Promotions are customizable discounts/coupon codes that you can create for your buyers. They can be a great way to garner support for your campaign!
You can create and manage your promotions from the Promotions dashboard page. If you choose to create a promotion, the discounts are deducted from the profits of the campaign it is applied to.
How to create a promotion
From the Promotions dashboard page, click “Create a promotion”.
A modal will appear asking what type of promotion you’d like to create.
The current options are:
Percent-off
Free item
Note: Free item promo codes are currently in early access, and not everyone has access to them. If you do not have access to them, when you click "Create a promotion," it will select the percent-off promo code automatically. All users will have access to this feature soon.
Once you select a promotion type, you will be taken to a new page where you can configure your promotion and create it.
Percent-off codes
Percent-off promotions, when used, reduce the price of items in selected campaigns by a percentage you choose.
When you create your promotion, it will be available to use immediately.
Promotion settings
Name
Give your promotion a name to make it easier to identify.
Code
Enter a code that your customers will enter during checkout.
Percent-off
Enter the discount percentage for the items in the selected campaigns. You can only discount items from campaigns where all items have enough profit margin to support the discount. Learn more about profit margins.
Expiration date
You can choose whether or not this code should expire. By default, this is set to “Never”. But if you select a date, the code will no longer work after the selected date.
Total uses
You can set a total number of times that this code can be used.
If set to unlimited, the code will continue to work until the promotion expires or until you delete the promotion.
If a number of total uses is set, the code will stop working once it has been used that many times.
Campaigns to target
Here you can select the campaigns you’d like this code to work for. Campaigns can only be selected if all items have enough profit margin to support the discount.
If a percent-off promotion is applied at checkout, the discount will apply to all matching items from your selected campaigns in the cart.
Note: If you select an available campaign and then increase the percent off, the code will not work for that campaign if there aren’t enough profit margins. If you increase the percentage, we recommend reviewing your selected campaigns to make sure the code will still work.
Free item codes
Free item codes allow you to pay in advance for items on behalf of your customer. This is a great way to offer merch as rewards, incentives, or gifts.
When a free item code is used during checkout, the value of one item (base cost), shipping, and any taxes or delivery fees will be deducted from your promotion balance. If your balance is insufficient to cover the cost, the code will not work. We recommend keeping your balance topped up to avoid any disruption.
Each promotion has its own balance.
When you click “Pay and create promotion," you will be taken to a checkout page to complete your balance top-up. Your promotion will be created after you finish the checkout process. The single-use codes will be available to download and use immediately.
Promotion settings
Name
Give your promotion a name to make it easier to identify.
Codes
We will automatically generate 1,000 unique, single-use codes for you to distribute. This is to prevent codes from being leaked or misused. When you use a code, we will immediately deduct the funds from your promotion balance.
It is your responsibility to keep these codes safe. When a code is used, you will be responsible for the payment—even if the code was stolen.
You can download a CSV file containing your codes once your promotion has been created.
Currently, there is no way to generate more codes.
Unused codes will become void when your promotion is ended.
Expiration date
Free item promotion codes must have an expiration date, and they cannot be set for more than one year from the date the promotion is created. After the expiration date passes, the promotion codes will no longer be valid.
Campaigns to target
Unlike the percent-off promotion, you can target any campaign that you’ve created. Free item codes cover the full amount of the item, plus shipping, taxes, and delivery fees.
Promo code balance
When a customer uses one of your codes, they won’t pay anything. The cost of one item (base cost), shipping, delivery fees, and taxes will be deducted from your promotion balance.
International orders may be subject to certain fees, such as customs charges, duties, VAT, etc.
If there isn’t enough balance available, the code will not work. We’ll notify you via email when a customer has tried to use your code, but there is not enough available balance.
You can top up your balance whenever you need to by editing the promotion.
Currently, a promotion balance cannot exceed $5,000.
Your promotion balance can be refunded at any time. When a balance is refunded, the promotion will be deactivated, and any unclaimed codes will no longer work.
If you archive your promotion, the promotion balance will be refunded automatically.
How to edit a promotion
Promotions can be edited from the Promotion dashboard page. Select the gear icon followed by “Edit promotion”.
When editing a promotion, you can toggle whether it is active or not. If toggled to inactive, the code(s) will no longer work. Sometimes this toggle may be inactive and disabled. This means the promotion has ended and can no longer be reactivated. You will need to create a new promotion if you would like to run it again.
For percent-off codes, you cannot change the code once it is created. If you’d like to change the code, set the current code as inactive, and then create a new promotion.
For free item codes, you can download your generated codes from the edit screen. You can also see how many codes have been used so far.
Re-downloading your codes lets you see which codes were claimed, when, and by whom.
Note: Unless you are a nonprofit or political organization, users don’t have to share their full name and email address with you during checkout. For these users, you will only see their first name and the first letter of their last name.
Managing your promotion balance
When editing a free item code, you can also top up your balance or refund the remaining balance. If your balance is too low, it may not work during checkout.
To top up your balance, click the “Top up” button, select the amount you wish to top up, and complete your top-up. You’ll be redirected to a checkout page where you can complete your payment.
Your promotion balance can be refunded at any time. When a balance is refunded, the promotion will be deactivated, and any unclaimed codes will no longer work.
How to archive and refund a promotion
You can archive a promotion by clicking the “Archive promotion” link at the very bottom of the page.
Archiving a free-item promotion will also refund any remaining balance. If a free item promotion is archived, any unused codes will no longer work.
You can also temporarily deactivate your promotion instead of deleting it via the edit page under General settings.
If you only want to refund your free item promo, you can do so by clicking the More Options button in the promo code balance section.
Note: When you refund your free item promo, it will set the status to Inactive, and the generated codes will no longer work. This action is irreversible.
If a promotion is archived mid-batch and it has already been used, those discounts will still apply to orders that have already been placed. Codes will no longer work for orders placed after the promotion is archived.
Feel free to reach out directly to support@bonfire.com with additional questions. We’re happy to help!