Are Your Event Titles Invisible to Potential Attendees?
Our data reveals a stunning fact: 99% of top-performing events avoid using just an artist’s or speaker’s name as their title. Yet this basic mistake continues to cost event organizers countless registrations every day.
When potential attendees encounter your event on Facebook, community calendars, or a friend’s social feed, you have mere seconds to capture their interest. A bland “John Smith” or generic “Live Music” doesn’t just underperform, it actively repels new attendees who have no idea what to expect.
This matters to us. We’re on a mission to help make sure more people find the events that are meant for them. So it’s painful to see something as simple as an event title stop that from happening.
Why Most Event Titles Fail (And Few Succeed)
Examine our analysis of the top 100 most-clicked events (and the 100 least clicked events) and a clear pattern emerges. While only 1% used a performer’s name alone, a remarkable 93% employed rich, descriptive titles that created immediate intrigue and communicated clear value.
Consider this: the highest-performing event in our entire database wasn’t headlined by a celebrity or major brand. It was a comedy show that explicitly stated its value proposition: “Denver Comedy Underground! Denver’s Best Comedy! Free Drink, Free Pizza, No Kidding.”
Transform Your Registration Numbers with Strategic Titling
Your event title isn’t just a label, it’s your most powerful marketing asset after your featured image.
The right title works tirelessly across every platform, attracting ideal attendees while your competitors’ events get scrolled past without a second thought.
Take a look at your local event calendar and imagine your title next to the other events on the calendar.
Imagine how your event title could stand out.
Our research has uncovered five specific title strategies that consistently drive higher click-through rates:
- Adding presenter context that builds credibility
- Highlighting tangible value propositions
- Incorporating location elements that create community
- Using proven formulas like the “Tribute to” structure
- Including time elements that create a sense of occasion
Create Your High-Converting Event Title Now
Why continue losing potential attendees to boring, forgettable titles? Try our free AI Event Title Generator and transform your event marketing today. Input your event details and instantly receive data-backed title suggestions proven to drive registrations.
The difference between being ignored and being sold out often comes down to those few critical words to describe an event.
Essential Questions to Ask When Creating Your Event Title
To create a title that will attract your target audience, ask yourself:
- Who am I trying to reach? Think about who your target attendees are. For a conference, they might be business owners and investors. For a concert, they might be fans of a specific genre or looking for a particular experience.
- Why should people attend? What will attendees gain from your event? This is where highlighting value propositions becomes crucial.
- How can I make this event memorable? Your title should set your event apart from others on a local calendar.
- Does the title grab attention quickly? You have just a fraction of a second to make an impression.
Practical Guidelines for Event Title Creation
Keep it Clear and Concise
The most successful titles in our data are clear about what the event offers.
Keep your total title under 12 words, with the most important elements in the first 4-6 words.
Some platforms cut off longer titles, so front-load the crucial information.
Avoid Overly Promotional Language
As Google’s guidelines demonstrate, overly promotional titles can backfire:
- ❌ “Concert – 50% off until Saturday!” (Promotion)
- ❌ “Music festival – only $10!” (Price promotion)
- ✅ “Artful Days: Community Music and Arts Festival” (Better alternative)
So it’s important to find a balance and make sure the value proposition is something more unique. Notice how Denver Comedy Undergrounds hides “free pizza” in a nice tagline at the end: “Free Drink, Free Pizza, No Kidding”
Check out this blog post on What Is Considered An Event?, based on the feedback we’ve gotten from the hundreds of local community event calendars we work with. That article has some ideas on how to spin a promotion into an event too.
Use Language Your Audience Understands
Keep your language at approximately a 7th-grade reading level for maximum accessibility. Avoid industry jargon unless your event is specifically for experts.
The free tool Hemingway Editor can tell you what the reading level of your event title is. The average reading level in the United States is considered a Grade 7 level. So keeping it Grade 7 comprehension level and below means it will be accessible to more people.
Make Yourself Excited
If your title does not evoke a feeling of excitement, then it’s probably not going to sell.
Think about who the intended audience is and what they might want to hear. Whether it’s a conference for new moms or electronic dance show, think about your target audience and what they might be looking for in a title.
Put yourself in their shoes.
Think about how people would describe this event if someone else asked them to summarize it in one sentence. If you can’t come up with anything on your own, try asking a few other people as well.
