Gift Card in Marketing Strategies

People love getting gifts from their favorite brands, and if there’s a way to make your customers happy and boost your revenue, it’s a gift card campaign. Actually, according to a prediction, the United States gift card market is expected to grow from $199.9 billion in 2023 to $267.3 billion by 2028.

This post will share the benefits of gift card campaigns along with 10 real examples. We’ll also examine limitations, conditions, and review campaign design and messaging. Let’s begin by defining what gift card campaigns are all about.

What is a Gift Card Campaign?

Gift cards, both physical and digital, are prepaid cards used instead of cash to purchase goods or services. Normally, they are sold by retailers, restaurants, and other businesses, whereas customers buy them for gifting purposes or for personal use. Brands also can give gift cards to customers as a reward for certain actions.

Gift card campaigns entail giving away gift cards, not selling them, to either your existing customers or potential customers. For instance, you can give a $5.00 gift card to new customers with the hope of provoking a first purchase or give $10.00 gift cards to inactive customers to come back to revisit your store.

You can send out gift cards on special occasions like birthdays or anniversaries or include them in your loyalty programs or perhaps referral programs and giveaways. The ideas are endless.

Why Are Gift Cards an Effective Marketing Method?

Gift card campaigns tend to work more than other promotions since they feel like gifts wherein customers are special. People are more likely to use gift cards since not using them feels like a loss, which is unlike skipping a discount.

Gift cards are cheaper for the retailers than other incentives, as they involve cost only when they are used. The digital gift card market was valued at $341.9 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach $1.5 trillion by 2032 at a CAGR of 16.3%, thus showing bright prospects in the future.

Shoppers like gift cards because they offer a free choice:

• Anticipation: Gift cards create anticipation in the customer, where they just wait for the opportunity to use them, thereby creating a positive association with your brand.

• Control: They give shoppers control over their purchases, making the experience more enjoyable.

• Social aspect: The receipt of a gift card is like receiving a present and hence promotes appreciation and loyalty towards your brand.

• Convenience: Gift cards are very easy to purchase and use, especially digitally, thereby making life easy for one and all.

Advantages of a Gift Card Campaign

Gift cards will also help you in the following ways:

• Boost revenue: It helps by driving cash flow, as customers are motivated to use a gift card due to the endowment effect of the card.

• Attract new customers: Such campaigns will advertise your brand, ensuring that first-time buyers will come back for more.

• Encourage impulse purchases: Consumers are very likely to add a few more items if part of the purchase is covered by a gift card.

• Increase cart size: Impose regulations such as minimum order value using gift cards, therefore prompting them to make larger purchases.

• Track campaigns: Digital gift cards can track real-time customer data and campaign performance.

• Prevent fraud: Gift cards are personalized, thus the chances of fraud are minimal compared to public promotions.

10 Examples of Gift Card Campaigns

Gift card for the 2nd purchase time-bound campaign

Second-purchase gift cards give incentives for repeat business, increase average order value because people tend to spend more than the value of the card, and engender brand loyalty. This can also reduce cart abandonment and raise brand awareness since recipients will be sharing the cards with others, new customers.

For example, the French multinational beauty and personal care retailer Sephora launched a re-engagement campaign targeting loyalty program members. For only 11 days in December, until Christmas began, Sephora gave away $15 gift cards for any purchase over $50.

Pop-up gift card promotions as a surprise bonus

It gets even better, as popups are super-effective and can give a real boost to your gift card marketing. By incorporating smart triggers-such as exit intent or targeting first-time visitors, it’s easy to capture their attention and encourage them to make a purchase.

You can even take this further by offering gift cards as rewards or adding some fun gamification to your popup. That’s a great way to get the visitors to act. Fire up your popup campaign, and watch those gift cards fly off the shelves! You got this!

New collection gift card campaign

A new collection gift card campaign can successfully advertise the launching of products, increasing overall sales by encouraging customers to view new arrivals. It can increase average order value through minimum purchase requirements and build customer loyalty that may spur immediate and future purchases.

StyleBop.com, headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany, is a luxury fashion online retailer. As an example of a spring promotion e-mail campaign, StyleBop.com promoted a $50 gift certificate for purchases from its new spring designer collection. This can be a case to illustrate how one could promote new launches, collections, leftover stock, or slow-moving items.

Influencer-Led Gift Card Campaigns

As the digital space keeps widening, one of the surest ways to increase your brand’s reach is through influencer marketing.

Partnering up with influencers is a practical way to promote your gift card offering as consumers increasingly use social media for recommendations and reviews of products. The relationships of trust they have built with their followers mean influencers can better recommend your gift cards.

Choosing an appropriate influencer who best represents your brand and resonates with your target market can make a lot of difference.

