Promotion codes

This page covers how to create promotion code lists and add them to your campaigns and Canvases.

About promotion codes

Promotion codes—also called promo codes—are a great way to keep users engaged by driving interactions with a strong emphasis on purchases. You can create messages that pull from your list of promotion codes.

Each promotion code has an expiration date of up to six months. You can store and manage up to 20 million codes per list. By managing and analyzing the performance of your promotion codes, you can make targeted decisions for your promotional strategies and messaging.

Creating a promotion code list

Step 1: Go to the Promotion Code section

1. From the dashboard, go to Data Settings > Promotion Codes.
2. Select Create Promotion Code List.

Step 2: Name the promotion code

1. Name your promotion code list and add an optional description.
2. Next, create a code snippet for the promotion code.

Here are some details to consider when creating a code snippet:

• Once saved, code snippets can’t be edited.
• Snippets are case-sensitive. For example, “Birthday_promo” and “birthday_promo” will be recognized as two different snippets.
• Use the snippet name in Liquid to reference this set of promotion codes.
• Make sure the code snippet isn’t already being used in another list.

Step 3: Choose promotion code options

Each promotion code list has a corresponding expiration date and time that gets set upon creation. The maximum expiration length is six months into the future from the day you’re creating or editing your list.

Within that time, you can change and update the expiration date repeatedly. This expiration date will apply to all codes added to this list. Upon expiration, the codes will be deleted from the Braze system, and any messages calling that list’s code snippet will not be sent.

You also have the option to set up optional and customized threshold alerts. If set up, these alerts will email the designated recipient either when the list is running low on available promotion codes in this list or when your promotion code list is close to expiration. The recipient will be notified once a day.

Step 4: Upload promotion codes

Braze doesn’t manage code creation or redemption, meaning you must generate your promotion codes to a CSV file and upload them to Braze.

Make sure your CSV file follows these guidelines:

• Includes a column for promotion codes.
• Has one promotion code per row.

You can use our built-in integration with Voucherify or Talon.One to create and export promotion codes.

1. After the upload is complete, select Save List to save all the details and codes you just entered.

2. After selecting save, a new row will appear in the Import History.
3. To refresh the table to see if your import has finished, select Sync at the top of the table.

Updating a promotion code list

To update a list, select one of your existing lists. You can change the name, description, list expiration, and threshold alerts. You can also add more codes to the list by uploading new files and selecting Update List. All codes in the list will have the same expiration, regardless of the date of import.

Modifying incorrect promotion code list

If you’ve uploaded a CSV file with the incorrect promotion codes and selected Save list, you can resolve this by either method:

• Deprecate the entire list: Stop using the current promotion code list in any campaigns, Canvases, or templates. Then, upload the CSV file with the correct codes and use them in your messaging.
• Use the incorrect codes: Create a campaign that sends promotion codes from the incorrect promotion code list to a placeholder until all of the incorrect codes are used. Then, upload the correct promotion codes to the same list.

Using promotion codes

To send a promotion code in a message, select Copy Snippet next to the promotion code list you previously created.

Paste the code snippets into one of your messages in Braze, then use Liquid to insert one of the unique promotion codes from your list. That code will be marked as sent, ensuring no other message sends the same code.

Across Canvas steps

When a code snippet is used in a campaign or Canvas with multichannel messages, each user receives a unique code. In a Canvas with multiple steps that reference promotion codes, a user gets a new code for every step they enter.

To assign one promotion code in a Canvas and reuse it across steps:

1. Assign the promotion code as a custom attribute in the first step (User Update).
2. Use Liquid in later steps to reference that custom attribute instead of generating a new code.

When a user qualifies for a code across multiple channels, they receive the same code in each channel. For example, if they get messages by email and push, the same code is sent to both. Reporting also reflects a single code.

In in-app message campaigns

After creating an in-app message campaign, you can insert a promotion code list snippet into your in-app message message body.

Promotion codes in in-app messages will be deducted and used only when a user triggers the display of the in-app message.

In test messages

Test sends and seed group email sends will use up promotion codes unless requested otherwise. Contact your Braze account manager to update this feature behavior so promotion codes aren’t used during test sends and seed group email sends.

Saving promotion codes to user profiles

To reference the same promotion code in subsequent messages, the code must be saved to the user profile as a custom attribute. This can be done through a User Update step that assigns the discount code to a custom attribute, like “Promo Code”, directly before a Message step.

First, select the following for each field in the User Update step:

• Attribute Name: Promo Code
• Action: Update
• Key Value: The promotion code’s Liquid code snippet, such as {% promotion('spring25') %}

Second, add the custom attribute (in this example, {{custom_attribute.${Promo Code}}) to a message. The discount code will be templated in.

Viewing promotion code usage

You can find the remaining code count in the Remaining column of the promotion code list on the Promotion Codes page.

This code count can also be found when revisiting a pre-existing promotion code list page. You can also export unused codes as a CSV file.

Multichannel and single-channel sends

For multichannel and single-send campaigns and Canvases, all promotion codes referenced in a message’s Liquid are deducted to be used before the message is sent to make sure the following occurs:

• The same promotion codes are used across channels in a multichannel message.
• Extra promotion codes are not used if a message fails or aborts.

If a user has two promotion code lists referenced in one message that is split by a Liquid conditional logic tag, all promotion codes will still be deducted, regardless of which conditional flow the user follows.

If a user enters a new Canvas step or re-enters a Canvas, and the promotion code Liquid snippet is applied again for a message to that user, a new promotion code will be used.

Example

In the following example, both promotion code lists vip-deal and regular-deal will be deducted. Here’s the Liquid:

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{% if user.is_vip %}
  {% promotion('vip-deal') %}
{% else %}
  {% promotion('regular-deal') %}
{% endif %} 

Braze recommends uploading more promotion codes than what you estimate will be used. If a promotion code list expires or runs out of promotion codes, the subsequent messages will be aborted.

Frequently asked questions

Which messaging channels can I use with promotion codes?

Promotion codes are currently supported for email, mobile push, web push, Content Cards, webhook, SMS, and WhatsApp. Braze Transactional Email campaigns and in-app messages do not currently support promotion codes.

Do test and seed sends count towards usage?

By default, test sends and seed group email sends will use promotion codes per user, per test send. However, you can reach out to your Braze account manager to update this behavior to not use promotion codes during testing.

What happens when multiple messaging channels use the same promotion code snippet?

If a particular user is eligible to receive a code through multiple channels, they will receive the same code through each channel. Only one promo code will be used regardless of the channels received.

Can I use multiple Liquid snippets to reference the same promotion code list in one message?

Yes. Braze will apply the same promotion code across all instances of that snippet in the message, ensuring the user only receives one unique code.

What happens when a promotion code list is expired or empty?

Expired codes are deleted after six months.

If the message should have contained a promotion code from an empty or expired list, the message will be canceled.

If the message contains Liquid logic that conditionally inserts a promotion code, the message will only be canceled if it should have contained a promotion code. If the message shouldn’t have contained a promotion code, the message will send normally.

If I uploaded the wrong promotion codes, can I update them?

Yes. You can resolve this by deprecating the entire list or using a placeholder to delete the list. For more information, see Updating promotion codes.

Can I save a promotion code to a user’s profile for future messages?

Yes. You can save promotion codes to a user’s profile through a User Update step. For more information, see Saving promotion codes to user profiles.