As people discover your event, your ticketing page can play a big role towards getting them excited enough to attend. After all, first impressions are extremely important! You'll want the description of your event to be so compelling that they can't help but buy their tickets. To help you with this, we've got some tips on how to write an event description that'll drive you more ticket sales.

There's buzz going around about your upcoming event – awesome! You're super close to scoring that ticket sale and seeing that new attendee at your next event. Now the real fun starts! Once they reach your event listing and get serious about buying tickets, you'll want to make sure you have all the important info displayed accurately and looking great. And that all starts with your event's description!

6 best practices for a successful event description

Having a vibrant description of your event is something you'll want to have squared away before you launch your ticket sales. Let's dive into how to describe an event on various platforms (whether that be on your ticketing page, website, or social media) in the most compelling way possible!

1. Be specific

This first step is by far the most important. Communicate all the important info about your event to your readers. This'll create the firm foundation you'll build your description off of. To start, make an outline of all the essential info you need to cover. This may include:

• Event date(s)

• Event start and end time(s)

• Location (or where you'll stream from if it's a virtual event)

• Notable guests, instructors, lineup, or activities

• Basic agenda

• Your refund policy

• Any age restrictions, especially if you're serving alcohol

• Dress code

• Protocol in case of bad weather

As a rule of thumb, your event description should answer the questions “who?”, “what?”, “when?”, “where?”,  and “why?” of your event. For any info that's more in the weeds (like parking or what to bring), you can always direct people to your website or send them further details via email leading up to your event day.

2. Get people excited

Highlight what makes your event unique and a must-see opportunity! This is called your unique value proposition or UVP. You'll want to answer the question “so what?”, especially for potential customers who're on the fence. Why is it worth spending time and money to come to your event? Why should people go to your event versus staying home or going somewhere else that day? 

As you're writing, let your personality shine through, and don't be afraid to play off people's emotions a bit (whether that be excitement or a little FOMO). When possible, you should definitely feature high-quality and videos from previous events to drive home how awesome it's going to be too.

3. Sprinkle in social proof

Want to take your event description up a notch? Incorporating social proof can make your event more appealing, especially once you back up how awesome it's going to be. Have you sold out your event in the past? Mention that! Add a brief bio about the accomplishments of the most notable guest speakers or artists in your lineup. Consider sharing estimated attendance numbers based on previous years, if you have them (maybe something like, “our art fair is one of the largest cultural events in the area, with an average annual attendance of more than 15,000 people”). Highlighting who's sponsoring your event will amp up your credibility as well. Maybe even use testimonials from past attendees or guest speakers, talking about their personal experience at your event.

4. Ensure it's SEO-friendly

As part of your SEO efforts, you'll definitely want to incorporate keywords related to your event's location, general topic, and the year. For example, if you're hosting a fall festival in Columbus, Ohio, you'll want to include keywords like “festivals in Columbus,” “Columbus fall festivals,” etc. Incorporate your organization's name, notable guest names, and any other terms people may search for. You'll also want to write slight variations of your event description for the different online locations it might be posted in. Each platform is different, so your descriptions should be slightly different too!

5. Make it easy to read

In reality, most people will skim your description, so you'll want to make it as easy for them absorb all your important info as they do. How do you do that? By being concise! Rather than using huge blocks of text, write in bite-sized paragraphs. This is better for mobile devices too, which is important since most people are viewing from their phones nowadays. Should your description need to be longer, include headers and bulleted or numbered lists for easier readability. 

6. Mold your description to the platform

Hot take, not all platforms are created equal! As you craft your event description, think about how you'll modify it for your website, your Facebook event listing, and (most importantly!) your ticketing page. Length will vary depending on what's best for the platform you're using as part of your marketing strategy (i.e., website, socials, ticketing page, etc.). For example, your ticketing page should be pretty detailed, but your website should go even more in depth to address specific questions. On the other hand, keep your description brief for social media, piquing their interest with the high points and directing people to your website or ticketing page to learn more.

Pro tip: Looking for some extra help? Research similar events and how they talk about their events on various platforms, or try asking ChatGPT for some ideas on how to write your event description.

Event description examples

Now, to help you put these tips to practice, here are some examples of strong event descriptions. While these examples are under fake names, they're modeled after actual events and follow the best practices of writing an event description.

Example #1: Music Festival

RhythmFest Unleashed takes place July 8-9 at Owens Park in Winston-Salem, North Carolina! Join us between 10am and 11pm both days for a weekend of music, smiles, delicious food, and the love of jazz.

Going into its 25th year, RhythmFest Unleashed is fundraising for Jazz Arts, a local nonprofit supporting jazz education in the community. Our festival features esteemed artists from across the country, banding together over the joy of jazz. Featured in our massive lineup of gifted artists are our headliners – Matt Blonk, The Walker Sisters, and Nina Fulton! 

Children 12 & under are free with their parents or guardians!

We do not accept refunds at this time. All events will go as scheduled, rain or shine.

Example #2: Farm

Fall is our favorite time at Wildwood Farmstead! Located in the beautiful lands of Iowa City, Iowa, our annual fall festival features an 8-acre corn maze plus over 50 other attractions, including huge slides, playgrounds, petting zoo animals, photo ops, and more. Enjoy our homemade apple cider, plus pick your own apples or pumpkins!

Our orchard is open daily with hayrides running continuously from 11am-5pm. On select evenings, we offer haunted hayrides and private bonfire sites as well!

Please note: Wildwood Farmstead closes in the case of inclement weather. If the weather is uncertain, please visit our website or social media pages or call us before visiting.

Contact us for any questions or needed ticket exchanges, and we'll be happy to assist you.

Example #3: Fundraising Gala

Enjoy a night under the stars in support of the local nonprofit Recovery Society! Our gala will be held on February 27th at The Embers in Albany, New York with live music provided by singer-songwriter Ireland Summers. Dinner is generously provided by Northwick Table.

Doors open at 5:30pm, with dinner being served at 6:30pm followed by an evening of powerful speakers, empowering music, and dancing. Business casual attire is encouraged. We'll have a silent auction as well. Get ready for a night of celebration for a great cause! 

All proceeds will benefit Recovery Society, Inc. a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. We are a welcoming and inclusive recovery community for individuals healing from substance use disorder, mental health challenges, homelessness, and other traumas. Recovery Society strives to build community around compassion, growth, and gratitude. 

For more information and to donate, please visit our website! 

Now, you're ready to start writing strong event descriptions that'll help boost your ticket sales! TicketLeap's intuitive ticketing system makes creating branded event listings that showcase your description super easy. Just sign up for your free account, and get ready to sell your tickets today!