Promo Codes & Discounts
Drive bookings with strategic discount codes. Offer percentage or fixed discounts, control usage limits, and track promotional performance.
Overview
Promo codes are one of the most effective tools for driving bookings and incentivizing guest behavior. Create targeted discount campaigns for first-time guests, seasonal promotions, or exclusive offers. ExperienceLocal gives you complete control over discount structure, usage limits, and applicability.
Create Codes
Set up percentage or fixed amount discounts with custom codes
Control Usage
Set limits on total uses, per-customer uses, and expiration dates
Track Performance
Monitor redemptions, revenue impact, and customer behavior
Available on All Plans
Promo codes are available on all ExperienceLocal plans, from Starter to Enterprise. Create unlimited codes and run as many campaigns as you need to grow your business.
Discount Types
Choose the discount structure that best fits your promotional strategy:
Percentage Off
Take a percentage off the booking subtotal. Great for across-the-board promotions and makes guests feel like they're getting a deal regardless of booking size.
- • "SUMMER20" - 20% off all beach experiences (capped at $50)
- • "EARLYBIRD15" - 15% off bookings made 30 days in advance
- • "LOYALTY25" - 25% off for returning guests
Fixed Amount Off
Take a specific dollar amount off the booking subtotal. Perfect for welcome offers, gift certificates, and promotional partnerships where you want predictable discount amounts.
- • "WELCOME10" - $10 off your first booking
- • "GIFT50" - $50 gift certificate from a partner hotel
- • "THANKYOU25" - $25 off as a thank-you to loyal guests
Combining Discount Strategies
Use percentage discounts for broad campaigns and fixed amounts for targeted offers. For example, run "SPRING20" (20% off) for everyone, while also offering "VIP50" ($50 off) to your most valuable customers.
Creating Promo Codes
Navigate to Dashboard → Promo Codes to create and manage your discount campaigns.
Basic Information
Choose a memorable code and internal name for tracking.
- • Code: What guests enter (e.g., "SUMMER20", "WELCOME10")
- • Name: Internal reference (e.g., "Summer 2024 Campaign")
- • Description: Notes on campaign goals and target audience
Discount Configuration
Define your discount structure and any spending requirements.
- • Discount Type: Percentage or fixed amount
- • Discount Value: Amount or percentage (e.g., 20% or $10)
- • Minimum Purchase: Optional spending threshold
- • Maximum Discount: Cap for percentage discounts (optional)
Usage Limits & Restrictions
Control how many times the code can be used and by whom.
- • Max Total Uses: Total redemptions allowed (unlimited if not set)
- • Max Uses Per Customer: Per-email limit (default: 1)
- • First-Time Only: Restrict to new customers
- • Valid Dates: Start and end dates for the promotion
Experience Targeting
Choose which experiences the code applies to (optional).
- • All Experiences: Leave blank to apply site-wide
- • Specific Experiences: Select which experiences qualify
- • Exclude Experiences: Block code from certain experiences
Property Scope
Choose if the code works across all properties or just one specific property.
Example Promo Code Configuration:
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Code: SUMMER20
Name: Summer 2024 Promotion
Discount Type: Percentage
Discount Value: 20%
Max Discount: $50
Min Purchase: $75
Max Total Uses: 500
Max Per Customer: 1
Valid From: June 1, 2024
Valid Until: August 31, 2024
Applicable To: All beach & water experiences
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━Promotional Strategies
Strategic promo code campaigns can significantly boost bookings during slow periods, acquire new customers, and reward loyalty.
New Customer Acquisition
Incentivize first-time guests to try your experiences with welcome discounts.
Seasonal Campaigns
Drive bookings during specific seasons or fill slow periods.
Flash Sales
Create urgency with limited-time, limited-quantity promotions.
Early Bird Incentives
Reward guests who book in advance to improve revenue forecasting.
Loyalty Rewards
Thank returning guests and encourage repeat bookings.
Partnership Promotions
Partner with hotels, airlines, or local businesses for co-marketing.
Layered Campaign Strategy
Run multiple codes simultaneously for different audiences. For example, have "SUMMER20" as your public campaign, "VIP30" for email subscribers, and "PARTNER50" for hotel guests. Each code targets a different segment without cannibalizing the others.
Tracking Performance
Monitor your promo code campaigns in real-time to understand what's working and optimize your promotional strategy.
Key Metrics to Track
- Redemption Rate: How many guests use the code
- Average Order Value: Booking size with code applied
- Total Discount Given: Revenue invested in promotion
- Conversion Rate: Percentage of viewers who book
- New vs. Returning: Customer acquisition effectiveness
Usage Details
View detailed usage history for each promo code:
- Guest name and email for each redemption
- Redemption date and time
- Discount amount applied
- Associated booking number
- Revenue and margin impact
Real-Time Status Monitoring
Best Practices
Code Design & Messaging
- Use memorable, easy-to-type codes (SUMMER20, not xK9p2L4v)
- Make codes relevant to the promotion (WELCOME, FLASH, VIP)
- Avoid confusing characters (0/O, 1/I, 5/S)
- Include discount amount in code when possible (SAVE20, OFF50)
- Test codes before launching campaigns
Strategic Implementation
- Set expiration dates to create urgency
- Use minimum purchase amounts to protect margins
- Cap percentage discounts with max amounts
- Limit total redemptions for flash sales
- Segment audiences with different codes
Margin Protection
- Start with smaller discounts (10-15%) and test effectiveness
- Use max discount caps on percentage codes
- Exclude low-margin experiences if needed
- Monitor discount ROI regularly
- Consider contribution margin, not just revenue
Campaign Management
- Deactivate codes immediately after campaigns end
- Archive old codes rather than deleting (preserves data)
- Review performance weekly during active campaigns
- A/B test different discount amounts
- Document campaign results for future planning
Avoid Discount Dependency
While promo codes are effective, overusing them can train guests to wait for discounts. Use codes strategically for specific goals (acquisition, seasonality, inventory management) rather than as a constant sales tactic. Aim for 20-30% of bookings using codes, not 70-80%.
Guest Experience
Promo codes are seamlessly integrated into the booking widget for a smooth guest experience.
Booking Flow Integration
- 1.Guest selects experience and enters booking details
- 2.On checkout page, they see "Have a promo code?" button
- 3.Guest enters code and clicks "Apply"
- 4.Discount validates instantly and updates pricing breakdown
- 5.Guest sees new total and completes booking
Error Handling
- Clear error messages for invalid codes
- Helpful messages for expired or maxed-out codes
- Minimum purchase warnings with amount needed
- Specific messages for inapplicable experiences
- First-time customer restrictions clearly communicated
Related Documentation
Ready to Launch Your First Campaign?
Create strategic promo codes to drive bookings, reward loyalty, and grow your business. Start with a simple welcome offer and expand from there.
Create Promo Code