In this article, we’ll guide you through the steps to set up the Ticket Converter and configure refund options. You’ll also find information on how to run the Ticket Converter Report, send a campaign, and access customer responses.
Before you read this article, you should be familiar with:
- How to cancel Events and Instances
- How to Reschedule Instances
- Navigating Dotdigital
- Designing a Dotdigital Email Campaign
What is the Ticket Converter?
The Ticket Converter is a tool that lets you present refund, exchange or donation options to customers when you need to cancel a performance or event. The Ticket Converter will collect customer responses, which you can download and manually action in Spektrix.
How does the Ticket Converter work?
The Ticket Converter enables you to generate a link that customers can use to let you know what they'd like to do as a result of a cancellation. You can configure the options that are available to customers. The following options are available, and you can use any combination of these to suit your needs:
- Donate the full amount: The full ticket value is donated to your organisation
- Donate a portion of the ticket value: The remainder of the ticket value is refunded to Account Credit
- Refund to Account Credit: The ticket value is refunded to Account Credit to use against a future purchase
- Refund to the original payment method: The ticket value is refunded to the original payment method, for example, credit card (subject to refund windows) or cash
- Keep tickets for a future date: When the Event or performance has been rescheduled, the ticket can be used for the future date
- Transfer tickets: Transfer tickets to an alternative date of the same Event or performance (if available)
The steps we’ll cover in this article are:
- Preparing your Dotdigital account
- Preparing a message to add to the Ticket Converter
- Building your Campaign Template
- Requesting access to the Ticket Converter
- Accessing the Ticket Converter
- Configuring the Ticket Converter
- Requesting a copy of the Ticket Converter Report
- Running the Ticket Converter Report
- Uploading the Ticket Converter Report to Dotdigital
- Testing your Campaign
- Sending your Campaign
- Accessing Customer Responses
- Closing the Ticket Converter form
- Tracking Donations through using the Ticket Converter
How to prepare your Dotdigital account
Before you start using the Ticket Converter, you’ll need to prepare your Dotdigital account by creating new contact data fields.
If your organisation has used the Ticket Converter before, you should have these contact data fields in your Dotdigital account.
TIP: If you're unsure if your organisation has used the Ticket Converter Tool before, follow the steps on How to find Data Fields in Dotdigital. If you see the Data Fields listed below you can move onto Preparing a message to add to the Ticket Converter.
These Data fields will be used when you create your Ticket Converter link. The data that is retrieved from these fields enables the Ticket Converter to present and log a customer’s unique response.
The Data Fields you’ll need to create are:
| Name | Data Type | Default Value | Access | Folder |
| EVENTNAME | Text | (leave blank) | Private | Data fields |
| EVENTDATETIME | Text | (leave blank) | Private | Data fields |
| TICKETVALUE | Text | (leave blank) | Private | Data fields |
| CUSTOMERID | Text | (leave blank) | Private | Data fields |
TIP: You must add your data fields exactly as above with no leading or trailing spaces. Data fields in lowercase will not be recognised.
Do not enter any values in the Default Value column.
For more information read Data Fields in Dotdigital.
Preparing a message to add to the Ticket Converter
Once you’ve created your data fields in Dotdigital, you’ll need the following to prepare your Ticket Converter link:
- Venue Name: Your venue name will be used to generate your Ticket Converter key and must match the venue name you add in your Ticket Converter link.
- A Ticket Converter message: A short message of no more than 1,000 characters: This message will be displayed when your customers click the Ticket Converter link. You can use this message to explain about the cancellation or rescheduling.
-
To provide clarity for your customers, you should include your full venue name with no abbreviations.
You'll then need to run this text through a URL encoder. This ensures the URL correctly handles spacing and any punctuation in your Venue Name.
For example:
Plain Text: McKellen's Performance Space (Spektrix Theatre)
URL Encoded Text: McKellen%27s%20Performance%20Space%20%28Spektrix%20Theatre%29
When setting up your Ticket Converter link, you’ll use the URL encoded text to replace ENCODEDVENUENAME.
-
This is the message that will display when your customers click your Ticket Converter link. You can use this message to explain about the cancellation or rescheduling of the Event or performance. For example, “Due to the cancellation or rescheduling of this performance, please let us know what you'd like to do next.
WARNING: This message must be no more than 1,000 characters.
Once you've prepared your message, you'll need to run this text through a URL encoder. This ensures the URL correctly handles spacing and any punctuation in your message."
For example:
Plain Text: Due to the cancellation of this performance, please let us know what you'd like to do next.
URL Encoded Text: Due+to+the+cancellation+of+this+performance%2c+please+let+us+know+what+you%27d+like+to+do+next.