Giveaway with a gift card as a reward

Gift card giveaways support better engagement, improve visibility, and grow an audience. They are also very cost-effective and can build brand loyalty since the winners will come back to spend their gift cards. The results of such a campaign will be easy to track and thus give clear insights into its effectiveness.

Until recently, James Allen was a US direct-to-consumer diamond and bridal jewelry company that had supplied diamonds to companies such as Tiffany & Co. It ran a giveaway campaign whose prize was a gift card worth $2,500.

Entry was done by the mostly women participants choosing an engagement ring they liked and then not-so-subtly hinting with their partners. In that manner, automatic entry entered the participant to win a prize of non-refundable gift card and non-exchangeable worth $2,500.

Ultimate shopping combo with bundling

As a bonus or incentive, encourage them to buy a gift card with their purchase. After all, it is shown that you have a 60-70% chance of selling to your current customers, compared to only 5-20% with new prospects.

So use this to your advantage by offering customized gift card options based on their buying habits, then use personalization to deliver them exclusive deals and discounts for their next purchase.

Holiday-special gift card campaign

Creating an e-commerce holiday calendar makes optimization of your marketing campaigns easier.

According to Adobe Digital Insights, as the total online spending for the November-December holidays reached $222.1 billion in 2023, timing your gift card offers can pay significantly in your business.

Here is one example of one Easter gift card promotion from Shapermint, a women’s underwear retailer:

Customers who shop during the Black Friday holiday get a $7 e-gift card on condition they can use it when buying “fast sellers” items with up to 70% sale-off. Since most of their items cost more than $7, this will make customers spend more than the value of the gift card for their next order.

Upsell with gift cards

Upselling with a gift card is possible by offering a bonus or some enticing incentive along with their purchase.

It’s not about a small discount; it’s about the way you present its value. If your customers perceive that the benefits of a gift card exceed its cost, they will appreciate it more.

The key is not to be too pushy; instead, build trust by using social proof that others have made the purchase and enjoyed themselves.

Also, try to use FOMO: They may also make it sound like they will miss out unless they act quickly.

So, here’s the deal: Provide your customers with a gift card upsell, and watch them spend way more than happy.

Personalized gift card greetings via email

The problem is that building a good list of email addresses can be challenging, but when you have a pool of loyal customers, they are far more likely to stay on board.

Why not make them even happier by sending personalized email campaigns to them with gift card offers?

Take the promotion of your gift card sales one step further by utilizing some strategies that will prod recipients into taking action. Offer limited-time sales, add countdown timers, and offer an exclusive option - the sale of gift cards available on items in stock.

These methods will result in a better customer experience and a closer association with your target audience.

Loyalty Program Gift Card Rewards

Loyal customers become walking billboards promoting your brand through word-of-mouth marketing, which grows your bottom line. Reward these loyalists with gift cards for complementary products, discounting the reward based on their previous purchases from you.

Moreover, send “miss you” or “long time no see” e-mails with gift card discounts to bring them back in and remind them about their loyalty points.

Also, do not forget the referrals-reward customers with a gift card for referring friends to keep everyone happy.

Here are several ways to market the gift cards through loyalty programs:

• Give away a gift card as one of the rewards for attaining a certain tier in loyalty.

• Run some gift card promotions exclusively for loyalty program members.

• Allow the use of loyalty points to pay for gift cards.

• Leverage referrals to reward loyalty program members.

• Use your loyalty program data to send targeted promotions for gift cards.

FAQs

How can I promote my gift card?

Promote the gift card by highlighting it on your website at the checkout counter. Make your gift card a more attractive gift with a nice envelope and a story about your business or products. Also, discounting or providing bonuses for larger purchases is an excellent way to stimulate sales.

Is selling gift cards profitable?

Gift card sales are highly profitable sales in retail. They provide instant positive cash flow; they help gain new customers, and, more often than not, their redemption results in higher sales than the face value of the gift card. And, of course, many customers will never redeem their gift cards, so you get to keep the bonus cash.

Can I track how successful my gift card campaigns are?

Yes, most of the gift card systems, including Shopify’s, will give you different analytics and reporting to help track the effectiveness of your gift card marketing.

Can I offer online gift cards on my Shopify store?

Yes, Shopify lets you sell and redeem digital gift cards and, hence, gives customers the ability to buy pre-paid vouchers or value cards with a pre-determined balance.

Conclusion

In fact, you could use gift cards in various ways to attract new customers, engage the unhappy ones, or develop customer retention and participation in the store. You also have options to put a specific limit on gift cards so that you can fit within your budget and at the same time achieve your goals.

At this point, we hope that this article has given you insights toward finding the best gift card campaign for increasing sales in your store and strengthening your brand.

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