How to distribute unique codes in your emails using the Redeem Link

Automated emails like birthday or e-commerce emails set up at your email service provider are often places where you'd like to include a unique discount code. The following setup can also be used in any kind of email. It doesn't have to be an automated email.

If you're using Mailchimp, you can also view our article specifically for using the Redeem Link with Mailchimp here.

How does it work?

Coupon Carrier allows you to upload a list of unique codes and then place a custom link in your email or anywhere else. This link must contain the recipient's email address. That's how we can identify to whom we should assign the code. The value can be anything unique, but we recommend using the recipient's email address if it's available. 

When this link is clicked, the subscriber is redirected to a landing page that shows their unique code. The first time the link is clicked Coupon Carrier will assign one of the unique codes to that subscriber. The next time they click the link, they will see the same code, so they won’t receive new codes each time they click the link. 

The landing page can be customized with your logotype, message, and a button to link to your store. The button link can also include the unique code so that it can be attached to your store link if you have support for that. You can also add a Groupon-style "Mark-as-used button" that allows you to mark the offer as used. 

Here's a preview of how this feature works when added to an email:

QR/Barcodes

If you choose to display your code as a QR/Barcode image, you can also use the Redeem Link as a dynamic image URL. This is useful if you want to include the image directly in your email. Read more about this feature here: How to include a QR/Barcode in an email using the Redeem Link

Configuration steps

1

Start by creating a new Redeem Link configuration by clicking the  Create a new configuration button under the Configurations tab.

2

The Redeem Link can be used in many different services. If your service is listed, select it and follow those specific instructions. Otherwise, select Generic Link to proceed.

3

A Redeem Link configuration can be customized to your needs. Add a link to your logotype, enter a message and optionally add a button that links to your store.

4

Next, it's time to choose how you want to provide your unique codes. In Coupon Carrier, codes are stored in Code Lists. A code list can either be manually managed by you, meaning that you import your own set of codes into it. It can also be Autogenerated, which means it automatically creates new codes from an integration like an e-commerce store (Shopify, WooCommerce) when needed.

New accounts automatically get a sample code list with a few codes. If you haven't created a new list, you can use an existing code list and pick the sample list.

5

In the next section, you can select if you want to receive a warning email if your code list is running low on unused codes. This only applies to manual code lists since autogenerated code lists generate new codes automatically. 

There's also an option to allow a new code to be assigned after a specific number of days have passed since the first time they viewed their unique code. This can be useful for birthday automations where you have the same email and redeem link sent each year, and you would like them to receive a new code each year. Setting this value to around 300 days would ensure that a year later, they would see a new code. 

6

The configuration is now completed, and it's time to add your Redeem Link to your email. The important part is to replace the  email parameter in the link with the correct merge tag for your email service provider. This tag is often different for many providers, and you can usually find the tag you should use in the documentation at your email provider. What you want to do is to merge the recipient's email address onto the end of the link.

Here are some common email service providers and the tags that they use to insert the recipient's email address:

Service	Email Tag	Example Redeem Link
Mailchimp (View guide)	*|EMAIL|*	https://api.couponcarrier.io/r/vP5VR7dp?email=*|EMAIL|*
ActiveCampaign	%EMAIL%	https://api.couponcarrier.io/r/vP5VR7dp?email=%EMAIL%
Campaign Monitor	[email]	https://api.couponcarrier.io/r/vP5VR7dp?email=[email]
MailerLite Classic	{$email}	https://api.couponcarrier.io/r/vP5VR7dp?email={$email}
AWeber	{!email}	https://api.couponcarrier.io/r/vP5VR7dp?email={!email}
ConvertKit	{{ subscriber.email_address }}	https://api.couponcarrier.io/r/vP5VR7dp?email={{ subscriber.email_address }}
Klaviyo	{{ email }}	https://api.couponcarrier.io/r/vP5VR7dp?email={{ email }}
Drip	{{ subscriber.email }}	https://api.couponcarrier.io/r/vP5VR7dp?email={{ subscriber.email }}

Note that even though the parameter in the link is named email, it doesn't have to be an email address. It can be anything unique. Some examples of unique values are user/conversation/submission IDs.

Custom domain

To improve the brand experience, we offer our Agency plan customers to set up a custom domain (or sub-domain) for Redeem Links. Read more about how to enable this for your account here.

Questions?

If you have any questions regarding the setup, don't hesitate to contact us and let us know more about your situation, and we'll get back to you with more specific guidance.