When setting up your Ticket Converter link, you’ll use this URL encoded text to replace INSERTENCODEDTEXT.
TIP: You might want to include a date for customers to respond by.
How to build your Email Campaign
Once you’ve added data fields to Dotdigital, you’ll need to build an Email Campaign in Dotdigital.
This is the email customers will receive when an Event or Instance they’ve purchased for has been cancelled or rescheduled.
The steps we’ll cover in this section:
Designing your Email Campaign in Dotdigital
To learn how to design a Campaign, take a look at Designing a Dotdigital Email Campaign.
When building your Campaign Template in Dotdigital, you can use the contact data fields to include Event information in your template. Just insert @EVENTNAME@ and @EVENTDATETIME@ to include information about the performance.
Creating your Ticket Converter link
When building your campaign in Dotdigital, you’ll need to include your Ticket Converter link. This link will take customers to the Ticket Converter where they’ll be able to view their options and submit their response.
Before you add the Ticket Converter link, you’ll need to be aware of the following:
- The link you’ll use will depend on whether you’re a charitable or non-charitable organisation based in the UK, Republic of Ireland, US or Canada.
- When setting up the link, make sure you check the Do not track this link check box. If this is unchecked, customers who have purchased more than one Event may not see the correct Event.
- Make sure you add in the venue name and encoded message that you set up earlier in place of ENCODEDVENUENAME and INSERTENCODEDTEXT.
- Do not use a link shortener as this will break the link
You can add your Ticket Converter link into your campaign by including it in the main body of the email, or by using a button with a call to action. For more information, read Designing a Dotdigital Email Campaign.
To view the link you’ll need to use, click the box below depending on your location and whether you’re a charitable or non-charitable organisation.
Charitable organisations
Click the box below depending on your location.
Charitable organisations in the United Kingdom
-
If your charitable organisation is based in the UK, use the following link:
https://refunds.arts-venues.com/donateRefund?currency=GBP&customerid=
@CUSTOMERID@&eventname=@EVENTNAME@&eventdatetime=@EVENTDATETIME@
&ticketvalue=@TICKETVALUE@&client=ENCODEDVENUENAME&clienttext=
INSERTENCODEDTEXT&remainingvalue=@TICKETVALUE@WARNING: Do not edit any text in the link apart from ENCODEDVENUENAME and INSERTENCODEDTEXT.
Make sure you add in the venue name and encoded message that you set up earlier in place of ENCODEDVENUENAME and INSERTENCODEDTEXT.
For example:
https://refunds.arts-venues.com/donateRefund?currency=GBP&customerid=
@CUSTOMERID@&eventname=@EVENTNAME@&eventdatetime=@EVENTDATETIME@
&ticketvalue= @TICKETVALUE@&client=Spektrix+Theatre&clienttext=Due+to+
the+cancellation+of+this+performance%2c+please+let+us+know+what+you%27d
+like+to+do+next. &remainingvalue=@TICKETVALUE@
Charitable organisations in the Republic of Ireland
-
If your charitable organisation is based in the Republic of Ireland, use the following link:
https://refunds.arts-venues.com/donateRefund?currency=EUR&customerid=
@CUSTOMERID@&eventname=@EVENTNAME@&eventdatetime=@EVENTDATETIME@
&ticketvalue=@TICKETVALUE@&client=ENCODEDVENUENAME&clienttext=
INSERTENCODEDTEXT&remainingvalue=@TICKETVALUE@WARNING: Do not edit any text in the link apart from ENCODEDVENUENAME and INSERTENCODEDTEXT.
Make sure you add in the venue name and encoded message that you set up earlier in place of ENCODEDVENUENAME and INSERTENCODEDTEXT.
For example:
https://refunds.arts-venues.com/donateRefund?currency=EUR&customerid=
@CUSTOMERID@&eventname=@EVENTNAME@&eventdatetime=@EVENTDATETIME@
&ticketvalue= @TICKETVALUE@&client=Spektrix+Theatre&clienttext=Due+to+
the+cancellation+of+this+performance%2c+please+let+us+know+what+you%27d
+like+to+do+next. &remainingvalue=@TICKETVALUE@
Charitable organizations in the United States
-
If your charitable organization is based in the US, use the following link:
https://refunds.arts-venues.com/donateRefund?currency=USD&customerid=
@CUSTOMERID@&eventname=@EVENTNAME@&eventdatetime=@EVENTDATETIME@
&ticketvalue=@TICKETVALUE@&client=ENCODEDVENUENAME&clienttext=
INSERTENCODEDTEXT&remainingvalue=@TICKETVALUE@WARNING: Do not edit any text in the link apart from ENCODEDVENUENAME and INSERTENCODEDTEXT.
