Tutorial: How to create a Coupon Codes promotion – Easypromos - Online Helpdesk

The Coupon Codes app allows you to set up an entry form for users to enter their data. In return, you can offer them a coupon code for a gift or discount, to be redeemed at the point of sale, in-store or online.

To use the Coupon Codes app and create your giveaway, follow the steps outlined below:

Step 1. Create the promotion

1. Access the Easypromos Control Panel and log in with your email address and password to manage and create your promotions.

2. Create a new promotion with the green button.

3. You'll see a list of the products available. Choose ‘Coupon codes’ to create a promotion with a registration form for personal data, and a final page where the coupon or code is awarded.

4. As a next step, set up the following options:

Organizing brand. As a first step, you should select or create an organizing brand for your promotion. This organizing brand is independent of any social network and works as a folder within your Easypromos account, in order to help organize the promotions that you create.
Template version. Select which template you want to use to create your promotion: Basic, Premium or White Label.

Note: In the Basic template, you can distribute one single coupon for users to download. This coupon will be the same for all participants. In Premium and White Label promotions, you can distribute a unique code to each participant. You can choose to assign a code to all users that register, or to a specific segment of participants. You can also use the Validation Portal to verify codes in real time, and the email platform to send participants their codes. Learn more about the different platform versions here.

5. After clicking on "Continue" button, you'll get access to the promotion management page, where you'll find all the options to configure the promotion. Below, we outline the most relevant sections:

Header. The header displays the title of the promotion, the platform (Basic, Premium, or White Label), and other relevant information such as the promotion ID number. You'll also see the Promotion status: Draft, Active or Expired, as well as if the promotion is about to start. Once the promotion has ended, this field will be marked in red saying: Status: Expired. You can choose what to show on an expired promotion page.
Link to the promotion. Use this URL whenever you share the promotion. Learn more about sharing here. You'll also see the Copy link button: this helps you to copy and share the link instantly.
Activate Promotion. When you have the promotion prepared and ready to launch, click this button to activate it. You'll be taken to the activation page, where you can review billing information and make payments.
Side menu. All your promotion settings, in one place.
View tutorial. This tutorial guides you step by step through the creation and management of your promotion.
Dates and timezone of the promotion.
Languages indicates the default language of the promotion. You can change it if you wish.
Localization allows you to limit participation to one or several countries. (This option is included by default in Premium and White Label promotions. You can add it to Basic promotions as an extension. More information here.)
Next steps: Practical recommendations that will guide you in the creation and management of your campaign.

Top tip: The promotion ID number (#) is a unique identifier for each promotion. Quote this number if you need to contact the Easypromos support team with any issues. This will make it easier for us to review your settings and fix the problem.

Step 2. Customize the text and images for each page

The platform comes with an array of pre-configured features, based on the platform you have chosen (Basic, Premium or White Label). In this section, you can edit the promotional text and images, as well as colors and font settings.

1. In the Editor, go to the first section, "Pages", and configure the text and images of each page of the promotion.

A) Welcome

Change the provisional title for one that highlights the strong points of your promotion. Make this text as attractive as possible to users.
Edit the text for the page, and upload an image to make it more dynamic.
In the description, change the provisional text to something more personal. Explain the contest mechanism so that participants are clear on how to take part. You can also customize the ‘Enter’ and ‘View entries’ buttons.

B) Entry form.

Add the fields that you wish your participants to complete. You can also customize the text and screen header image. You can expand the form with all the additional fields, dropdown menus and check boxes that you need. Find out how to set up the entry form.

C) Thank you.

After users fill out the entry form, they’re automatically directed to the "Thank you" page, where they'll see their coupon and/or code. You can choose to display a pop-up with the coupon, or just the name of the prize with a link to display more details. The pop-up will show the coupon image, the promotional code (if there is one), and instructions for use. Users will be able to download the coupon or send it by email. (You can learn how to configure these details in step 3 of this tutorial.)

If you choose to show the pop-up, users will see the "Thank you" page after they close the pop-up. On this page, you have the chance to thank users for their participation. You can also enable the Share buttons, and a final button which links to an external site of your choice.

Note: If you have elected to show the pop-up, users who have not won coupons will land directly on the "Thank you" page. For example, this happens in promotions with a limited number of coupons to be distributed, or if users do not meet the criteria of the promotion.

Step 3. Create the prize: coupons and promotional codes

When the different pages of the promotion have been customized, the next step is to create the coupon that you will be giving away. Decide how you're going to assign coupons, and design how they will be displayed to users.

In Coupon Codes promotions, the assignment of the prize is usually set to “On registering”. This means that prizes are instantly awarded when users register for the promotion.

