Want to run a promotion where each customer gets a unique coupon code? Here’s how to assign coupon codes and distribute them via email.
When it comes to running coupon-based sales for your online store, you can distribute coupons in multiple ways: Either you send the same code to everyone on your list, or you send each person their own code.
Though static coupon codes are effective, in some cases you may not want your customers sharing codes, especially if you’re running a promotion that only applies to a certain subset of your customer base.
In any case, how do you assign and distribute individual coupon codes in HubSpot? In summary, you first need to download the list of contacts you want to send the promotional email to. Then, create your coupon codes within your ecommerce platform and download those as a list. After that, combine the codes and contacts in the same spreadsheet, download said spreadsheet, then upload it into HubSpot. The full tutorial is below.
As long as you can create individualized coupon codes within your ecommerce platform, you can send the codes to your HubSpot contacts.
1. Determine the list of customers you’re sending coupons to
Are you using this campaign to re-interest disengaged leads? Are you trying to reach leads that showed interest in a specific product? However you’re segmenting your leads, make a list in HubSpot, then export the list as a .CSV file.
2. Create a custom contact property to store the coupon codes
Create a new contact property in HubSpot by navigating to Settings > Data Management > Properties and clicking the orange Create property button on the right-hand side.
Name the property something memorable and distinct - whatever that means for your campaign. Make sure it’s not a property name that could be construed as belonging to another campaign, or that you might want to use again.
3. Generate the coupon codes
Depending on which ecommerce platform you use, whether that’s Shopify, Amazon, WooCommerce, or anything else, the way you configure coupon codes will differ. Make a note of the number of contacts on your customer list and generate the same number of codes.
4. Export the list of codes and combine them with your customer list in a spreadsheet
Upload your customer list into your spreadsheet program of your choice, such as Google Sheets or Excel. Make sure you include your contacts’ email addresses as a row in the spreadsheet, as email addresses serve as unique identifiers for contacts in HubSpot. Without an email address, HubSpot won’t be able to find existing contacts in your CRM and assign them their coupon codes.
Add a column for your coupon codes and import your list. For ease of use, we recommend you give your coupon code column the same name as the custom coupon property in HubSpot.
Make sure your columns are lined up so that each contact’s row has a single code. If you end up with an excess number of coupon codes, delete any that don’t line up with a contact.
5. Export your spreadsheet and import it into HubSpot
First, within your spreadsheet program, export your spreadsheet of contacts and coupon codes as a .CSV file.
Within HubSpot Settings, navigate to Data Management, then click Import & Export. Near the top of the page, on the right-hand side, there will be a gray button that says Go to import. Click that button, then on the next screen click Start an import.
Select Import file from computer from the options on the next screen. On the following page where it asks “How many files are you importing?”, click One file. On the next page click One object.
The next screen will display all HubSpot objects. Select Contacts.
On the next page, you’ll be able to upload your spreadsheet file. From the dropdown where it asks “Choose how to import Contacts” select Update existing Contacts only, since you’re only applying coupon codes to contacts you already have in your CRM.
You'll then need to bind the columns of your spreadsheet to HubSpot properties. Ensure the coupon column is connected to the coupon property you created earlier.
6. Create emails with personalization tokens
Once your file is imported, each contact on your list will have their own code assigned.
Create your email in HubSpot (be sure it’s a regular email rather than an automated email), and add a personalization token that will contain the coupon code. This way, each email recipient will have their own coupon code displayed.
This simple process will let you create more personalized email marketing campaigns.