Promo Codes

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Overview

Promo codes and offers help you fill seats and reward loyal audiences. You can give a discount to anyone who enters a code, for example PANTO10 in a campaign email, give Friends Members an automatic discount on selected shows, tag customers automatically based on what they buy, hide special ticket types behind a password, and run a full membership scheme.

Offers are built as simple rules: if something is true, then do something. For example: if the ticket has the promo code, then apply a 10% discount. Or: if the customer buys a Child ticket, then give them the tag Family Booker.

Create a promo code

A promo code is added to the ticket types it should apply to, using the Ticket Tag field.

●      Go to Calendar & Scheduling > Events and open the event

●      Click View Times & Prices to open the ticket information

●      Enter your promo code in the Ticket Tag field for each ticket type the code should work on, for example PANTO10 on the Adult and Child tickets

●      Save

Then create the offer that tells Backstage Manager what discount the code gives (see below).

Create an offer

Go to Email & Promotions > Promo Codes to create your offer. There are three main types.

Standard promo code discount

Use this when customers enter a code to get a discount, for example a code in a campaign email, on a flyer or for a school group.

●      Enter a name and description for the offer, for example Panto Early Bird 10%

●      Choose If ticket has the promo code

●      Choose the promo code, for example PANTO10

●      Choose apply the discount

●      Select the discount to give, for example 10% off

●      Click Add Offer

Discount on a type of show for tagged customers

Use this to give a group of customers an automatic discount on a category of shows, for example Friends Members getting 15% off every drama in the season.

●      Enter a name and description for the offer, for example Friends Drama Discount

●      Choose If booking category is

●      Choose the category, for example Drama

●      Select and

●      Choose if someone has the tag

●      Choose the customer tag, for example Friends Member

●      Choose apply the discount and select the discount

●      Click Add Offer

The shows must have the right category set in Calendar & Scheduling > Events for the offer to apply.

Tag customers automatically based on what they buy

Use this to build your audience groups automatically, for example tagging everyone who buys a Child ticket as a Family Booker, so you can send them family show campaigns later.

●      Enter a name and description for the offer, for example Tag Family Bookers

●      Choose If a ticket sold with tag

●      Choose the ticket tag, for example Child

●      Select give the customer the tag

●      Choose the customer tag to give, for example Family Booker

●      Click Add Offer

Manage existing offers

●      Your offers are listed on the Promo Codes page, where you can view, search, edit or deactivate them, for example deactivating an early bird offer once its deadline has passed

How customers use a promo code

●      When booking online, customers enter the code in Enter Discount Code and click Apply

●      To check the code has worked, click Show Order Summary. The discount appears in the order total

●      Box office staff can do the same when taking a booking in person or over the phone

Password tickets

Password tickets are ticket types that stay hidden until the right password is entered. Use them for:

●      Season ticket or subscriber prices

●      Friends priority booking before general sale

●      Complimentary tickets that only certain box office staff can issue, for example company or press comps

●      Special rates for a particular group, for example a local business or a school

Set up password tickets:

●      Open the ticket type’s advanced ticket settings in Calendar & Scheduling > Events > View Times & Prices

●      Set a password. The same password can be applied to several ticket types

●      Customers are asked for the password during booking. Any ticket type with a password stays hidden until it is entered

To use password tickets online, go to Admin > Settings, click the Storefront tab and select Yes for Password Tickets Online.

Run a Friends or membership scheme

You can combine tags, offers and automations to run a membership scheme, such as a Friends scheme, where members join, are welcomed automatically and receive discounts.

Set up the membership

●      Create your membership as an event or product, for example Friends Membership 2026, and give it a category

●      When setting the category, set the days until expiry if membership lasts for a fixed period, for example 365 days

●      Create a customer tag for members, for example Friends Member

●      Alternatively, you can sell membership as a ticket type within existing events or seasons, using a ticket tag

Tag members automatically when they join

If membership is an event or product:

●      Go to Email & Promotions > Promo Codes

●      Enter a name for the rule. The description is optional

●      Select If booking category is and choose the membership category

●      Select then, followed by give the customer the tag

●      Choose the member tag, for example Friends Member

●      Click Add Offer

If membership is a ticket type:

●      Go to Email & Promotions > Promo Codes

●      Enter a name for the rule

●      Select If a ticket sold with tag and choose the membership ticket tag

●      then is selected automatically. Select give the customer the tag

●      Choose the member tag

●      Click Add Offer

Send new members a welcome email automatically

●      Create a welcome email in Email & Promotions > Template Designs

●      Create a campaign using that template in Email & Promotions > Campaigns

●      Go to Contracts & Signatures > Automation and click Add Workflowte

●      Enter a name and select Time after a tag is added to contact

●      Choose the member tag, for example Friends Member

●      Set how long after joining the email should be sent, for example 1 hour

●      Select Send Email to Contact and choose your welcome campaign

●      Click Save Workflowte

Give members an automatic discount

●      Go to Email & Promotions > Promo Codes

●      Enter a name for the rule, for example Friends 10% Off

●      Select If booking category is and choose the category of shows the discount applies to

●      Select and, then if someone has the tag, and choose the member tag

●      then is selected by default. Select apply the discount and choose the discount

●      Click Add Offer

The shows must have the right booking category set for the discount to apply.

Limit how many tickets members can buy

You can limit how many tickets each member can buy, for example two Friends priority tickets per member for a popular show.

●      For the whole event: Go to Calendar & Scheduling > Events, open the event and enter a figure in the contact limit section. The limit applies to every ticket type for that event

●      For one ticket type: Open the event, go to View/Edit Times and Prices, click the cog icon beside the ticket type, enter the figure and click Save at the top of the page

Unique codes and code limits

You can upload a list of promo codes, each with its own limit, for example a unique code for each school, or a batch of single-use codes for a competition or a partner organisation.

●      Go to Admin > Settings and enter the text you want shown beside the promo code box online, for example Have a discount code?

●      Make sure the Promo Codes Online toggle is switched on

●      In the Data Import section of Settings, download the promo codes template

●      Enter each code under Eligible code name and how many times it can be used under Eligible code limit

●      Save the file as CSV (Comma delimited) (*.csv). If you rename the file, keep the .csv ending or the codes won’t work

●      Go to Email & Promotions > Promo Codes and upload your file

●      Open the event you want the codes to work on, click the cog icon beside the ticket type, find Promo Setting and change it to List. Click Promo List and choose your uploaded file

●      In Email & Promotions > Promo Codes, create a new offer. Choose if item in the list, click select list and choose your list

●      Choose the discount and save

Promo code ideas for theatres

●      Early bird: A discount code in your season launch email for bookings made before a set date

●      Group and schools: A code or password ticket with a group rate

●      Partner offers: Unique codes for a local business or a community partner

●      Last minute: A code sent to past bookers when a performance has seats left

●      Friends: Automatic member discounts and priority booking using tags and password tickets

Tips

●      Keep codes short and easy to type, for example the show name and the discount

●      Deactivate offers when they end so codes can’t be used after the deadline

●      Test every code yourself with Show Order Summary before sending it out

●      Use the Dashboards and Reports in Reports & Insights to see which offers are working