Make sure you add in the venue name and encoded message that you set up earlier in place of ENCODEDVENUENAME and INSERTENCODEDTEXT.
For example:
https://refunds.arts-venues.com/donateRefund?currency=USD&customerid=
@CUSTOMERID@&eventname=@EVENTNAME@&eventdatetime=@EVENTDATETIME@
&ticketvalue= @TICKETVALUE@&client=Spektrix+Theatre&clienttext=Due+to+
the+cancellation+of+this+performance%2c+please+let+us+know+what+you%27d
+like+to+do+next. &remainingvalue=@TICKETVALUE@
Charitable organizations in Canada
-
If your charitable organization is based in Canada, use the following link:
https://refunds.arts-venues.com/donateRefund?currency=CAD&customerid=
@CUSTOMERID@&eventname=@EVENTNAME@&eventdatetime=@EVENTDATETIME@
&ticketvalue=@TICKETVALUE@&client=ENCODEDVENUENAME&clienttext=
INSERTENCODEDTEXT&remainingvalue=@TICKETVALUE@WARNING: Do not edit any text in the link apart from ENCODEDVENUENAME and INSERTENCODEDTEXT.
Make sure you add in the venue name and encoded message that you set up earlier in place of ENCODEDVENUENAME and INSERTENCODEDTEXT.
For example:
https://refunds.arts-venues.com/donateRefund?currency=CAD&customerid=
@CUSTOMERID@&eventname=@EVENTNAME@&eventdatetime=@EVENTDATETIME@
&ticketvalue= @TICKETVALUE@&client=Spektrix+Theatre&clienttext=Due+to+
the+cancellation+of+this+performance%2c+please+let+us+know+what+you%27d
+like+to+do+next. &remainingvalue=@TICKETVALUE@
Non-charitable organisations
If you're a non-charitable organisation and can't accept donations, you can still use the Ticket Converter. You can ask customers to refund their tickets to their original payment method or Account Credit. Offering account credit encourages customers to purchase tickets for another performance in the future.
Click the box below depending on your location.
Non-charitable organisations in the United Kingdom
-
If your non-charitable organisation is based in the UK, use the following link:
https://refunds.arts-venues.com/refundoptions?currency=GBP&customerid=
@CUSTOMERID@&eventname=@EVENTNAME@&eventdatetime=@EVENTDATETIME@
&ticketvalue=@TICKETVALUE@&client=ENCODEDVENUENAME&clienttext=
INSERTENCODEDTEXT&remainingvalue=@TICKETVALUE@WARNING: Do not edit any text in the link apart from ENCODEDVENUENAME and INSERTENCODEDTEXT.
Make sure you add in the venue name and encoded message that you set up earlier in place of ENCODEDVENUENAME and INSERTENCODEDTEXT.
For example:
https://refunds.arts-venues.com/refundoptions?currency=GBP&customerid=
@CUSTOMERID@&eventname=@EVENTNAME@&eventdatetime=@EVENTDATETIME@
&ticketvalue=@TICKETVALUE@&client=Spektrix+Theatre&clienttext=Due+to+
the+cancellation+of+this+performance%2c+please+let+us+know+what+you%27d
+like+to+do+next. &remainingvalue=@TICKETVALUE@
Non-charitable organisations in the Republic of Ireland
-
If your non-charitable organisation is based in the Republic of Ireland, use the following link:
https://refunds.arts-venues.com/refundoptions?currency=EUR&customerid=
@CUSTOMERID@&eventname=@EVENTNAME@&eventdatetime=@EVENTDATETIME@
&ticketvalue=@TICKETVALUE@&client=ENCODEDVENUENAME&clienttext=
INSERTENCODEDTEXT&remainingvalue=@TICKETVALUE@WARNING: Do not edit any text in the link apart from ENCODEDVENUENAME and INSERTENCODEDTEXT.
Make sure you add in the venue name and encoded message that you set up earlier in place of ENCODEDVENUENAME and INSERTENCODEDTEXT.
