Creating Promotions

In this article we will cover the primary stages in the creation and launching of promotions. It’s easy and fun to setup and create your promotions which can often be done in less than 10 minutes.

You can set up and create promotions from scratch or from several available templates. You also have access to the extensive image library – especially useful if you don’t have a graphic artist.

There are five stages to setting up a promotion which we go into more detail below. Starting with choosing they type of promotion you want through to what your customer will be emailed when they register for your promo.

Promotion Types

Select a base promotion type to get started. Each can be customized dependent on your offer. There are three types of promotions - invites, vouchers, and tickets. Depending on what type of promotion you want will determine which you choose. Below we will briefly explain the differences between each type.

Invites with RSVP

Great choice when you have maximum capacity requirements for your event. Some ideas include:

• National and International observed holidays e.g. Easter
• National and international celebrated days e.g. Valentine’s day
• Themed events e.g. 80’s disco

Vouchers

Voucher promotions are a great way to drive customer acquisition or reward loyal customers - increasing revisits. Vouchers can help turn slow weeks around and grow your customer database in a very short amount of time. Venues might use this type of promotion for:

• Introducing new menus/menu items
• Group/function discounts
• Free offers
• Loyal customer rewards

Tickets

Having the ability to prepare the resources ahead of event is one of the key benefits of ticketing an event – paid or unpaid. Venues might use this type of promotion for:

• Live events/gigs e.g. bands
• Events restricted by capacity
• Themed events e.g. St. Patrick’s day

About your Event / Promotion listing

This is where you put the details about your event. It will be placed on your venue events site where customers can see and register for your promotions.

Adding an Image

The image you choose should best represent your event or promotion. The most successful images tend to be those that highlight the offer i.e. food items, beverages. Of course you can upload your own image or use the image library.

Title

Your title is super important. It is your opportunity to grab the interest of a customer and entice them to take up your offer. Your title should reflect the promotion offer.
Some title examples :

• FREE Coffee for Admins
• 2 for 1 Desserts
• Reserve a table for Mother’s Day
• Finals night – register for your FREE ticket

Description

This is your opportunity to explain more about your offer and build excitement. Be super specific - keeping your description to two or three short sentences.
Notes:

• Keep it brief
• Be specific
• Personal/ friendly tone

When is your Promotion / Event happening

Date and Time of Promotion / Event. This is the actual date and time for this promotion.

Age Restrictions

If your event has age restrictions you can set your preferred age here depending on your requirements. You might like to set age restrictions for event attendance or redemptions.

Customers register for your promo

This is how customers will register entering their details for your promotion. You can customize the landing page experience to optimize customer registrations.
This is where images and text can really make your promotion shine. We have found keeping designs fairly simple or accent designs work best. However it’s entirely up to you - you can try different combinations until you are happy.
Branding your venue is of course super important so it is always a good idea to have logo versions that work on both dark and light backgrounds. This is typically the venue’s logo.

Voucher / Ticket Page

These are emailed to your customer for redemption.
You can personalize the voucher/ticket for the customer and for tracking and reporting.
You can set ticketing/voucher parameters. For example how many tickets available, when the promotion to ends etc.
Email Customers will receive to download voucher / ticket
Once your customer has registered for your offer they will expect to receive an email from you. Customers are able to either print out or presented on a smart phone for redemption at your venue depending on your requirements.

We Are a Go For Launch

This is the final step. From here you can save and keep working on your promotion campaign or launch (launching will make the promotion visible to the public)

Summary

In this article we covered the primary steps in creating promotions including:

• Creating your offer
• The types of promotions
• Details about your event or promotion
• Viewing your promotion
• Emailing promotions to customers
• Launching your promotion