How do I send my visitors promotional codes using merge tags in Mailchimp?

Sometimes you want to do something special to thank your loyal visitors or draw new ones into your event. Promotional codes are an excellent way to reward your loyal visitors. To automatically send these visitors your promotional codes, you can use merge tags in MailChimp. 

Below, we'll explain how to create merge tags in MailChimp and how to automatically add promotional codes to your emails with the help of a step-by-step plan. 

How do I send my visitors promotional codes using merge tags in Mailchimp?

1. First of all, you'll need to create promotional codes via the Dashboard. If you want to know how to make promotional codes, read our tutorial on creating promotional codes first. Once you've created your promotional codes, you can export them as a .csv file.

EVENTIX TIP: Leave the 'Fill manually' option off if you plan to send out codes in bulk. Manually filling in these details will cost you a lot of time!

2. In MailChimp, go to "Audience", then to "All contacts", and then to "Manage contacts". Export your mailing list as CSV (Comma Separated Values) by clicking on "Export Audience". If this is the first time you're working with MailChimp, you can export a list of your visitors from our Dashboard. You can read how to export your customer database
here. 

3. a. When you download a CSV file, all the information is in a single column. To separate them, select everything and click on 'Data' at the top and then on 'Text to columns'.

3. b. A wizard will open, allowing you to make some adjustments. In the first step, choose the option 'Separated'. In the next step, only tick the 'Commas' option. A CSV file only recognises commas. You don't need to change anything in this final step; just click on 'Finish'.

3. c. Add ''promotional code'' in the last column once you've separated the columns in the file. Then copy and paste the generated promotional codes into the last column. Save the file, but don't close it yet. You'll need this file later. 

4. In MailChimp go to 'Audience'.  Once you have the desired mailing list, click 'Settings' and then 'Audience fields and *|MERGE|* tags'. You'll see the same data from the CSV file, such as name, surname and email address. 

5. Click on 'Add A Field' at the bottom and select 'text'. Give the extra option a logical name, such as promotional code, and fill in 'CCODE' for the MERGE, as shown in the image below. Don't forget to turn off the visibility; you don't want this to be visible immediately when you send an email.

6. Save the completed fields. Click on 'Manage Contacts' and then on 'View contacts'. You'll see that 'promotional code' has been added.

7. Add the generated promotional codes in MailChimp by importing the csv file (with the promotional codes). Click on 'Add Contacts' (at 'Audiences') and then on 'Import contacts'.

8. Now you can decide how you want to import the csv file. Choose 'Copy and paste' and continue in the lower right corner by clicking 'Continue to Upload'. 

9. Next, go to your csv file. Select all the rows and columns, copy them and paste them into MailChimp as shown below.

10. Select the status "Subscribed" and check the option "Update existing subscribers". This option will update users who are already in your mailing list.

11. Finally, you must ensure that the column contains the correct information. Click on the column on the left and select the corresponding information from the drop-down menu, such as 'first name' and 'last name'. If the information is not there, you can add it yourself by using 'Create a new field'. Click 'Finalize Import' when you have assigned the correct information to a column. Check your import and click 'Complete Import'.

12. Now you can put the campaign codes in your email. You create a 'Campaign' with the list to which you added the campaign codes as MERGE TAGS. As you can see, we have selected the list Eventix Test under 'To'. 

13. Follow the steps until you get to 'Content'. Add a text box to the mail. Then you can add various 'Merge Tags', including the unique promotional codes. You can also add a first name, last name and company name.

14. Check whether the promotional codes are being used. You can check the use of the unique promotional codes in the Dashboard. Click 'Orders' and then 'Order list'. An overview will appear with all the information about your visitor. The last column shows 'Promotional Codes'. If you see a code here, then the visitor has used the promotional code they received, as you can see below.  

Thanks for reading! If you have any questions or feedback, please contact us at info@eventix.io.