For example:
https://refunds.arts-venues.com/refundoptions?currency=EUR&customerid=
@CUSTOMERID@&eventname=@EVENTNAME@&eventdatetime=@EVENTDATETIME@
&ticketvalue=@TICKETVALUE@&client=Spektrix+Theatre&clienttext=Due+to+
the+cancellation+of+this+performance%2c+please+let+us+know+what+you%27d
+like+to+do+next. &remainingvalue=@TICKETVALUE@
Non-charitable organizations in the United States
-
If your non-charitable organisation is based in the US, use the following link:
https://refunds.arts-venues.com/refundoptions?currency=USD&customerid=
@CUSTOMERID@&eventname=@EVENTNAME@&eventdatetime=@EVENTDATETIME@
&ticketvalue=@TICKETVALUE@&client=ENCODEDVENUENAME&clienttext=
INSERTENCODEDTEXT&remainingvalue=@TICKETVALUE@WARNING: Do not edit any text in the link apart from ENCODEDVENUENAME and INSERTENCODEDTEXT.
Make sure you add in the venue name and encoded message that you set up earlier in place of ENCODEDVENUENAME and INSERTENCODEDTEXT.
For example:
https://refunds.arts-venues.com/refundoptions?currency=USD&customerid=
@CUSTOMERID@&eventname=@EVENTNAME@&eventdatetime=@EVENTDATETIME@
&ticketvalue=@TICKETVALUE@&client=Spektrix+Theatre&clienttext=Due+to+
the+cancellation+of+this+performance%2c+please+let+us+know+what+you%27d
+like+to+do+next. &remainingvalue=@TICKETVALUE@
Non-charitable organizations in Canada
-
If your non-charitable organisation is based in Canada, use the following link:
https://refunds.arts-venues.com/refundoptions?currency=CAD&customerid=
@CUSTOMERID@&eventname=@EVENTNAME@&eventdatetime=@EVENTDATETIME@
&ticketvalue=@TICKETVALUE@&client=ENCODEDVENUENAME&clienttext=
INSERTENCODEDTEXT&remainingvalue=@TICKETVALUE@WARNING: Do not edit any text in the link apart from ENCODEDVENUENAME and INSERTENCODEDTEXT.
Make sure you add in the venue name and encoded message that you set up earlier in place of ENCODEDVENUENAME and INSERTENCODEDTEXT.
For example:
https://refunds.arts-venues.com/refundoptions?currency=CAD&customerid=
@CUSTOMERID@&eventname=@EVENTNAME@&eventdatetime=@EVENTDATETIME@
&ticketvalue=@TICKETVALUE@&client=Spektrix+Theatre&clienttext=Due+to+
the+cancellation+of+this+performance%2c+please+let+us+know+what+you%27d
+like+to+do+next. &remainingvalue=@TICKETVALUE@
How to request access to the Ticket Converter
You can configure the Ticket Converter to select the options to offer your customers.
To access the Ticket Converter configuration, contact Support. You’ll need to provide the following:
- Name: The full name(s) of the user submitting the form
- Email address: The email address(es) of users who will use the Ticket Converter configuration.
- Your venue’s name: This is your organisation’s full name, rather than an abbreviated version. Make sure you use the exact wording you used in your Ticket Converter link for the plain text version of the venue name for example, Spektrix Theatre.
Once we receive these details, we’ll securely send you a token called your Ticket Converter Key, which you can use to configure the Ticket Converter and access your customer’s responses.
TIP: You can have multiple Ticket Converter Keys for each Venue Name within your organisation. This means that if you lose your Key or another team member requests a Key, they will all enable you to access the Ticket Converter configuration and responses.
Once you’ve logged in using the Ticket Converter Key, your access is set up. No other keys are required.
WARNING: Keep the Ticket Converter Key in a secure location. This key is used to access the Ticket Converter which contains customer details. To request a new key, complete the Ticket Converter Key request form. You'll need to provide your name, email address and venue name.
How to configure the Ticket Converter
In this section we’ll cover:
- Configuring refund options
- Keeping tickets for a future date
- Transferring tickets to an alternative event
Once you have your token, you can log into the Ticket Converter Venue Configuration.
You’ll be prompted to enter your Key. Copy and paste the Ticket Converter Key you’ve received and click Continue:
TIP: You request a new key by clicking on the link in the login screen.
Once you’ve logged in you’ll see the Ticket Converter Customer Response Configuration:
The options in the Customer Response Configuration determine what your customers will see when clicking the unique link in your Dotdigital campaign. We’ll explain what each option means.
Configuring Refund Options
You can deactivate one of the refund options that customers will see when they use the Ticket Converter.
TIP: You can only deactivate one refund option. At least one refund option must be available to the customer.
Disable the ‘Refund to my original payment method’ option
Checking the Disable the ‘Refund to my original payment method’ box, disables refunding to the original method of payment.
Customers will see the following options:
- Donate the full amount
- Donate a portion: A partial donation will be made with the remaining value added to a Customers Record as Account Credit
- Credit to my venue account for future tickets: The full value will be added to a Customers Record as Account Credit
Disable the ‘Refund to venue credit’ option
Checking the Disable the ‘Refund to venue credit’ box, disables the option to refund to Account Credit.