Especially try to imagine you’ve never heard of your venue or the performer before. Is there a way you can create some intrigue that at least makes a potential attendee want to learn more?
The Artist-Only Dilemma: How to Create Compelling Titles When “It’s Just a Concert”
Many event marketers face a common challenge: you need to promote an artist or performer, but you don’t control the event format.
You’re handed a basic concert or performance and told to “make it sell.”
Our research at Event Vesta reveals this doesn’t have to limit your marketing potential.
The Data: Artist-Only Titles Underperform
After analyzing the Top 100 most-clicked events on the Event Vesta platform in 2024-2025, we found something striking: only 1% of top-performing events used just an artist’s name as the title.
The lone example, “Polina Osetinskaya,” was the exception that proves the rule. She is a famous Russian pianist and the event got a lot of traction on Facebook and classical-music specific websites.
Even more telling, 93% of top events used rich, descriptive titles that went well beyond simply naming the performer or event type. This wasn’t just true for special events, it applied across concerts, comedy shows, and performances of all kinds.
Proven Title Strategies When You Can’t Change the Event
For marketers who can’t control the event format but need stronger titles, our data reveals several high-performing approaches:
1. Add Presenter Context
Examples from Top 100:
- “AEG + Resound Present: Leisure at Empire Garage”
- “LEVITATION: SLOWDIVE w/ Drop Nineteens, Glare, Airiel, & Ringo Deathstarr”
Adding who’s presenting the event instantly elevates a simple artist name and provides context and credibility. The magic here is that the more you do this, the better it performs. If locals aren’t familiar with your organization, this is an opportunity to get your name out there over and over and over again. If you consistently put on good shows, people will start to associate that name with a great show, even if they don’t know the artist name.
2. Highlight Value Propositions
Examples from Top 100:
- “Denver Comedy Underground! Denver’s Best Comedy! Free Drink, Free Pizza, No Kidding”
- “Dinner & Music Cruise”
The Denver Comedy event was our #1 clicked event, proving that explicitly stating what attendees receive drives significant engagement.
3. Add Location Elements
Examples from Top 100:
- “Soulful Sounds in St. Augustine”
- “Live Music Night in Downtown Tampa!”
- “Music by the Mesa @ New Terrain Brewing Co”
Location references create a sense of place and community, helping potential attendees visualize themselves at the event.
4. Use the “Tribute” Formula
Examples from Top 100:
- “Candlelight: A Tribute to Coldplay”
- “Candlelight: A Tribute to Taylor Swift”
- “Candlelight: A Tribute to Adele”
The “Tribute to” format appeared 13+ times in our Top 100, making it one of the most reliably successful title structures.
5. Incorporate Time Elements
Examples from Top 100:
- “Friday Night Concert Series”
- “Miller Lite Thunder Thursdays Summer Music Series”
Adding time elements creates a sense of occasion beyond just another concert. And a great way to get more mileage out of event listings is to bundle a series together like this and call it a “Concert Series” saving the artist names for the description.
Marketing Without Creative Control
The key insight for marketers is that even when you can’t change the event itself, you maintain complete control over how you frame and position it through your title.
The most successful event promoters on our platform understand this distinction: the event is what happens inside the venue, but the title is how potential attendees imagine the experience before they arrive.
By leveraging these proven title strategies, our data shows you can significantly increase click-through rates and attendance even when working with a standard concert or performance format.
Your Title Transformation Checklist
Next time you’re tasked with promoting “just a concert with an artist,” try:
- Adding a presenter framework: “[Your Venue] Presents: [Artist]”
- Highlighting unique value: What’s included beyond just the performance?
- Referencing location: Connect to your specific geography
- Using the tribute format if applicable: “A Tribute to” or “An Evening of”
- Adding time elements: Connect to season, day of week, or time of day
The data from Event Vesta’s Top 100 events shows these small title adjustments can lead to significant increases in audience engagement, even when the underlying event remains unchanged.
Need Help Getting Started?
Try our Free AI Event Name Generator for inspiration! Input what your event is about, the vibe, and other details to get customized title suggestions based on our research into what works.
Want help promoting your events and advice on how to make your events more exciting? Schedule some time with us to learn how we can help with promotion for events.
