Promo Codes & Social Discounts

Can I create discount codes for customers to use?

Absolutely! We allow any number of discount codes to be created. Discount codes can allow for either a dollar amount or percentage discount. Promo codes can also be applied to an entire order, or you can limit the number of tickets per order to use it on. So, you could have have the code “GIVEME5” give a customer $5 off their entire purchase, while the code “SHOUT20” could give a customer 20% off each ticket.

There are also two ways to set up promo codes: event-specific and venue-wide. They both work in the same manner, but venue-wide promo codes will be accepted for any event hosted at your venue, while event-specific codes will only be accepted for that one event. For more information on venue-wide promo codes follow this link. Below are the simple steps to create your promo codes, and the options you have available.

First, head over to your events section and select "Promo Codes" from the Select an Option dropdown menu on your event. This will take you to the page to create a discount code. Then, fill in the options on screen with the settings you want:

Type: Choose either Dollars or Percent for your discount type.
Amount: How much of a discount do you want to give the customer? (Tip: use "20" for a 20% discount, not 0.2)
Code: Assign the code customers will enter to get the discount. Use any combination of letters and numbers. This will not be case sensitive.
Total Allowed Uses: If you want to limit the number of times the discount can be used, enter that limit here. For instance, if you want to limit use to the first 100 customers, enter "100"
Max Uses Per Order: This is the number of tickets in each order the promo code discount should apply to. Leave blank if you want it to apply to all tickets in order.
Availability: Choose whether this discount can be applied to online ticket sales, in-person ticket sales, or to have it available for purchases made everywhere.
Auto-Apply Quantity: Easily set up group discounts! If a number is entered in this field, then the discount will automatically be applied when a customer purchases at least that many tickets. [I.e. For a group discount on 10+ tickets, enter "10" as the Auto-Apply Quantity.] When Auto-Apply Quantity is used, the promo code itself will not need to be entered during online checkout. To use the discount on an in-person sale, however, the cashier will need to apply the discount on the app before swiping the customer's card.
Valid Start / End Date: Want to offer a discount only over a specific time period? This option lets you do just that! Select the day you want this promo code to become activated in the "Valid Start Date" field, and the day you want the promo code to stop working in the "Valid End Date" field. Customers will only be able to use this promo code at purchase during that timeframe.

Make sure to select the "Enabled" checkbox, then hit the "Create Promo Code" button. Once you've created the code, you will be able to choose which ticket types the promo code can be used on. Select the checkbox next to a ticket type to assign the promo code to this ticket type; deselect the checkbox to not allow the discount to be used on it.

We track the number of times every discount code is used, so you can see which code (or marketing campaign) worked the best! This can also be a great feature for setting up “referral” tracking. For instance, let’s say you come to an arrangement with a blogger that you’ll pay them $1 for every ticket that is sold based on their blogging. But how can you be sure a sale came from them? Give that blogger a special promo code to use, and tally up the number of times it’s used to make a purchase!

How do “Social Discounts” work?

We know that some of the most cost effective advertising these days comes through social media. Because of that, we’ve designed Passage to be the most social-friendly service out there! Like most services, Passage allows users to share any event page via Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and other social media services. But unlike most other services, we also give you the ability to incentivise that sharing!

With the best current online ticketing services, the user is asked if they’d like to share their purchase of a ticket after they have already purchased. Because the user has to allow a post to be shared on the network, this rarely happens except with the most loyal customers. While it’s impossible (and against all social network terms of service) to actually force a user to share their purchase, we’ve come up with another way to drastically increase sharing rates: social incentives! With Passage, you have the option of giving a discount to any user who shares your event. If a discount is set, then when the user goes to the checkout page, they’ll see a box prompting them to share your event for a discount. If they take 5 seconds to click the share link, they’ll receive the discount (instantly reflected on their transaction total). It’s simple, but effective since it’s actually part of the checkout process rather than after it.

To set up a social discount, head over to your events section and select "Social Discount" from the Select an Option dropdown menu on your event. This will open the page to set this up. Then, fill in the options on screen with the settings you want:

Name: This will be used by you to monitor the social discounts use in your reporting.
Type: Choose either Dollars or Percent for your discount type.
Amount: How much of a discount do you want to give the customer? (Tip: use "20" for a 20% discount, not 0.2)
Total Allowed Uses: If you want to limit the number of times the discount can be used, enter that limit here. For instance, if you want to limit to the first 100, enter "100"
Max Uses Per Order: This is the number of tickets in each order the promo code discount should apply to. Leave blank if you want it to apply to all tickets in order.
Social Instructions: Customize the text customers will see prompt them to share your event. By default this is, "Share this event with your friends to receive a discount!" But you can change this to whatever you think will catch your customers' eyes!
Social Link: Set the webpage the shared link will send people to. By default the link is set to the event page to encourage their friends to purchase tickets, but if you would rather they land on your website, social media profile, or any other website, you’re welcome to set that instead.