Customers will see the following options:
- Donate the full amount
- Donate a portion: A partial donation will be made with the remaining value refunded back to the customer’s original payment method
- Refund to my original payment method: The full amount will be refunded to the customer’s original payment method.
Enable the Keep my tickets for a future date option
The next configuration in the Ticket Converter lets customers keep their tickets for a future performance of the same event, instead of receiving a refund.
There are two ways you can do this.
For all Events
When configuring the refund options in the Ticket Converter, you’ll see an option ‘Keep my tickets for a future date’:
TIP: When you run the Ticket Converter Report, you’ll run it for an Instance, all Instances of an Event, or multiple Events.
Selecting Keep my tickets for a future date in the Ticket Converter configuration will apply to all Events.
On a per Event basis
You can enable the Keep my tickets option on a per Event basis by adding &keeptickets to the end of the your Ticket Converter link you’re using in your Campaign.
-
Here is an example of a Ticket Converter link for a charitable organisation in the UK with the Keep My Tickets option added for this Event:
https://refunds.arts-venues.com/donateRefund?currency=GBP&customerid= @CUSTOMERID@
For more information, go to Creating your Ticket Converter link.
&eventname=@EVENTNAME@&eventdatetime=@EVENTDATETIME@ &ticketvalue=
@TICKETVALUE@&client=Spektrix+Theatre&clienttext=Due+to+the+ cancellation+of+this
+event%2c+please+let+us+know+what+you%27d+like+to+do+next.&remainingvalue=
@TICKETVALUE@&keeptickets
Adding &keeptickets to the end of your Ticket Converter link means the Keep my tickets for a future date option will be available to customers when they click your Ticket Converter link.
You must keep the Enable the “Keep my tickets for a future date” option unchecked to use on a per Event basis:
REMINDER: You can’t check the Enable the “Keep my tickets for a future date” Option box if you only want to offer this option on specific events. Checking this box will apply this option to all events.
Transferring Tickets to an alternative Event
You can also give customers the option to transfer their Tickets to an alternative Event. This option is configured on a per Event basis by adding &transfer to the end of the Ticket Converter link you’re using in your Campaign.
-
Here is an example of a Ticket Converter link for a non-charitable organization based in the US:
https://refunds.arts-venues.com/refundoptions?currency=USD&customerid=@CUSTOMERID@
&eventname=@EVENTNAME@&eventdatetime=@EVENTDATETIME@&ticketvalue=
@TICKETVALUE@&client=Spektrix+Theater&clienttext=Due+to+the+cancellation+of+this+
event%2c+please+let+us+know+what+you%27d+like+to+do+next.&remainingvalue=@TICKETVALUE@&transfer
Adding &transfer to the end of your Ticket Converter link means the Transfer my tickets to the alternative event option will be available to customers:
How to request the Ticket Converter Report
Once you’ve configured the Ticket Converter, you’ll use the Ticket Converter Report to output data to upload into Dotdigital.
Contact Support to request that this report is added to your system.
Running the Ticket Converter Report
Once the Ticket Converter Report has been added to your system, you'll need to run the Ticket Converter Report to output data that you'll upload to Dotdigital as an Address Book. You'll then send your campaign to this Address Book directly from Dotdigital.
WARNING: Ticket Converter campaigns must be sent to an Address Book directly in Dotdigital that you've created by running the Ticket Converter Report. The Ticket Converter Tool won’t work if you send your campaign as an integrated mailing through the Spektrix/Dotdigital integration.
The Ticket Converter Report will display Ticket costs including any per-Ticket commissions. If you want to exclude these commissions, contact Support. Our Support team will provide a Report displaying the face value of the Ticket instead. Transaction and Delivery Commissions are not included in any versions of the Report
TIP: To run Reports, you’ll need the Insights & Mailings User or Insights & Mailings Administrator Role. If you don’t have these Roles, ask the Spektrix administrator in your organisation to add these Roles to your User Account.
This Report is designed to be run separately for each cancelled Instance you want to contact your customers about.
You can also edit the Report and run for all Instances of one Event or multiple Events.
We’ll guide you through each option:
TIP: Whichever option you choose, each Report uploaded to Dotdigital must only contain one combination of CustomerID, Event and Instance. It isn’t possible to have duplicate values in the Ticket Converter.
Follow the instructions in How to Run a Report. Below we’ve added extra guidance for running this Report for the following options.
The Ticket Converter Report is designed to be run separately for each cancelled Instance you select. Run this Report to generate the data for your Address Book.
