Promo codes: why they work, and why so few organisers use them

Promo codes are one of the best-worn tools in marketing. E-commerce, travel, hospitality — a discount code is a proven reason to buy today rather than think about it. In event marketing they turn up more and more, but rarely as strategy.

We keep meeting organisers who are not getting what a promo code can give them, even though it is the cheapest lever there is on a slow week of sales.

What a promo code actually is

A code somebody types at checkout to get a better price. It can carry a validity window, usage limits and conditions — and that is what makes it more than a discount: a measurable instrument attached to a campaign.

• lift ticket sales
• make a campaign measurable
• pull a decision earlier, or force one later
• speak to a specific group rather than to everybody
• reward the people who always come

Where they work best

Early bird. Codes for the people who book first bring revenue forward and give you a picture of the house weeks ahead of the night.

Last minute. When sales stall in the final week, a tightly-dated code creates a reason to act. It is how the remaining seats go.

Season and holidays. SUMMER25, BLACKFRIDAY20, VALENTINE2FOR1: a code tied to an occasion reliably produces a spike.

Partners and referrals. A code of their own for each collaboration, media partner or promoter tells you afterwards exactly who sold — and who only shared.

Loyalty and VIPs. Regulars, members, subscribers: an exclusive code is a reward that costs you nothing but the margin you chose to give.

Why organisers still hesitate

Too fiddly. Windows, minimum quantities, usage caps — in most systems a code is a small project.

Not measurable. Without clean attribution nobody can say which code sold. What you cannot measure, you do not repeat.

Fear of the discount trap. The worry that an audience learns never to buy at full price. Reasonable — and exactly why codes should be dated and tied to an occasion.

Strategy rather than a blanket cut

Used properly a promo code is not a price reduction but steering: it segments your audience, attaches a sale to a campaign, pulls revenue forward and clears the remainder. A dated code also creates urgency — the strongest lever in the buying decision, and the only free one.

How a code is made in Entrello

In your shop’s discount codes you set, in order:

• the reduction on the ticket price
• the code itself, say EARLYBIRD20 or SUMMER15
• an internal name, so you can find it again in November
• the validity window
• optionally: a minimum number of tickets per order, how many codes may apply at once, and a cap on redemptions — “the first ten”, for instance

The advanced settings are skippable in most cases. A working code takes under a minute.

Codes for partners

Each partnership gets its own link, and every sale through it is unambiguously attributed. That gives a partner a reason to promote your event properly — and gives you a number instead of an impression.

In short

A promo code is a tool, not a markdown. It lifts sales, makes campaigns measurable, reaches a specific group, clears the remainder and activates partners. The obstacle was never the idea, it was the effort — and that is now a minute inside your shop.