Discover the five main reasons why gift cards are extremely powerful marketing tools for companies of all sizes and types.
- Gift cards are easy to present and distribute
Sales activities are often very demanding and time-consuming when a company starts promoting them.Sometimes it is necessary to hire an extra employee to do the extra work, or the creative work, execution and preparation done by an external contractor can reach hefty sums of money.Just a few simple examples: a beautiful roll-up, a backlit poster, etc. all contribute to increasing sales when the customer is already in the store. But! In addition to the promotional effect, they do not always serve the actual, long-awaited increase in traffic, which can be measured in numbers, since customers do not always pay attention to these surfaces, they pass by them and ignore them. Conversely, there is a much simpler way to encourage impulse purchases, i.e. unplanned, sudden purchases. The way to do this is with a plastic card placed in a prominent place around the cash registers.
Distributing gift cards can be a cost-effective solution for your business. Take, for example, the case where your company sends out samples. This type of promotional solution can be very expensive. Whether you send samples by mail or in person, the cost of distributing samples is far more than is worth it for your company. However, a fixed expense may not generate traffic for your company at all, as it often reaches people who are happy with the free gift, but do not plan to make further purchases of a given product at all, because they do not qualify as a target group and therefore as purchasing power.
A small gift plastic card, on the other hand, can be included in a dm letter, or given as a gift to key customers or regular customers, but it can also be used to target a completely new clientele. And here comes the point: the gift card lures people directly into buying our product, our service. Because if there is even a small amount on the card, they want to buy it, "redeem" it. And once it's in your store — and experience shows it — most gift card customers buy more than the gift card amount.
Thus, a small card that can be produced cost-effectively can even multiply its value in circulation.
2.Boost your brand equity with a gift card
Branding is essential to make your business stand out from your competitors. Some fast food restaurants are excellent examples of effective branding. Each of them has a philosophy, logo, well-known visual features and a special product to whet the appetite of potential customers. When people think of a McDonald's hamburger or see the logo, for example, they suddenly feel hungry. It works almost like the well-known "Pavlovian reflex".
A gift card, which in most cases is made of beautifully executed, designer plastic cards, is a great way to increase brand awareness.
How?
First of all, each gift card contains the design elements of your company, its name and brand logo. This is considered a viable marketing tool. In the store, people see them placed at the checkout. Sometimes they are purchased for personal use, and in most cases they are given as gifts. Gift cards introduce more and more new customers to your company's brand. The recipients get to know your company's products and services at the time of "redemption", after which they also become regular customers. Pure profit!
- A gift card brings new customers to your business
The ultimate goal of any marketing strategy is to bring new customers to your business. Gift cards will help you with this. People receive gift cards for holidays or special occasions. Some of the recipients may not be familiar with the business. But they'll be curious about what they have to offer, especially since they've basically been given "money" to spend for free that they can only spend on your product or service.
This gives the company the opportunity to turn to new customers. Usually, the people who give these gift certificates are already familiar with your product or service. They are satisfied, so they recommend it and gladly give it to their loved ones. The advertising power of this type of trust-based recommendation is invaluable. People prefer to trust companies recommended by friends, family and co-workers, reputation spreads by word of mouth.If we receive it from a family member, co-worker, friend whose opinion matters to us, whose taste we trust, its advertising power is enormous.
4.Customize your promotional efforts
A gift card is an excellent way to customize your promotional efforts. Go beyond branding and use gift cards for creative purposes! From time to time, some companies release new types of gift cards that focus on a specific holiday – such as Christmas – or a promotion for a specific period.A gift card is an excellent way to customize your promotional efforts. Go beyond branding and use gift cards for creative purposes! From time to time, some companies release new types of gift cards that focus on a specific holiday – such as Christmas – or a promotion for a specific period.Another way to diversify your marketing approach is to give the plastic gift card together with a promotional gift to make the gift card more attractive. For example, a beauty salon gives its guest a cosmetic product in a fancy gift box along with the gift card. In this way, the recipient receives not only a card, but also an unanticipated gift at the same time, which does not have to be large at all. We also bring him joy with this. This very pleasant experience can only positively position our company and our products in the eyes of our customers.
5.You can also donate your gift card to charity
While gift cards definitely give your company an advantage, they can also be used for charity. Of course, behind this there must be an actual effort to serve a good cause, but not incidentally, it also contributes to the image and positive image of your company. A good example of this is when gift cards are placed at the cash desks of large chain stores, which we can buy to support a charity. Usually these cards are bought by people with a good heart. And this good deed is intertwined with the name of our company or brand.
In summary, gift cards have benefits to discover and implement for companies of all sizes and types. Whether you specialize in distributing goods or providing services, gift cards can be an efficient and profitable way to build new customer relationships. It is also a cost-effective way to increase your company's image, brand value and promote it.