If you’re canceling a single Instance, go to the section:
If you’re cancelling all Instances of an Event or multiple Events, go to the following sections:
REMINDER: Each Report uploaded to Dotdigital can only contain one combination of CustomerID, Event and Instance. It isn’t possible to have duplicate values in the Ticket Converter
One Instance at a time
-
To run for one Instance at a time, follow these steps:
- Select the Ticket Converter Report with the Ticket Sales by Instance (only one Instance at a time) Criteria Set.
- Click the pencil icon to select your Instance. Keep all other metrics checked as-is.
REMINDER: Only select one Event Instance to report on. If you need to report on multiple cancelled instances, follow the steps in All Instances of an Event or Multiple Events.
- Select the Instance under Available instances. Click the right arrow to move to Selected event instances. Click Ok:
- In the Run Ticket Converter Report screen, click the dropdown arrow next to Run as PDF:
- Run the Report as Excel:
- Download and save your Report.
TIP: If the Event name contains & (ampersand), you’ll need to open the Report you’ve just downloaded and replace & in Event names with and.
For example, you’d need to change Marley & Me to change to Marley and Me.Once you’ve downloaded your Report as an Excel in [XLS] format, you’ll need to save the file in a [XLXS] format.
TIP: When saving your Report as [XLXS], we recommend naming your Report with information about the Instance you’ve run the report against. This can help identify what each address book is used for. For example, “Ticket Converter - Marley and Me 08Jan2024”.
Once saved, you can proceed to Uploading the Ticket Converter Report to Dotdigital.
- Select the Ticket Converter Report with the Ticket Sales by Instance (only one Instance at a time) Criteria Set.
All Instances of an Event
To run a Report for all Instances of an Event, you’ll first need to make modifications to the Report. We recommend making a copy of the Ticket Converter Report and then amending the output.
-
In Insights & Mailings > Reports, follow these steps to copy and edit the Report:
- Click the + (plus) button next to the Ticket Converter Report:
- Click Copy report. A copy of the report will be made with the name Ticket Converter Report - Copy.
- Click the + (plus) button next to Ticket Converter Report - Copy:
- Click Edit report:
- Rename the Report. For example, “Ticket Converter Report - All Instances.”
- Click Output at the top right of the Edit report screen:
- Under Output Columns, delete the Event Date/Time metric by clicking the red circle with a white cross. Click Save:
Editing the Criteria Set Name
You’ll also need to edit the Criteria Set to look for multiple Events. Follow these steps:
- Click the dropdown arrow next to the Criteria Set and select Edit:
- In the Edit Criteria screen, edit the Criteria set name. We’d recommend using “Ticket Sales by Instance (All Instances of an Event).” Click Save:
Running the Ticket Converter Report for all Instances of an Event
To run the Ticket Converter Report for all Instances of an Event, follow these steps:
- Select the Ticket Converter Report - All Instances with the Ticket Sales by Instance (All Instances of an Event) Criteria Set:
- Click the pencil icon to select your Instances. Keep all other metrics checked as-is:
REMINDER: If you need to report on multiple cancelled instances from different Events, follow the steps in Multiple Events.
- Select the Instance under Available instances. Click the right arrow to move to Selected event instances. Click Ok:
- In the Run Ticket Converter Report screen, click the dropdown arrow next to Run as PDF:
- Run the Report as Excel:
- Download and save your Report.
TIP: If the Event name contains & (ampersand), you’ll need to open the Report you’ve just downloaded and replace & in Event names with and.
For example, you’d need to change Marley & Me to change to Marley and Me.Once you’ve downloaded your Report as an Excel in [XLS] format, you’ll need to save the file in a [XLXS] format.
TIP: When saving your Report as [XLXS], we recommend naming your Report with information about the Instance you’ve run the report against. This can help identify what each address book is used for. For example, “Ticket Converter - Marley and Me 08Jan2024”.
Once saved, you can proceed to Uploading the Ticket Converter Report to Dotdigital.
- Click the + (plus) button next to the Ticket Converter Report:
Multiple Events
To run the Ticket Converter Report for multiple Events, you’ll first need to make modifications to the Report first. We recommend making a copy of the Ticket Converter Report and then amending the output.
-
In Insights & Mailings > Reports, follow these steps to copy and edit the Report:
- Click the + (plus) button next to the Ticket Converter Report:
- Click Copy report. A copy of the report will be made with the name Ticket Converter Report - Copy.
- Click the + (plus) button next to Ticket Converter Report - Copy:
- Click Edit report:
- Rename the Report. For example, “Ticket Converter Report - Multiple Events.”
