A promo code is a price that only some people can see. Used well it fills a quiet night, rewards the people who tell their friends, and lets you say yes to the local school without making everyone else feel overcharged. Used badly it trains your whole audience to wait for a code. This guide covers the mechanics, the shapes that work, and the two mistakes that quietly cost organisers money.
The three kinds of code
| Type | What it does | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Percentage off | Takes a percentage off each eligible ticket | Partners, members, a launch-week offer |
| Fixed amount off | Takes a set amount off each eligible ticket, not off the order | "£5 off for students", keeping the maths visible |
| Guest list or special price | Unlocks a hidden ticket type at its own price, including £0 | Comps, staff, a member rate that the public never sees |
The third kind is the one most organisers have not met. Instead of discounting a public ticket, it reveals a ticket the page does not otherwise show. On tickts you create it from Promo Codes, pick the event, choose the guest list type, and give the hidden ticket a name, a price, a number available and a per-person limit; tickts creates the hidden ticket type on the event for you. Everyone else sees the normal tickets at the normal prices.
Creating a code, step by step
- In the dashboard sidebar under Marketing, open Promos and press Add Promo.
- Type the code: three to thirty letters, numbers, dashes or underscores. It is saved in capitals; fans can type it in any case.
- Choose the type and the value. A percentage value of 25 is 25% off each ticket; a fixed value of 5 is £5 off each eligible ticket.
- Set the limits you want: total uses, uses per person, a start date and an end date.
- Choose the event, or All Events to run one code across everything you sell. Pick a specific event first if you want to limit the code to particular ticket tiers.
- Press Create Promo Code.
Fans redeem it on your event page: press "Got a code?" or "Have a promo code?", enter it, and press Apply. The discount applies to ticket prices only, never to add-ons, merchandise, donations or postage, and you can pause a code without deleting it.
Limits are the whole trick
- Total uses caps how many orders can use a code. Total tickets caps the discounted tickets instead, so a table of six counts once against uses but six against tickets. Pick the one that matches the deal you meant to offer.
- Uses per person at 1 stops a code shared in a group chat from turning into a free-for-all.
- Start and end dates make a code a campaign rather than a permanent leak. A code that lives forever ends up in a forum.
- Tier limits keep a discount on the tickets you chose. "20% off Standard" should not also be 20% off VIP.
Shapes that work
- The partner code. 10% off, named after the partner, limited to a date range. They put it in their newsletter; you see exactly what they sent you in Sales.
- The launch code. A short-lived code for your own list on the day tickets go on sale. It gives the people who already like you a reason to buy in the first 48 hours, which is when momentum is made.
- The quiet-night code. Fixed amount off, tight date window, sent to past buyers. Fixed amounts feel more generous on cheaper tickets and are easier for a buyer to check.
- The guest list. A hidden £0 ticket with a per-person limit of one and a cap of twelve, code shared with the committee. Whatever they do not claim stays on public sale, because on tickts a hidden allocation counts inside the date's overall capacity rather than being held back from it.
Two mistakes that cost money
Discounting in public. A code printed on the poster is not a code, it is a price cut everyone takes. Worse, a public price that drops after early buyers paid full price teaches them to wait next time. Keep codes to the channels they were made for.
Discounting what would have sold anyway. The best codes move a decision: a partner's audience who would not otherwise have heard, a quiet Tuesday that needed thirty more, a member who was on the fence. A code on a night that sells out on its own is money handed back for nothing. Look at last year's sales curve before you decide which nights need help.
Buy X get Y free is not a code
If the deal is "two for one" or "buy three get one free", do not make people type anything. On tickts that is a multibuy offer set on the ticket type itself: the ticket carries a badge, the free ones are applied at checkout as their own line, and every ticket issued is a real QR ticket that counts toward capacity. A cap stops one buyer clearing the whole deal. It stacks with codes, group discounts and member rates, each shown separately on the order.
What you can see afterwards
Each order records the code it used and the discount applied, so a partner's code is a traceable line in Sales rather than a feeling. Compare redemptions against what you gave away and you will know within one event which codes earned their keep.