We’ll divide the creation of your prize into two steps, explained in more detail below:

Step 1: Creating the prize

1. Access the Editor of the promotion:

2. Next, go to General > Prizes and click the button “Create my first prize”:

3. Next you will see a window with the different types of prizes that you can create. Select “On Registering”:

4. Then a new window will open, where you can edit the basic details of the prize:

In this example, the prize is a 50% discount on a trip to Andorra. The details are outlined in the field “Short description”. The prize will be assigned on registration, and there are a total of 25 units of this prize (so there will be up to 25 winners).

5. When you click “Create”, the prize will be created and you will be directed to a page with a list of all the prizes. Continue to step 2.

Step 2: Editing the features of the prize

Once you have created a prize, it will be displayed on the prizes page within the Editor. Click on the pencil icon to edit more details of the prize:

Then you’ll find the following tabs:

A. “Message to winner” tab. For promotions with automatic prizes for registering, the prize is displayed directly on the "Thank you" page, which appears when the user has completed the registration process. By default, the prize will be shown in a pop-up over the "Thank you" page.

This tab sets out the the options for personalizing the design of the pop-up. You can set up the following options:

1. Message to winner: you can write a message to the user. This will be displayed in the pop-up window.

2. Image to winner: you can add an image to make the pop-up more attractive. You could also use an animated GIF, or even a video.

3. Short description: this is the description which you wrote when you first created the prize. You can edit it at this point, if you wish.

4. Instructions: if you need to add more details about the prize - for example, how to redeem the promotional code, or an expiry date - use this field.

5. Text to encourage winner to share: you can edit the text which accompanies the social Share buttons.

6. Open pop-up automatically when accessing the Thank you page: when a user wins a prize upon registration, this pop-up can be automatically displayed over the Thank you page. You can disable the pop-up so it doesn’t open automatically.

In the “Layout” section, you’ll find options for customizing the layout of the pop-up:

1. Background image: Upload a background image that will be shown underneath the winner's pop-up. We recommend dimensions of 1200px by 630px, and an image that makes the pop-up stand out!

2. Background color: you can define a background color to be shown underneath the pop-up. Use the sliding scale to make it more or less opaque.

3. Text alignment: configure the layout of different elements of the pop-up.

Finally, in the “Viral content” section, you can define the viral message. This is the content that will be shown when winners share their prizes on social media. You can customize the messages that will be shared on Facebook, Twitter and instant message applications.

Note: You can add “Download” and “Send” buttons to the winner's pop-up.These enable the user to download the coupon or code in PDF format, or receive it by email. See the next step for how to enable the option “downloadable content”.

B. “Options” tab: In this tab, you'll see options to define the characteristics of the prize:

1. Name of prize: This field will be used as internal reference for the prize when you're managing the promotion. It will also appear as the title on the winners page.

2. Short description: This will appear as the description of the prize on the winners page. You can outline the main characteristics of the prize here.

3. Units: Indicate how many units of this prize you are offering. You must indicate the number of coupons or codes you want to distribute among participants. If you want to give every participant a coupon, you can set the units to "unlimited".

4. Do you want this prize to be a promotional code?: This option allows you to convert the prize into a promotional code. Users will receive the code automatically by participating in the promotion.

The possibility of converting the prize into a promotional code serves two purposes:

a) To be able to assign each participant an alphanumeric code that you have generated through your own code generation system. This code can be the same for everyone or different and unique for each participant. You can enable the "Validation Portal" if you want a tool to validate the codes in your points of sale.

Example: You have an online store and you have your own system of discount codes. In this way, when registering in the promotion, each participant will be assigned a different discount code that can be used and redeemed at the time of making your purchase in your online store to apply the discount.

b) Validate prizes at the point of sale. Do you need to be able to validate the prizes physically in a shop or store with guarantees? With this option, the system will automatically encode each prize in alphanumeric code format and also in QR format, so that you can use the "Validation Portal" to validate prizes in a safe, reliable, agile way and without fraud at the point of sale.

Example: You want to distribute a coupon to all users who register online in your promotion. Users can redeem this coupon for a free entry in your store, presenting the printed coupon. With the "Validation Portal" you can scan the QR with a scanner or insert the prize code, and the system will show you the information of the prize and the participant, and the system will automatically validate the prize.

