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Accomplish More Customized Gift Cards Add Value By Chris McGee
ift cards have become an integral part of many incentive programs. It is fairly common for an employer to offer employees gift cards from a variety of retailers, restaurants and service providers to incentivize specific behavior and reward achievements. It is also common for companies to offer gift cards as incentives to their prospects to encourage a purchase, either leading up to the sale or as a rebate or reward following the transaction.
To ensure these companies are getting the most out of their incentive programs, companies that offer incentives measure their programs' success against set objectives. If the incentive program is focused on driving specific employee performance, objectives typically include achieving measurable results such as sales quotas and specific employee performance. Gift cards allow the recipient to subsequently purchase exactly what he or she wants. Many companies also offer on-the-spot rewards, which usually include giving the employee a lower-value reward closer in time to the performance being rewarded. Gift cards have become a top choice for these types of incentives because their value can vary based on a company's specific requirements, and gift cards can be either kept on site or quickly shipped to the intended recipient.
Incentive programs can also have more encompassing goals such as building brand awareness, corporate and product positioning, and instilling employee and consumer satisfaction. A typical gift card displays the logo and messaging of the store, restaurant or credit/debit card association that issued it, whereas customized gift cards enable companies offering the incentive to add their own logos and messaging to the gift card. Gift cards that are customized to a specific company or a specific program through their design, production or packaging can serve to reinforce the incentivized behavior as well as achieve additional corollary objectives expressed in a more comprehensive incentive program.
Promote Your Company
When a store or restaurant gift card is given as an incentive, the recipient can spend it with that specific merchant. If a prepaid debit card is given, the recipient can spend it wherever that debit card is accepted. Either way, when the gift card is presented for payment this is a prime opportunity for the company to build brand awareness, as the recipient, the recipient's companions and the employees of the redeeming merchant will see the company's logo on the gift card. These people will likely inquire about the gift card and the company on the card. Because the recipient is enjoying the benefit of purchasing goods or services with the gift card, there is a very good chance that this discussion will be favorable. If the gift card was given as an incentive or a reward for a purchase, this discussion will promote this purchase to a new audience. If the gift card was given by an employer to an employee, the discussion will cast the company in a positive light as a potential employer to a new audience.
Position Your Company and Its Offerings
Gift cards branded with a corporate or product logo can serve as an extension of the company, and customizing these cards offers a means to strengthen people's perception of the organization. For instance, many companies brand gift cards with their logo plus a message. This message may be a corporate slogan or may be customized to fit the specific behavior the company is trying to promote, thus becoming a great advertising tool for anyone handling the gift card.
This not only includes the design of a gift card; it also can encompass how the gift card itself is made. For example, lenticular gift cards display a three-dimensional appearance as the card is held and rotated, and are attractive to companies positioning their products or services as prestigious or luxurious, or to any company that wants the gift cards with its name and logo to stand out. Other gift cards are produced in an environmentally friendly manner using materials that are biodegradable or that are made from recycled materials, which may fit well with companies that identify themselves as eco-friendly organizations.
Build Loyalty Among Consumers and Employees
Organizations that want to increase sales from existing clients and consumers can use these gift cards not only as an incentive for a single sale, but also to promote future sales by staying connected with their buyers. These cards can become a touch point as part of a broader relationship- building program. For example, these consumers will likely retain these customized gift cards if there is a possibility more value may be loaded onto them in the future based on becoming repeat purchasers. Consumers may also make repeat purchases with the company if they are offered an incentive to do so, such as a discount on purchases made using the gift card. If executed well, using the customized gift card in these ways should translate into additional purchases from existing customers.
Gift cards are widely perceived as more personalized than a purely monetary incentive, and employers are catching on. Employees who receive a gift card from their employer may feel the employer put more thought into the incentive. Personalizing the gift card further with the employee's and employer's names can strengthen this relationship. This same gift card may be loaded with value over and over as the employee meets specific performance thresholds, further using the gift card to solidify the employee's bond to his or her employer.
The use of customized gift cards as an incentive or a reward may be further enhanced through packaging. Many times gift cards can be presented inside an attractive gift card box or tin, or inside of a greeting card. A personalized message from the company to the recipient should accompany the gift card; this is especially effective if the recipient's name is used in the message—"Thank you Susan" will go a lot farther than "To Whom It May Concern." Companies can also include collateral materials with the gift card. One example would be sending a note along with the customized gift card announcing the launch of a new product or service that may interest the recipient as a potential repeat purchaser.
Reach Your Goals
The ultimate goal of any incentive program is to achieve or exceed the results the program is designed to drive. Customizing gift cards is a great way to reach this goal as this will not only help achieve objectives tied to increasing sales and driving specific employee performance, but it will also promote your company, position your company and its offerings in consumers' minds and drive loyalty among your employees and clients.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR |
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Chris McGee
is Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for NBO Systems Inc., an industry leader in developing and managing prepaid debit card programs, incentive card programs and shopping center gift card programs that include custom card designs. For more information, visit www.nbo.com.
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