Writing an event description that wins over attendees is both a science and an art. How do you sum up the blood, sweat, and tears of your work in a few sentences?

By knowing what information to prioritise, you can write an event description that helps you reach more people and sell more tickets.

Here are nine steps to learn how to make the most out of your event description.

1. Know your worth

When you sell tickets to an event you’re asking attendees for two of the most precious things in life: time and money. What are you offering in return?

Let’s say you organise Spanish classes. On the surface, people attend your course to learn Spanish. But dig deeper and the motivation you’ll find can be profound. Some students may long for adventure and dream of hiking in Patagonia. Others might be learning Spanish to reconnect with their heritage.   

Ask yourself: why are your attendees really at your event? How will you transform their lives for the better? Craft a brand promise that includes your answer, and weave that message into your event description.

2. Understand your attendees

If you want to sell more tickets, you need to know what draws people to your event in the first place.

Knowing your audience is also key for striking the right tone in your writing. If people don’t feel heard, why should they listen?

Here’s how to dig deeper into your attendee data:

• Send a survey to your attendees after the event
• Look for trends in any customer support questions you receive
• Research similar events on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to see what their attendees have to say

Use what you learn to target your event description to your audience. For example, if your attendees say the variety of food available is their favourite part of your event, make sure to highlight your food suppliers in your event description.

3. Seek inspiration

Search for events like yours to see how they describe their events. You can use Google and online marketplaces, like Eventbrite, which provide you with a snapshot of other events in the space. Take special note of:

• The opening line of their description
• What tone they use
• How they structure information through headers and bullet points
• How they use images, video, and social media

What are they hoping to convey about their event? Don’t copy their writing — but do take their best underlying ideas. Make them your own.

4. Paint a picture

After visiting an event listing, people most often open Google Images and YouTube. Why? They’re looking for photos and videos of your event to determine if it’s worth their time.

Paint a picture of your event on your event page, so visitors don’t leave the page. Here’s how:

• Link to YouTube videos of last year’s event or Instagram photos of the venue
• Showcase powerful photos from the perspective of your attendees
• Highlight speakers and workshops
• Add attendee testimonials and course certificates people may receive

5. Make it easy to read

Don’t overwhelm people with blocks of text. Organise your writing and make sure it’s skimmable. Use these best practices:

• Start with an outline — map out what you want to say before you start writing
• Break up copy into sections with headers
• Use bullet points
• Copy and paste your event description into the free Hemingway App to help you make your writing easy to read

To learn more, download our Ultimate Guide to Copywriting for Events.

6. Optimise for search

The words in your event description can increase the odds that interested people will discover your event through search engines like Google — known as search engine optimization (SEO).

Choose a ticketing partner whose site has strong domain authority (how much Google trusts a website). The higher your partner’s domain authority, the better shot your event has at ranking in search results. Here’s what else you can do to make sure your event is easily searchable:

• Use descriptive keywords in your title and event description
• Optimise your event listing for mobile search
• Use different copy on your own website compared to your Eventbrite event listing — Google rewards websites that have unique writing, so don’t duplicate content

Learn more about the importance of SEO here.

7. Add FAQs

If you don’t answer pressing questions upfront, people might not register. Your customer service team will waste time and money answering repeat questions. And confusion can lead to issues that hurt the attendee experience and your brand.

To identify which FAQs to include, read your attendees’ emails. Categorise each email. Count how many contacts you’ve had for each category. Then add answers to the most frequent questions to your event listing.

Don’t overwhelm people, just include what’s most important. You can add more FAQs to the email attendees receive after they register.

8. State your refund policy

A clear refund policy in your event description reassures potential attendees. If you use Eventbrite, setting a refund policy is easy.

Say an attendee catches the flu. Instead of rejecting their refund request and losing a customer, let them transfer their ticket to a future event. You’ll gain a loyal fan instead.

9. Get feedback

Get feedback on your writing before it impacts your sales. Ask someone from your audience demographic to review the copy and have them describe their thoughts and feelings.

Do they want to attend your event? Or are they unconvinced? This will give you a sense of how effective your copy is.

When potential attendees interact with your event brand online, your event description is just one touchpoint as they decide to buy. Don’t miss out on sales –  read How to Master Brand Storytelling- What is Your Events Story? 

Ready to get started on your event’s description? Sign up to Eventbrite and start working on your next event now!