Below we detail how you can configure the field "Do you want this prize to be a promotional code?" Depending on your specific purpose:

Yes, use same code for everyone (Example: SpringDiscount20). In this case, you must enter the code in the field that will appear below:

Yes, I will upload a list of custom codes. Do you have your own list of codes and you want to distribute them among the participants? This option will allow you to upload your own code list by creating a "codeset" to assign a different and unique code to each participant. Click on create a set of codes to upload the list of codes you want to distribute. In the next step, we explain how to create and upload a set of unique alphanumeric codes. You can enable the Validation Portal if you want a tool to validate the codes at your points of sale. Check here to see all the steps to set up the Validation Portal.

Yes, generate automatic uniques codes with QR. If you do not have a system to generate codes externally, this option will allow the system to code each prize in alphanumeric code format and QR code. This option will allow you to use the "Validation Portal" to validate the prizes at the point of sale in a safe and agile way. When selecting this option, the system will ask you to enable the Validation Portal. Check here to see all the steps to set up the Validation Portal.

5. Does this prize have downloadable content?: Enable this option so that users can download the coupon as a PDF, or receive it as an email. You can upload your own PDF, link to an external source where the file is saved, or use Easypromos to generate a PDF automatically.

For Basic promotions, the Easypromos PDF cannot be customized. It includes the image of the prize, the name of the participant and the instructions for use of the coupon (if any). Premium users can completely customize the PDF, including unique alphanumeric codes, QR code validation, and customizable layout, texts, images, rectangles and lines.

In the "Statistics" section, you can check how many times each prize PDF has been downloaded. The system automatically records each time a user downloads the prize. More information about prize download statistics.

Note: Prize download statistics are available for Premium and White Label promotions only.

In the following video, we explain how to use the coupon editor to create downloadable coupons:

Note: In Basic promotions, the coupon will automatically be distributed to all users who register. If you only want to distribute coupons to some users, you can set up distribution criteria in the "Conditions" section (Premium and White Label only).

C. “Conditions” tab (prizes "On Registering" only)

By default, the prize is automatically assigned to all users who register in the promotion. But the Conditions setting allows you to assign prizes based on specific criteria. For example, you could give the prize only to users who choose a specific option in a drop-down list in the entry form. Here are some examples of conditions that you can apply:

Create a range of prizes, each related to a different option in a drop-down list in the entry form.
Make the prize dependent on answering quiz questions correctly.

Step 4. Upload and configure unique codes (Premium and White Label only)

If you want to distribute your own unique alphanumeric codes, you'll need to upload them as a codeset, and link it to the prize. This feature is available for Premium and White Label promotions only.

Follow this simple 3-step process to set up your unique codes:

Step 1: Create a codeset

First of all, you’ll need to create a codeset which includes all the codes that you want to distribute. If you want to create a very large codeset, you must add codes in batches of 20,000 (with a maximum limit of 2 million).

In order to create the codeset, follow the steps below:

1. Access the section Tools > Codeset. Next, click the button “New codeset” to begin loading the codes:

2. In the “Codeset options” screen, you’ll be able to create your codeset and upload all the codes that you want to distribute. Add the codes by copying and pasting them directly into the corresponding field, one code per line.

Keep in mind:

The codes will be assigned in the same order they have been inserted into this field.
You can load codes in batches of up to 20,000 (with a maximum limit of 2 million codes).
You can add more codes at any time by accessing the Codeset options screen.

Step 2: Set up code distribution options

Once you have created the codeset, the next step is to configure the distribution of codes. In the “Codeset” section, click on the pencil icon to edit the codeset:

Here you will find the following options:

1. If the codes finish: Decide what you want the system to do once all the codes have been distributed:

Do not assign any other code: New users will not be assigned any code.
Repeat the codes: The same codes will be distributed, starting again from the beginning of the codeset.

2. Type of barcode: The application automatically presents the code in the same format in which it was pre-loaded. However, you can choose to display codes in other formats too. The formats currently supported are:

QR Codes
EAN-13 Barcodes
CODE 128 Barcodes
CODE 39 Barcodes

3. Do codes expire? This option allows you to set an expiration date for the codes you will give in the promotion. This date will be taken into account in the validation through the Validation Portal.

Step 3: Link the codeset to the prize

Once you have configured the codeset, the next step is to link it to the prize.

Go to Pages > Prizes. Then click on the “Options” tab within the prize you want to link to the codeset. Select the codeset that you've just created. The system will now be able to distribute the prize codes among participants:

Important! If you don’t select a codeset, the system will not distribute any codes among users.

Step 5. Customize the design

In the Design menu, you can completely customize the look and feel of the promotion to match your brand, product or service.

