An executive trying to find promotions that will help the team hit end-of-year sales or lead quotas. A marketer planning to purchase and send gifts to valued customers and brand advocates. A human resources manager figuring out how to show employee appreciation without a big party during a pandemic. All three of these situations can make the already busy holiday season even more hectic.
Digital holiday gifts have never made more sense. This year’s pandemic-induced supply chain disruptions and shipping delays are making it difficult to ensure timely delivery of holiday gifts. And more people would rather get a gift card anyway: A recent Blackhawk Network study found that 65% of employees prefer prepaid cards and gift cards — the top choice by nearly three to one over additional vacation days, food, physical gifts, and office parties. And in 2019, 33% of consumers bought gift cards online for themselves, with 66% of those being digital instead of plastic.
The problem is that many people are still afraid that digital gift cards are too boring or impersonal. But they don’t need to be. All you need to make digital holiday gifting campaigns more special is a fun way to present them.
For instance, the holiday season is a great time to show generosity and compassion, so run a one-for-one campaign with charitable donations. Send your customers or employees a $5 digital reward that allows them to choose the organization that means the most for them and then match each donation.
To thank customers for their business and loyalty, take your typical appreciation event and make it virtual. Send each person on the invitation list an e-gift card for a restaurant or food delivery service like DoorDash or GrubHub. With virtual meeting platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams, you can get together to break bread, mingle, and share exciting announcements for what’s coming in the new year.
While you’re at it, why not turn your customer appreciation event into an opportunity for lead generation, too? Offer to double the reward for any customer who recruits a colleague or friend to join the event as well.
In addition to customers, companies should be taking the holidays as an opportunity to show appreciation for their employees and all the hard work done over the past year. This year, it’s even more important than usual, since 52% of employees are experiencing job burnout, vs. 43% before COVID-19, according to the 2021 Employee Burnout Report by Indeed.
Many in-person company parties won’t be held as usual because of the health concerns, but there are many ways you can still celebrate together and make digital holiday gifts fun. One idea is to host a virtual trivia party. You can create your own game using facts about the company, or you can take advantage of a tool like Water Cooler Trivia or Random Trivia Generator. Give winners a digital gift card of their choice.
Have a more outgoing team? Try remote karaoke! Just get your group together, add a responsible amount of alcohol, turn up the audio, and share the screen with the lyrics. Offer those who sing a digital reward to get the music going.
These are just a few of the many ways you can incorporate convenient digital gifts into your holiday plans for customers, prospects, and employees. The best part? With instant delivery, there’s no wondering if it will get there on time.
Still stumped for a great, creative holiday gifting campaign that fits your needs? Check out The Ultimate Holiday Rewards Gift List, which offers 30 ideas for using digital holiday gifts to recognize customers and brand advocates, close more end-of-year deals, build your pipeline for next year, and thank employees for a year of hard work.
Hannah is a reformed journalist who has more than 15 years of experience and now focuses on content marketing for innovative tech companies.
Hannah is a reformed journalist who has more than 15 years of experience and now focuses on content marketing for innovative tech companies.
