Integrations

Navigate to: Menu > Contracts & Signatures > Integrations

Overview

Integrations let you keep the tools you already use. Backstage Manager works alongside your existing ticketing system and connects to your spreadsheets, finance tools, CRM and marketing tools, so information flows between them without anyone rekeying it.

Works with your existing ticketing

Backstage Manager works with your current ticketing platform. There is no migration and no disruption, and everything stays where it is.

Pre-built ticketing integrations:

•       Spektrix

•       Ticketsolve

•       Eventbrite

Click Other Ticketing Platforms to see the other platforms available or to request one.

Connect your other tools

Link your spreadsheets, CRM, finance and marketing tools:

•       Google Sheets

•       Excel

•       Shopify

•       Gmail

•       QuickBooks

•       Xero

•       Stripe

•       Mailchimp

Thousands more pre-built integrations are available through Zapier. See the Zapier section below.

Advanced options

Click Advanced Options to set up the following.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics gives you free tools to analyse your data in one place.

•       Enter your Google Analytics ID

•       Click Save

If you don't have an account yet, click Get a Google Analytics Account.

Google Tag Manager

Google Tag Manager lets you update measurement codes on your website or mobile app without changing the site itself.

•       Enter your Tag Manager ID

•       Click Save

If you don't have an account yet, click Get a Tag Manager Account.

Loqate

Loqate provides address verification using global location data, so customer addresses are captured accurately at checkout.

•       Enter your Loqate API key

•       Click Save

If you don't have an account yet, click Sign Up and Configure.

Google Ads

Google Ads puts you in front of customers searching on Google Search and Maps, and you only pay for results such as clicks to your website.

•       Enter your Conversion ID

•       Enter the Format and Label

•       Set the Colour

•       Enter an Image URL

•       Set Remarketing to True or False

•       Click Save

If you don't have an account yet, click Get a Google Ads Account.

Social Media

Backstage Manager is pre-integrated with Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), LinkedIn, YouTube, Vimeo and Pinterest.

Click Go to Social Settings to connect your accounts. Your posts are then scheduled from Social Scheduling.

API

You can connect any other application to Backstage Manager using the API. The open API makes it easy to link the tools you already use.

•       Click Configure on the API panel

•       Follow the steps to generate and manage your API keys

Zapier

Click Go to Zapier Settings to open the Zapier integration. See the Zapier Integration article for full instructions.

API

Navigate to: Menu > Contracts & Signatures > Integrations > Advanced Options > API

What is an API?

An API (Application Programming Interface) is the code that lets two applications talk to each other. Instead of building everything from scratch, or copying information by hand from one system to another, an API lets your systems pass information between themselves automatically.

For example, if you want your website to show tonight's performances and how many seats are left, your website can ask Backstage Manager for that information through the API, rather than someone updating the page by hand every day.

What you can do with the API

•       Push data into Backstage Manager

•       Pull data out of Backstage Manager

•       Create contact lists

•       Get a list of events

•       Get the tickets linked to an order

•       Connect your social media accounts

•       Extract data and display it in your own reports

Integrate your website or build your own app

You can connect your own website or app to Backstage Manager to reach new customers.

Custom apps can be built to let your audience:

•       View their tickets

•       Use loyalty and membership options

•       Scan in and out at the door

•       Get news about on-sale dates

•       Pay for in-venue purchases such as bar or programme orders

This gives you full control over the customer journey.

Webhooks

Webhooks send information to your connected applications in real time, so you are notified straight away when something changes, rather than having to check for updates.

Pre-built integrations

Thousands of applications are already integrated through Zapier, so most tools can be connected without any development work. See the Zapier Integration section below.

Getting started with the API

The API is available to all customers. Contact your account manager for access, and they will provide the API documentation and your credentials.

Data Import: Contacts

You can import an existing contact list into Contacts & Relationships, for example a mailing list from a previous system or a list of members.

•       Download the data import template

•       Note that the file must be a .csv file and no larger than 4MB

•       Open the template in Excel or a similar program. It contains the columns needed for contacts.

