connect with like-minded individuals.
Service World Expo October 26-30, Las Vegas, NV
Service World Expo, now in its 10th year, is a headline event for residential contractors involved in services that range from HVAC to irrigation and landscaping to pest control. Your clients come here to learn best practices for marketing, operational efficiency, and business growth strategies.
That makes it a smart conference for you to attend to hear about their needs and concerns, attract new customers, and even lead a session to cement your credibility and thought leadership reputation.
Agency Growth Summit November 11-13, online
The Agency Growth Summit is an annual event for agency owners around the world to create useful relationships and learn valuable strategies to grow their business. Your clients come here to hear from thought leaders and gain meaningful insights into business management and growth.
How do I find a good conference to attend in 2025?
Although all the business conferences that we’ve mentioned above are worth attending, you might not have the time, money, or energy to participate in them all. If you’re working to narrow down your shortlist of small business conferences, here are some things to consider.
Understand your budget
Cost can be a useful way to make decisions. Perhaps you can only afford to attend a few events a year, or your travel budget doesn’t permit you to fly overseas or across the continent. There are plenty of local conferences that are worth your time, so put them at the top of the list.
Map out conferences based on goals
Clarify what you want to gain from the conferences you attend and define clear KPIs. Do you want to generate leads, find new partners and collaborators, or research changing trends and ideas in your field? This will help you decide which events bring the most impact.
Draw on experience
It can help to look back on the notes you made about last year’s events, to see which ones were the most effective and which didn’t help you advance your goals. Consult with your sales team as well as previous sponsors, to see if a conference that you attended previously is worth going to again.
Learn where your audience will be
Once you know your aims for conference attendance, investigate which events attract the audience you need. Prioritize events with a significant SMB audience, and look for ones that offer opportunities to participate in a panel discussion, deliver a session, or hold a workshop with someone you’d like to collaborate with.
Think outside the box
Don’t be too quick to dismiss conferences as irrelevant. An event that might not seem suitable at first could become valuable once you investigate a little more. For example, perhaps you’ll benefit from connecting with the sponsors rather than the audience, or be able to present a session with a potential partner.
Start early
Business and entrepreneurship conferences begin marketing well in advance. Collect a list of potential events a good 6 months before they are meant to occur, and keep an eye on the LinkedIn or X profiles for the top events so you’ll know when tickets go on sale. Most events have Early Bird discounts, so be sure to take advantage.
Make the most of each conference
Your conference time is limited, so maximize each one you attend. Write a list of the people and organizations you want to meet, and reach out to them in advance to schedule time to talk. Ensure you make time to connect with your existing partners and customers as well as potential new ones, to keep those relationships strong and vibrant.
Contact the coordinators
It’s well worth talking with conference coordinators in advance. Ask about the layout of the conference, because there can be significant distance between the exhibition space and the discussion areas. This way you can plan your time more effectively. Ask for a sample of attendees so you can get an idea of the audience, and find out what timelines and deadlines there are for submitting papers and applying for a session or a booth.
The right business conferences can bring valuable advantages
Small business owners, SMB-serving organizations, and entrepreneurs alike can all benefit from attending business conferences and events. With a mix of education, networking, and brand promotion, conferences bring numerous opportunities for you to find new partners, refine your offering, and grow your business.
We’re so convinced about the value of these conferences that we’ll be attending many of them ourselves. To request a meeting at these events with one of our partner experts, click here.
