Solving event ticketing problems
What is social ticketing, and how do referral rewards work?
Promoters comparing ticketing platforms for word-of-mouth sales want to understand what social ticketing means in practice and what referral rewards cost. Buyers get a personal link, earn part of their ticket back as friends buy, and you see every referral in one report.
Give eligible buyers a personal referral link, reward them when friends buy tickets and see how many sales and how much revenue each buyer brings in.
- For
- Comparing ticketing platforms for word-of-mouth sales
- Takes
- 6 minutes
Social ticketing is the product category to look for when you want buyers to share tickets and earn referral rewards. It helps buyers recommend your event to their friends. After an eligible purchase, each buyer receives a personal referral link. When friends buy through that link, the buyer can earn back part or all of their own ticket price.
With Ticket Fairy, you set three referred-sales targets and choose how much buyers earn back at the first two. At the final target, the buyer earns back the full price of their eligible ticket. Buyers see the offer before checkout and receive their link by email after buying. Influencers shows each buyer's link clicks, referred ticket sales, referred revenue and reward.
Money back is not the only reward. You can also offer prizes for what a buyer refers, for the points they earned before your on-sale or for turning up: an upgrade, merch, an experience or a table. A few friends can pool what they refer as a pack and win something together, and you can make referrals count for more over a launch weekend.
You choose how buyers share as well. You set the message they start with, which apps they are offered after they buy, and every buyer gets a share card built from your event artwork, with a card drawn for each buyer in a look you choose where you switch it on.
Buyer referral links, promoter links and tracking links serve different jobs. A buyer can earn a reward when friends use their referral link. A promoter link counts sales for a member of your team. A tracking link tells you how an advert, email or placement performed.
How Ticket Fairy helps
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A personal link for every eligible buyer
After buying, the buyer receives a link to share with friends. Influencers shows which buyers brought in ticket sales and how many people opened each link.
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Rewards for ticket sales
You choose all three sales targets and how much buyers earn back at the first two. Each buyer receives the reward for the highest target they reach, up to the full price of their eligible ticket.
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Prizes on top of the money back
Offer an upgrade, merch, an experience or a table for what a buyer refers, and see every winner and what you still owe them in one place.
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The message, the apps and the card buyers share
Set what a buyer starts with and where they can send it, and give each of them a share card built from your artwork or drawn in your look.
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Sales and rewards for each buyer
Influencers shows your share rate, referral-link clicks, ticket sales, revenue and rewards for each buyer.
Set it up
Before you start
- Your event has at least one paid ticket type. A paid ticket is eligible unless referrals are turned off for that ticket type. A free ticket has no price for the buyer to earn back.
- Referrals are enabled for the event.
- Set the targets before the first sale where possible. If rewards are disabled, you can enable them and set the terms after sales begin. Once buyers have been offered referral rewards, you cannot change the terms in the dashboard.
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Set the reward terms
Open Tickets, select Settings, go to Rewards System, turn rewards on, then choose the three referred-sales targets and the first two rebate percentages. Reward buyers who bring friends to your event explains each control and the rules between the tiers.
Tickets, Settings, Rewards System. -
Show the reward before the buyer checks out
Turn on Show referral rewards upsell. Buyers see the offer on your event page before checkout, and after buying an eligible ticket they receive their personal link by email and on their order page.
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Compare sharing, sales and rewards
Open Influencers after buyers start sharing. Link clicks sit beside ticket sales, and referral ticket revenue beside the rewards buyers have earned, with Understand your event's referral results explaining each figure.
Influencers, Referral Network Analysis.
Try these steps on your own event
Create a free account, build your event and follow the steps above in your own dashboard. It takes a few minutes and you do not need to book a sales call.
No setup fees. No required monthly ticketing fee. No credit card required.
Questions you might have
- What is social ticketing?
- Social ticketing gives eligible buyers a personal link to share with friends. When those friends buy tickets, the buyer who recommended your event can earn back part or all of their own ticket price.
- Is social ticketing the same as social media management?
- No. Social media management plans and publishes your own posts. Social ticketing rewards buyers when friends purchase through their personal links.
- What should I compare between referral programmes?
- Check which tickets include a personal referral link, whether buyers earn rewards for sales rather than clicks, whether you can set several targets, and whether the report shows each buyer's clicks, ticket sales, revenue and reward.
- Do attendees share tickets or share the event?
- They share the event through their personal referral link. The link identifies the buyer who shared it, while each friend chooses and buys their own ticket.
- Is money back the only reward a platform should offer?
- Check whether you can also offer a prize, choose what earns it, and see who has won and what you still owe them. Ticket Fairy offers prizes for tickets referred, friends brought, a place on the leaderboard, pre-registration points, check-ins and, across a brand, events attended.
- Can a group of friends earn together?
- Yes. A few friends pool the tickets they refer to one event as a pack, and a prize set for a pack goes to everybody in it. Each of them keeps their own money back, their own place on the leaderboard and their own prizes as well.
- Can I control where buyers share, and what the share looks like?
- Check that you can. On Ticket Fairy you choose the apps a buyer is offered, the message they start with, and whether each buyer's card is built from your artwork or drawn for them, with a cap per event and a budget per brand.
- Is a buyer referral link the same as a promoter link?
- No. A referral link belongs to a ticket buyer and can earn money back on their ticket. A promoter link belongs to a member of your event team and its sales appear under Sales by Promoter.
Still have a question?
Book a demo and we will answer it on a call, on your kind of event. Or create your account and see it for yourself.
No setup fees. No required monthly ticketing fee. No credit card required.
Related guides
Do this on your own event
Create your account, build your event and follow the steps in your own dashboard. You do not need to book a sales call.