•       Fill in your contacts (see the column guide below)

•       Save the file as a .csv

•       Go to the Help icon > Case, and submit a case with your import file attached

The support team will then schedule the import for you.

Import template columns

•       Company Name: The company or organisation the contact belongs to. If it doesn't already exist, it will be created automatically and the contact attached to it.

•       Job Title: The contact's job title

•       First Name and Last Name: The contact's name

•       Email: The contact's email address. If left blank, a stand-in address is created automatically.

•       Phone: The contact's phone number

•       Notes: Any notes about the contact. These appear in the Notes section of the contact's record.

•       Subscribed: Whether the contact has opted in to marketing. Enter Y for opted in.

•       Tags: The tags you want on the contact. Separate multiple tags with commas, for example Lead, Arts, Theatre

•       Address Line 1, Address Line 2, City, County, Country, Postcode: The contact's address. Use as many as you need, but Country is required. If Country is left blank, that contact will be rejected.

Tracking your import

Once scheduled, the import is added to the import table at the bottom of the screen, where you can see who scheduled it, the type of import and its status.

•       Import Lines: How many lines of data are to be imported

•       Result Lines: How many lines failed and were rejected

•       Imported Lines: How many lines were imported successfully

You can carry on working while the import runs. You'll get an email once it's complete.

If any lines failed, click Export Result to download a CSV listing the lines that weren't imported and the reason for each.

Zapier Integration

Navigate to: Menu > Contracts & Signatures > Integrations > Go to Zapier Settings

Overview

Zapier connects Backstage Manager to thousands of other apps without any coding. You build a "Zap", which is a simple rule that says: when something happens in one app, do something in another.

For example, when a new booking is confirmed in Backstage Manager, add a row to a Google Sheet and post a message in your team's Slack channel.

What Zapier offers:

•       No-code automation

•       Easy visual workflow builder

•       Over 9,000 apps and 450+ AI tools

•       Full audit trails and controls

•       SOC 2 and GDPR compliant

•       A free tier is available

How a Zap works

Every Zap has two parts:

•       Trigger: The event that starts the Zap, for example a new order or a card moving in a pipeline

•       Action: What happens next, for example creating a row in a spreadsheet or sending an email

You can add more than one action, so a single trigger can update several apps at once.

Set up a Zap

•       Go to Contracts & Signatures > Integrations

•       Click Go to Zapier Settings

•       Use the Search for Pairing Apps box to find the app you want to connect, or pick one from the list shown

•       Sign in to your Zapier account, or create one if you don't have one yet

•       Choose your trigger in Backstage Manager

•       Connect your Backstage Manager account when prompted, and allow access

•       Choose the action in the other app

•       Connect that app and map the fields you want to send across, for example customer name, event name and performance date

•       Test the Zap to make sure it works

•       Turn the Zap on

Your Zap now runs automatically whenever the trigger happens.

Manage your Zaps

All your Zaps are managed in your Zapier account. From there you can:

•       Turn a Zap on or off

•       Edit the trigger, actions or field mapping

•       See the task history, which shows every time the Zap ran and whether it succeeded

•       Fix and re-run any tasks that failed

Ideas for theatres

•       Add every new booking to a Google Sheet for your weekly sales meeting

•       Post a message in Slack or Teams when a show sells out or passes a sales target

•       Add new customers to your Mailchimp audience automatically

•       Send takings to Xero or QuickBooks for your finance team

•       Create a task in your project tool when a card moves to Contracting in your show pipeline

•       Send yourself an email summary of each day's box office sales

Troubleshooting

•       The Zap isn't running: Check it's turned on and that the trigger event has actually happened since you turned it on

•       Nothing appears in the other app: Check the task history in Zapier for errors, and check your field mapping

•       Connection errors: Reconnect your Backstage Manager or other app account in Zapier, as sign-ins can expire

•       Missing information: Some fields need to be mapped manually. Edit the Zap and check every field the other app requires is filled in