- Click Output at the top right of the Edit report screen:
- Under Output Columns, delete the Event Date/Time and Event Name metrics by clicking the red circle with a white cross. Click Save:
Editing the Criteria Set Name
The Report you’ve copied will look for Event Instances as criteria. You’ll need to edit the Criteria Set to look for Events. Follow these steps:
- Click the dropdown arrow next to the Criteria Set and select Edit:
- In the Edit Criteria screen, edit the Criteria set name. We’d recommend using “Ticket Sales by Instance (Multiple Events)”:
- Remove the Event Instances criteria by clicking on the red circle:
- In the Edit Criteria screen, expand the Tickets wrapper > Event Instances wrapper and drag the Events metric into the Drop to add criteria box underneath AND:
- In the Select Events box that appears, click Ok:
TIP: Not selecting an Event in this step lets you choose a new Events whenever you may need to run the Report.
- The Event wrapper will be used as criteria. Click Save:
Running the Ticket Converter Report for multiple Events
To run the Ticket Converter Report for multiple Events, follow these steps:
- Select the Ticket Converter Report - Multiple Events with the Ticket Sales by Instance (Multiple Events) Criteria Set:
- Click the pencil icon to select your Events. Keep all other metrics checked as-is:
- Select the Events under Events to choose from. Click the right arrow to move to Selected Events. Click Ok:
- In the Run Ticket Converter Report screen, click the dropdown arrow next to Run as PDF:
- Run the Report as Excel:
- Download and save your Report.
Before you upload your Report to Dotdigital
Before you upload your Report to Dotdigital, you’ll need to amend the Report in Excel or your preferred spreadsheet program. As you’re running the Report for multiple Events, you’ll need to add a descriptive name. For example, All performances in January, or the name of your season.
Once you’ve opened the Report, follow these steps:
- Add a new column called Event Name
- In every row under the column header, add a descriptive name that you want your customers to see in the Ticket Converter:
TIP: If the Event name contains & (ampersand), you’ll need to open the Report you’ve just downloaded and replace & in Event names with and.
For example, you’d need to change Marley & Me to change to Marley and Me.Once you’ve downloaded your Report as an Excel in [XLS] format, you’ll need to save the file in a [XLXS] format.
TIP: When saving your Report as [XLXS], we recommend naming your Report with information about the Instance you’ve run the report against. This can help identify what each address book is used for. For example, “Ticket Converter - Marley and Me 08Jan2024”.
Once saved, you can proceed to Uploading the Ticket Converter Report to Dotdigital. - Click the + (plus) button next to the Ticket Converter Report:
Uploading the Ticket Converter Report to Dotdigital
In this section we’ll cover:
- Uploading the Ticket Converter Report as a new Address Book in Dotdigital
- Mapping Report columns to Dotdigital values
- Customers on a Suppression List
Uploading the Ticket Converter Report as a new Address Book in Dotdigital
- In Dotdigital, click the dropdown arrow next to Audience:
- Click the + (plus) symbol next to Lists:
- Click NEW LIST:
- You’ll see an Add new list screen:
-
Enter a List name. We suggest using the name of the Event or Instance you’re cancelling. This should be the same criteria you used to run the Ticket Converter Report in Spektrix. This will help to identify what each Address Book is used for.
- Click ADD NEW LIST.
You’ll be taken to a File upload screen:
Complete the following:
- File: Click CHOOSE FILE and browse to the location where you’ve saved your Report output
- Email address to notify: Enter your email address to be notified when the address book has been uploaded to Dotdigital.
- Encoding type: Select Unicode (UTF-8).
Once you’ve added your file, click UPLOAD in the top right corner:
Mapping Report columns to Dotdigital values
Once you’ve uploaded your Report you’ll see a Data mapping screen. This is where you’ll map the values in your file to your Dotdigital Data Fields:
You’ll see the following columns:
- File column: Name of the column header in the Report file you’ve just imported
- Map to contact data field: The data field in Dotdigital your values will be mapped to
- Contact 1: Customer data from your imported address book
To map the Report columns to the corresponding Dotdigital values, click the dropdown arrow in the Map to column.
Map these as follows:
| File column | Map to |
| CustomerId | customerid |
| Email Address | |
| FirstName | firstname |
| LastName | lastname |
| FullName | fullname |
| EventName | eventname |
| EventDateTime | eventdatetime |
| TicketValue | ticketvalue |
Once you’re ready to proceed click FINISH in the top right corner:
Viewing the Contact Import Summary
Once you’ve created your mappings, Dotdigital will import the customers into your address book and take you to the Contacts import report screen.
