Using eTokens

These features available on All Plans

Overview

You may run into scenarios where you need to limit access to a specific campaign that you've built. Whether you're trying to build exclusivity by offering a campaign only to fans, or trying to make judging entries easy for judges from outside your organization - eTokens (also known as "Entry Tokens") are one tool we provide that allows you to set that up.

Understanding the Process

Typically, the process of using eTokens requires the use of two separate campaigns. The first campaign would be one you use to issue the eToken link: You'd have a form that folks can fill out and submit, then the eToken link would be sent to them in an autoresponder email.

The second campaign is one you'd set up containing Action Widgets to interact with users visiting the campaign via their eToken link. These Action Widgets would allow you to display an exclusive section of your campaign if the entrant is coming from a verified eToken link, and/or limit the use of an eToken link to once only (which dissuades entrants from sharing their link).

In this guide, we'll walk through the entire process using a couple of example campaigns.

Campaign 1: Issuing an eToken

Here's a fun little piece of trivia: Every entry submitted in every form is automatically issued an eToken. It's actually part of what makes our referral and share features work. However, the eToken is usually lurking, hidden behind the scenes or tacked on to the end of a URL.

To make the eToken work for you is as easy as adding a merge field into an autoresponder email. Here's how:

1. Start by building out your campaign in the Campaign Builder. You'll see in this particular example that we're promising exclusive access to our next giveaway for folks who submit their email address.
   
   
2. In this campaign, add an autoresponder email - for a more thorough walkthrough on how to build a new autoresponder, check out our Creating an Autoresponder help doc.
   
   
3. When you're adding the content of the autoresponder, you'll need to add an eToken merge field. This isn't available as one of the pre-set merge field buttons on the left so you'll need to add it manually. The merge field you'll use is:
   
   

   {{entry.e_token}}

   
   
4. We recommend using a tiny bit of code to make the eToken a hyperlink. As it appears by default in an email, it just looks like a string of letters and numbers - for example:
   
   
   
   Ideally, you have your second campaign built and published, so that you can use the URL from that in this email. To create a clean-looking link, click the source code icon () at the top of the content editor, then use HTML like so:
   
   

   <a href="https://m.lndg.page/WJNQJP?e_token={{entry.e_token}}">Click
   here to visit the exclusive giveaway!</a>

   
   You can see what this looks like in the actual source code of the email here:
   
   
   
   And in the content of the email, that code renders to look like this - a clean link:
   
   
   
   In this example, https://m.lndg.page/WJNQJP is the URL of our second campaign (the one to which we're restricting access with the eToken) - you'd swap in the URL of your own campaign in that spot. Follow it immediately with ?e_token=, then the merge tag. This will ensure that each individual entry has its own unique link.
   
   You can replace the Click here to visit the exclusive giveaway! text to read anything you'd like. Just make sure that it's contained fully between the HTML tags.
   
   
5. Once you've got the link set up and looking the way you want, finish setting up the email and activate it. If you're done with your campaign, click Publish Campaign and follow the steps to push your campaign live!
   
   

Your entrants will now automatically be sent an email with their eToken link when they submit the form in the first campaign. Now let's focus on what needs to be set up in your second campaign to limit access to only those with these links.

Campaign 2: Restricting Access

Now to focus on the second campaign; the one to which we are limiting access.

If you're beginning with one of our templates, start by selecting all of the widgets/containers in the Edit Widgets Panel and containing them in a single Container Widget. Label the container accordingly to keep things organized - in this example we renamed it eToken. 

Then, set the visibility of the all-encompassing container to Starts Hidden.

Showing Your Campaign to eToken Link Users Only

We will set up an Action Widget to show this container only to folks who have navigated to the campaign using an eToken link - and also create a second container that is shown to folks who have found their way to the campaign in some other way. To do this:

1. We'll begin with the container shown to folks visiting the campaign without using an eToken link. Add a new Container Widget, then add whatever content you'd like to show to these specific visitors. In this case, we've included a simple Rich Text Widget with a short message.
   
   
2. Now we'll configure an Action Widget that hides this new container and shows the exclusive campaign content when someone visits from an eToken link. Start by adding an Action Widget. Then in the widget settings pop-up, click Add Trigger.
   
   
3. In this Create New Trigger prompt, click on Advanced on the right side to open a section with some additional options.
   
   
4. Click the radio button next to An eToken is validated against a list. What this means is that the widget will check that the visitor came to the campaign using a link that includes an eToken, and trigger an action if the eToken is validated.
   
   
   
   
5. At the bottom, you'll need to finish configuring the trigger. Typically for this step, you would select the list connected to the form in your first campaign - the form your entrants submitted to get their eToken link. Click Any List to open a pop-up that will allow you to select a specific list.
   
   Alternatively, you can just leave it set to Any List and the trigger will fire when your visitor is using an eToken link from any list on your account.
   
   
   
   
6. When finished, click Save.
   
   
   
   
7. Back in the widget settings, we'll see that our new trigger has been saved! Now we need to set up what happens when that trigger has been tripped. Click Add Action.
   
   
   
   
8. In our example, we have two containers: No eToken for tokenless visitors, and eToken for people who are visiting using an eToken link. Since our trigger is validating that the visitor is using an eToken link, we'll want two actions: One to hide No eToken and one to show eToken. 
   
   Starting with hiding No eToken: In the Create New Token prompt, we'll select the target widget using the drop-down up top, click the radio button next to Hide, and then click Save.
   
   
9. Now to show our eToken container: Click Add Action again to add a second action, and then the process is similar to the last step - instead, we'll be selecting Show instead of Hide. Once again, click Save when finished.
   
   
10. And that's it for the Action Widget! You'll notice that if you read the triggers and actions from the top down, it should make logical sense. In this case, "If triggered by another widget or an eToken is validated against the specific list, then hide the No eToken container and show the eToken container." Sounds like exactly what we want! Click Save and Exit.
    
    
    

Testing this new campaign is easy enough; if you go to the Publications Panel and click on your campaign link, the campaign should open in a new window - and in this case, since we visited the campaign without an eToken link, we see our No eToken container displayed.

However, if you go into your test email (with the eToken link) and click that, you'll see the exclusive campaign content.

Preventing Multiple People from Using the Same eToken

All of the exclusivity you've worked hard to set up can be ruined by someone sharing their eToken link with other people. Not to worry! We do have a way to combat that; it just requires setting up another Action Widget.

1. In your campaign, start by adding an Action Widget. Then in the widget settings pop-up, click Add Trigger.
   
   
2. In this Create New Trigger prompt, click on Advanced on the right side to open a section with some additional options.
   
   
3. Click the radio button next to The current eToken is validated by another session. What this means is that the widget will trigger an action if the same eToken link being used by the current visitor is validated by someone else on another browser or another computer.
   
   No further configuration is needed for this trigger, so click Save.
   
   
4. Now just add the actions that you want to have happen when the trigger is tripped. In this example, we've chosen to hide the container that displays when the eToken link is used, and show the non-eToken content. However, feel free to create a different container with content specific to link sharers, if you'd like. Once done, click Save and Exit.
   
   
5. You're essentially done! If you want to test this out, visit your campaign using your eToken link to start. Then, on a different browser (or even an Incognito tab in the same browser), try using the same link. The new browser will show the exclusive content, and you'll notice that the page in the first browser will refresh and show you content based on what you've set up in the Action Widget.