Create An Expiring Early Bird Bonus Using Infusionsoft

Have you ever wanted to offer an early bird incentive (such as a bonus gift)  for a sale and wondered how you could build it so it automatically turns off at the set date?

You're not alone and the good news is I am going to show you to how to do this, easily!

Just recently one of my clients asked my team and I over at Built By Love Agency to build a campaign that has an expiring offer and, while building it, I realized how many times I have been asked how this could be done.

That question and challenge so many people have asked, has sparked this month's blog post!

Before I dive into the technical details and walk you through, step by step, I want to first explain what this does for you.

Using this solution, you'll be able to achieve just that and so much more (including the ability to swap out pages and links in emails after that early bird date has passed).

I'm confident you can appreciate the power of this strategy so I want to share with you places that you can use this for:

• Event registration
• Early bird offers and bonuses
• Webinar registration
• Online Sales
• Surveys

Now that you understand what this does and all the possibilities of how you can use it, let's dive in!

Step 1: Create A Custom Field

We're going to use a custom field to create a "Purchase Date". This is going to enable us to determine when we need to cut off the early bird sale/bonus.

Here's how to create a custom field in Infusionsoft:

1. Go to Admin>Settings>Custom Fields and click "Go"

Next, we are going to select "Field" in the drop down menu and then "Add".

You'll be given the chance to choose the type of custom field and you will select "Date". Then name it!

I suggest you name it after your specific event or funnel and then add the words "Purchase Date" so you always know what it is. 

For example: 

​Annual Retreat Purchase Date

Step 2: Create The Decision Diamond

If you have not opened up a campaign for this strategy to work, please do so now.

Once you have the Campaign Builder open, you are going to create a decision diamond. we are going to use the decision diamond to do the intelligent routing for us based on the Purchase Date using the custom field from the previous step.

Easy peezy so far, yes?  

Note: In case you are wondering how to create a decision diamond, here's how:

Add a new campaign sequence by dragging and dropping it onto the Campaign Builder screen. Then, add two more of the same.

Next, we will connect the sequences to each other as pictured below. This will automatically create a Decision Diamond for us. 

Before we go any further, I want you to rename "Sequence 2" as "Bonus Provided" and rename "Sequence 3" as "No Bonus Provided".

This will make it super easy for you to set up the logic inside the Decision Diamond!

Once we have the Decision Diamond, double click on it to open it up so we can set the routing logic for our campaign.

Once you have double clicked on the Decision Diamond you will see the ability to create the routing logic.

We are going to create the logic based on that custom field we chose which I labelled as "Purchase Date".  (see below image for example)

You are going to set the routing logic based on the dates you want your early bird (incentive bonus) to expire.

You'll know which to connect too as you properly named your sequences with "Bonus Provided" and "No Bonus Provided".

Step 3: Set The Purchase Date

Remember just a moment ago when I had you create 3 campaign sequences and connect them together?

We're going to use Sequence 1 now so please follow along.

1. First, please rename the sequence to "Set Purchase Date"
2. Next, please double click on it and open it up.

We are rockin!

Now that you have opened up this sequence, grab a widget named "Set Field Value" and drag that over next to the "Start" icon and connect the two.

You are going to use the dropdown box and select that custom field we created in Step 1. I named mine "Purchase Date" as you can see below. 

Next, select the option to "Overwrite existing data" and select the option to "use the date when the contact reaches this point in the sequence".

Lastly, mark that to "Ready" from the "draft" mode it stays at by default.

Step 4: Set The Purchase Goal

We are almost done! You'll now want to grab a Purchase Goal and connect that in front of the "Set Purchase Date" as this is how we will trigger the entire routing for who gets the early bird bonus and who does not. (see below for image).

Step 5: (Optional) Build Your Promotion Sequence

This part is optional based on how you like to build your campaigns but I am a fan of keeping things together.

That means I am going to build the sales promotion emails right in this campaign in front of the purchase goal. It will enable me to track everyone moving through here fairly easily. (See below for what I actually built).

Also, because I created and am using a Custom Field as the Purchase Date, this campaign can be easily adjusted and reused without having to do anything more than updating the Decision Diamond Purchase Date logic.

That's it, I told you this would be easy!

Now, if you are wondering if you can use this and add even more firepower to it, you;d be right! You can use Product Promotion discounts aligned with this to cover discounted offers and additional early bird gifts firing out automatically.

This strategy is quite powerful and has a lot of use cases. If you want to see how my team and I can help you grow your business using strategies like this, please schedule a free strategic consult with one of our Client Success Managers and we'll uncover your opportunities for growth and success. Click here to schedule your free consult.