The Design menu offers the following options:

Colors: Change the colors of texts and action elements (such as buttons).
Typographies: Select the font used for texts and action elements.
Buttons: Set the style to outlined or solid.
Container: Customize the container by setting the style, opacity, height or position.
Background: Customize the background with your own image or choice of colour. The background will be the same for all pages of the promotion.
CSS Styles: Use your own CSS styles to completely customize the template.

Discover all the graphic possibilities of the Design module.

Step 6. Insert legal texts

In this section you can upload legal texts to display them in the promotion. Specifically you can upload the terms and conditions to explain all aspects of the promotion, contest or sweepstakes. Additionally you can also upload your privacy policy to explain how and for what purpose you will treat the data of the users that register in the promotion. In Premium and White Label promotions it's also possible to upload your own Cookies policy.

To write or edit the terms and conditions, go to Editor > General > Legal content, where you will find the following sections:

Terms and conditions
Privacy Policy
Cookies Policy (Premium & White Label promotions only)

Note: Check here how to set up the consent of the legal texts of the promotion.

Step 7. Configure My Networks and the promotion footer

The 'My Networks' module enables you to totally customize the page which users see when they confirm registration. This page is an opportunity to encourage users to visit and follow your social networks. My Networks can be customized for Facebook pages, as well as Twitter, Instagram and Youtube accounts. Learn how to do that here.

To customize My Networks, go to Editor > General > My Networks:

The Footer is a banner which is displayed at the bottom of each screen of the promotion. You can customize the Footer text, or deactivate the Footer if you don't want it.

To enable the promotion footer, go to Editor > General > Footer where you'll see the following options:

"Created by" field which will allow you to customize the name of the brand or company organizing the promotion.
Decide what elements you want to show in the promotion foot.

Step 8. Customize viral content

This section is very important if you want your contest to go viral and reach a large audience. The viral content is the message that will be shown when a participant shares the promotion with friends, or invites them to take part. You can customize the share message for the different social media channels which your followers use.

To customize the viral content of the promotion, go to Editor > General > Share:

We recommend completing the following sections:

A) Generic:

Set up the generic contents of the promotion here:

Viral image: This is the image that will accompany the shared text. To optimize for social networks, we suggest dimensions of 1200px by 630px. The same image will be shared on Facebook, Pinterest and Google+. If you don’t upload a specific image, the main promotion image will be displayed when participants share the promotion.
Generic content: This is the viral text that will be shared on social media when participants use the share buttons on the main page or the registration form. Learn how to edit and format this text.

B) Recruitment.

This is the default content which is displayed when users share via the buttons on the final page of the promotion.

Step 9. Advanced Settings

1. Go to Editor > Pages > Form > Options and review the following options:

For Coupon Codes promotions, we recommend the following settings:

Max. users: Decide if you want to set a maximum number of participants. By default, there is no limit on how many users can participate.
Maximum entries per user: You can decide how many times the same user can participate. By default, users can only participate once each.
Enable premoderation: You can moderate competition entries before they appear in the public gallery. (This option is not necessary for Coupon Codes promotions).
Notification of new entrant: Enable this option if you want to receive an email whenever a new participant registers.
Disable autofocus in first form field. By default, the “Name” field in the entry form has the autofocus activated so that the participants can begin to write without having to click on the field first when the page loads. This option allows to disable this effect to avoid that the autofocus scrolls down the page, which is useful in promotions that have a big header image.
Anti-fraud options: With the aim of helping administrators organize top-quality contests, Easypromos has developed a range of techniques and tools to help minimize bad practices. Learn more about fraud prevention.

2. Then go to Editor> Pages> Form> Social Login. From here you can enable identification with Facebook and Instagram as a way to identify users and decide if you want it to be mandatory for the user to identify with one of these two social networks to participate.

Step 10. Set entry restrictions

You can restrict the promotion for some users. Specifically, the platform offers you 2 forms of restriction:

Restriction by country: You can limit participation to a specific country or countries. Only users with an IP address in the selected country or countries will see the promotion. Learn how to enable country restriction here.

Restriction by age: You can limit participation to users whose age is higher than the one indicated by the administrator. This establishes a minimum age for participation. Learn how to enable age restriction here.

Note: Age restriction is only available for promotions created with the Premium or White Label platform.

Step 11. Communicate with participants via the email platform

If you need to communicate with participants during and after the promotion, use this feature to create, customize and send emails.

The email platform is especially useful for Coupon Codes promotions, because it enables you to set up automatic emails. For example, you might need to contact participants for any or all of these reasons:

Learn how to create an email with the platform, communicate with participants from the beginning of your promotion, and increase your promotion's viral reach.

Important! The platform has the ‘smart tags’ feature at its disposal. This means you can customize and personalize your emails. Use the ‘smart tag’ {{user_recruiting_url}} and when you send the email, the tag will be substituted for each individual recipient's recruiting URL.

