Coupon code sets (or datasets) are a core element of LiveCoupons and are something you initially configure in the Basic Settings of the LiveCoupon Setup Wizard. Once created, they can also be updated from your account at any moment in time.
Adding a LiveCoupon to an email campaign allows you to create and allocate personalized coupons to your openers in three different presentation types: text, barcode, and QR code. But in order to set up any of those options, you'll need to first create coupon code sets, depending on the type of coupon code allocation you would like to see.
Types of LiveCoupon Code Sets
In the basic settings of the LiveCoupon Wizard, under Coupon Code Allocation, you can set up 2 types of allocations:
- Generic — Generic Coupon Sets are defined in Liveclicker and allow you to allocate up to 6 codes. Several openers may receive the same coupon.
- Unique — These are used for situations in which more than six codes are required - for example: codes assigned to concert tickets, party invitations, unique discounts, etc. They are not defined in the UI but uploaded as a CSV file and each opener will receive a unique code.
How to set up Generic Coupon Sets
Generic Coupon Sets allow you to allocate up to 6 codes, assigning any of the possible codes up to 6 to the openers depending on the selected Allocation method. You should use the Generic Coupon Set when coupons are not unique and can be reused by several users.
-
Create a new Generic Coupon Set from within the LiveCoupon wizard by clicking the Add Set + button in Step 1 Basic Settings.
-
Access your coupon sets from your account, go to Account Settings > RealTime Content > LiveCoupons > Generic Coupon Sets, then click on the Create New Set + button found at the bottom of the list.
A dialog pops up to create the new Generic Coupon Set:
1. Give the new coupon set a name.
2. Enter up to 6 coupon names and codes for the new set.
3. Select your allocation setting and set values if needed. From the drop-down you can select to allocate by
-
Percentage - Input a percentage to allocate a code to X% of openers.
(Mathematically we assign a number 1-100 to every opener in this allocation method, and whatever percentage point they hit determines which code they are allocated.)
If you selected to allocate by percentage, the totals will need to equal 100. Or, if there is just one variable, then it should be 100. -
Fixed amount - Input a specific number of codes to be distributed as users open their emails. Once all the coupons have been assigned, the next opener will get the fallback coupon.
-
Evenly - Liveclicker will automatically distribute each code with an even percentage using the same mathematical method as for percentage distribution. Creating 5 coupon codes and setting the allocation to Evenly is identical to setting Allocate by % and setting each percentage to 20%.
4. Enter a fallback code that will be delivered if your campaign is expired, or your allocation settings determine not to send one of your 6 codes. Please keep in mind that the fallback code will only be delivered when using Fixed Amounts, as the other two allocation methods will keep delivering codes until the campaign expires.
5. Review all of your selections and click the Add New + button to finalize.
The coupon code set is now listed in the basic settings and will be used in this LiveCoupon element:
Note: To change a code set that was previously selected, click the change/edit set button.
A dialog pops up where you can select a different code set or create a new one:
6. Make sure to save these changes.
How to set up Unique Coupon Sets
If you select the unique allocation option, then you must set up both a Unique Coupon Dataset and a Unique Fallback Coupon Set.
1. Click Add Dataset. This will allow you to upload a CSV file or to use a previously uploaded dataset. The CSV file must contain:
- Name (optional) — Used in targeting rules and for personalization
- Code — A unique code, presented in the Element's personalization as %%coupon_code%%
- URL (optional) — This is an optional value, but if it exists then becomes the Clickthrough URL for the coupon
- Subscriber ID (optional) — This is an optional value, if populated, it pre-assigns this coupon to a specific open whose subscriber_id value matches the value in this column
Example:
2. If you choose to upload a new dataset, the following dialog pops up:
3. Enter a name for the dataset.
4. Click Upload CSV. A confirmation message is displayed:
5. Close the dialog. The newly imported dataset is listed:
6. You can also indicate an email alert needs to be sent when the number of coupon codes available reaches a specific threshold.
Note: You can also enable this by going to Account Settings > My Account > Profile, in the Email Alerts section, and checking the box for Opt into LiveCoupon Unique Dataset campaign alerts. Alerts activated in the Account settings will apply a default threshold and create alerts for all campaigns, while alerts configured in the campaign itself will apply the threshold set here and override the default.
7. Last, select or create a Unique Fallback Coupon Set. Click the Add Set button in the fallback coupon section:
8. In the Advanced Fallback Coupon Set dialog, you can select an existing coupon set as the fallback or create a new one:
When creating a new one, fill out a name for the coupon set and then define the codes. You can add up to 6 coupon codes as well as a fallback.
9. When done, click Add new +. The fallback coupon set is now added to your LiveCoupon element.
Technical note: Uploading Large Coupon Code Sets (>1.5M)
Liveclicker's unique coupon code sets (or datasets) can support up to 1,500,000 coupon codes. If you need to upload more than 1.5M coupon codes, please contact support or your ADM.
When uploading large datasets (>1.5M), take the following into consideration:
- Prior to uploading a large dataset, an FTP should be set up (per account), where the coupon datasets can be uploaded. To do so, please contact support or your ADM.
- Files uploaded through FTP will need to have the following naming convention:
a. Start with "livecoupon" followed by an underscore (_)
b. The dataset name (alphanumeric), replacing spaces with dashes
c. End with .csv
For Example: livecoupon_dataset-name.csv
Be sure to remember the name you give the dataset, so you can easily find it later if needed.
After the CSV file is uploaded through FTP, you'll be able to see the file displayed on the Unique Coupon Datasets area in your account settings.
When creating a new LiveCoupon campaign, your uploaded dataset will be displayed in Step 1 when you select the unique allocation option.