Here, you’ll see a Contact import summary, which displays total uploaded contacts and contacts not imported:
You can download a list of Contacts not imported by clicking Export as CSV to download an importsfault.csv file. This contains a list of all the contacts not imported. You can use this spreadsheet to manually contact any customers who will not receive your email.
Underneath the Contact import summary, you’ll see a Channel data report:
The Channel data report will give you a breakdown of the number of email addresses that have been imported and their status.
-
In the Channel data report you’ll see a status with a number next to it. This relates to the number of email addresses next to each status. These are:
- Uploaded: Email addresses imported.
- Subscribed: Subscribed email addresses.
- Invalid: Incorrectly formatted email address. Check the email address is correctly formatted in their Customer Record.
- Conflicts: Email addresses that belong to another contact. Each contact must contain a unique email address. Check the email address in your upload against your existing contacts in Dotdigital.
-
Duplicates: Email addresses that appear more than once in your address book upload
TIP: Confirm the correct email address with the customer. Update the Customer Record and run the Ticket Converter Report again and upload as a new Address Book.
- Pending double opt-in: Email addresses awaiting confirmation of double opt-in.
- Unsubscribers: Email addresses that have previously unsubscribed.
- Hard Bouncers: Email addresses that have hard bounced from your previous campaign(s).
- Suppressed: Email addresses suppressed in your Dotdigital account.
- Blocked: Emails Dotdigital have blocked to help protect your sender reputation.
- Globally suppressed: Email addresses that have complained to Dotdigital, or are known spam traps. These email addresses are suppressed on all accounts in Dotdigital.
- ISP Complaints: The number of email addresses where a Customer has complained to their ISP or email provider
- Mail blockers: Emails that have been blocked by the email provider.
- Domain suppressed: The number of contacts whose email domain you have previously added to your suppression list.
Testing your Campaign
Before you send your campaign, it’s important to test that your email displays correctly and your Ticket Converter link takes you to the Ticket Converter.
To test your campaign, you’ll need to create an Address Book in Dotdigital which only sends to a small number of email addresses. For example, yourself and your colleagues.
You can use this Excel template to help you test your campaign. Complete the following steps:
- Add your email addresses, first and last name to this template
- Upload to a new Address Book in Dotdigital
Once you’ve sent your test campaign to your test Address Book, the recipients should receive an email containing the Ticket Converter link.
This link will direct the recipients to the Ticket Converter where they’ll see their options for an example cancelled Event called ‘Test Event’. Ask the recipients to submit their responses, then use your Ticket Converter Key to access these responses.
If your test send doesn't work as expected, or you're not seeing the responses when you go to access them, contact Support.
Sending your Campaign
Once you’ve tested your Campaign, you can schedule or send your campaign to the address book you uploaded in Dotdigital.
WARNING: Do not send your campaign as an Integrated email through Spektrix. The Ticket Converter will only work when you send directly through Dotdigital to the Address Book you uploaded.
To learn how to send a Campaign in Dotdigital, read Review and send your campaign on the Dotdigital Help Centre.
Accessing Customer Responses
To access the customer responses you’ve received, go to the Ticket Converter Response Downloader. Enter the same key you used to access the Ticket Converter Configuration.
You’ll see the Ticket Converter Response Downloader screen:
Enter the following:
- Key. Enter your unique key. This is the same Key used to access the Ticket Converter Configuration.
- Date from/to: Select a date and time range for responses.
Once you’re ready to proceed, click Download. A [.CSV] file containing customer responses within your given date range will be saved to your downloads folder
REMINDER: The Ticket Converter collects customer responses. It does not action their requests automatically in Spektrix. You will need to work through and action the responses that your customers provide through the Ticket Converter.
Closing the Ticket Converter form to prevent further responses
If you’ve given a date for customers to respond by, you can close the Ticket Converter form once this date has passed.
To close the form, log into the Ticket Converter Venue Configuration and complete the following:
- Under the Form Closing Options section, check the Close the form box.
- Enter a Closed form message. This message will be displayed to customers who access the Ticket Converter after the closing date.
- Click Save.
Tracking Donations
If you’re a charitable organisation, you can track Donations that are made as a result of using the Ticket Converter. This may help in your accounting and to send a thank you email to your Donors.
To do this, you can set up a new Fund specifically for these Donations and make sure every Donation you process is allocated to the new Fund. You can report on Donations made to this Fund as a result of using the Ticket Converter.
Further Reading
This article should give you the information you need to set up and use the Spektrix Ticket Converter.
To learn more about communicating with your customers, visit the Communicate with your customers section of the Support Centre.