Note: The email platform is not included by default in Basic promotions. You can add it as an extension for $50USD.

Step 12. Preview the promotion

You can review the promotion's design at any time with the Preview feature. You'll find the "Go to Preview" button in the header of the Editor, on the right-hand side:

Please bear in mind that the preview is not a functional test. This is why, for example, you can click through the pages without filling in required fields. The best method for testing the promotion's functionality is to activate the promotion, but protect it with a password while you try it out privately. We explain how to do that here.

Step 13. Activate the promotion

Once you have configured every aspect of the promotion to your taste, you can activate it from the management page of the promotion. You can also view billing information and make payments from this page. More information here.

Step 14. Publish the promotion

Although your promotion is now active, you still need to take the final step: publishing it.

When you created the promotion, a unique URL was generated for you. This is the main link to the promotion, leading directly to a microsite where the promotion is presented. Also, and not exclusively, you can publish the promotion on your Facebook Page, or embed it in your blog or website. Control where you want to publish the URL via ‘Buzz’. You’ll find all the information about this step here.

Step 15. Share the promotion

It's important to share the promotion on as many social media channels as possible. Always use the main promotion link - it’s uniquely compatible with all devices.

You can share the promotion via the following methods:

With the direct link to the promotion.
With the ‘share’ button on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
Use Facebook Ads to give more visibility to the promotion. One of the most effective ways to improve the visibility of the promotion is through the Facebook advertising service, which will allow you to create an advertisement to promote the contest and generate traffic to the promotion. To do this, you must access the Facebook advertisers page and create an advertisement to promote the contest.
Creating a Featured campaign. This option adds your campaign to the list of Easypromos highlighted promotions. Featuring a promotion carries an additional cost, calculated per day of the campaign. If you’d like to Feature a campaign, consult this tutorial.

We also recommend reading this article, which explains 14 basic steps for disseminating and highlighting your campaign on your Facebook Page.

Step 16. Manage the active promotion

While the promotion is active, you can view and manage participants and the codes which have been assigned to them. You can monitor activity in two different sections:

1. Editor > Tools > Codeset From here, you can check on the promotional codes that are being distributed among users. There's a range of tools available:

See and filter by the assignment status of the codes.
See the name of the user assigned to each code and view their promotion entry.
Add new codes to the codeset, or delete codes which have not been distributed.
Sort the list of codes by insertion date (ascending or descending order).

2. “View entries” on the promotion management page. Here you can view information on all participants and download it as an Excel file.

Step 17. View promotion statistics

Access the ‘Statistics’ section to learn more about participants and their interaction with the application. This information will be available as soon as the first competition entry is made, until after the promotion has finished. Learn more about the kind of information available.

Step 18. Enable the Validation Portal (optional)

The Validation Portal enables quick and easy code verification when participants use their coupons.

A link to the Validation Portal is provided to the administrator when you set up your promotion. It can then be used by sales outlets, to check that promotional codes provided by customers are valid.

Learn how to enable and customize the Validation Portal for your promotion.

Step 19. Include a giveaway (optional)

You can combine your coupon promotion with a random prize giveaway. In addition to distributing coupons during the promotion, you can use the "Sweepstakes" tool to select giveaway winners at the end of the promotion. The tool will carry out a random prize draw among all participants, or among participants who meet certain criteria.

If you want to offer a giveaway at the end of your coupon promotion, follow these steps:

Create a new prize: The giveaway prize must be separate from the prize which you distributed as a promotional code. So the first thing you need to do is to create a new prize in Editor > Pages > Prizes, and choose "By Random Draw". Note: you can create new prizes like this whenever you want, for example when the participation period is over. Read this tutorial if you need a reminder on how to create prizes.
Pick the winners: When you are ready to carry out the prize draw, go to the “Winners” section of the promotion management page. You'll find a list of your prizes. Select the one that you've set up for the giveaway. Next, click the “Run sweepstakes” button to begin the winner selection process. This tutorial will guide you through the entire process.

Step 20. Finishing up the promotion

The end of a promotion is controlled by the dates set in the promotion Editor. When the "End of publication date" is passed, the promotion status changes from active to expired. By default, the promotion is unpublished and is no longer visible. If users try to access the promotion URL, a screen with the message "promotion expired" is displayed.

As administrator of the contest, you can choose to edit the content of this "promotion expired" screen. You could even republish the promotion so that it is visible again, show the winners of the promotion, or maintain a gallery of competition entries.

Learn more about your options for expired promotions here.