The popularity of gift cards as corporate gifts is undeniable. According to a 2016 Incentive Magazine survey, more than 67% companies plan to use gifts cards to thank customers, employees and partners. But should you use old-fashioned plastic gift cards or switch to digital and email gift cards?
Digital gift cards or e-gift cards have become very popular because they are easier and cheaper to send and manage for businesses. Virtually every major retailer now offers a digital version of their gift cards.
75% less management overhead and costs – Let’s say your company sends out 3,000 gift cards per year, we estimated that it takes about 500 hours of work. You have to purchase the gift cards, stuff them into envelopes, complete data entry, mail them, tally everything manually, etc. By emailing gift cards, you can accomplish this same task in just 100 hours, saving 75% in management and overhead costs.
Speed up delivery and minimize errors – Every time you want to send one plastic gift card, you have to spend more time on all the tasks necessary to send that single gift card. Unlike plastic gift cards, digital gift cards is a scalable solution. Whether you are emailing 1 or 1,000 gift cards, you can do all of this with a digital system in just a matter of minutes. Errors are minimized because recipient data can be electronically imported and managed.
High-impact branded delivery experience – You can deliver e-gift cards from your own email address with a personal touch. This allows you to make a lasting impression by customizing the gift email and landing page with your own brand, messages and images.
Let recipients choose a gift they love – Why settle for a mundane gift when you can let recipients pick a gift they love? With digital gifts, you can easily offer recipients a curated selection of gifts to choose from and instantly deliver the gift they pick.
Direct integration with marketing systems – You can email gift cards from popular marketing systems like Marketo and Hubspot. By integrating e-gift cards into marketing systems, you can completely automate reward delivery for marketing programs like surveys, referral marketing and promotions.
Complete tracking and management – You can manage digital gift cards in a central location using an incentives management system. It will let you know when your gifts are claimed. And you have the option to send a follow-up email to your recipients and continue the engagement.
No need to collect and manage personal billing addresses – Emailing gift cards only require an email address. That’s a no-brainer. Mailing physical gift cards require a mailing address. This is asking for a lot of personal information from your clients/customers or prospects. In addition, any error will cause delay and cost you extra time and resources in resolving delivery errors.
When you email gift cards, there are benefits for your recipients too. They get their instant gratification when gift cards are emailed to them within minutes or even seconds. Digital gift cards are also easier to keep and use than physical gift cards. Your recipients can easily save the gift in their inbox and never worry about losing it.
With all these benefits for you and your recipients, why haven’t you started emailing gift cards?
See for yourself why businesses have already ditched plastic gift cards with a demo of Rybbon.
Brenda has over 20 years of experience building, selling and marketing products for F100 and start-ups.
Brenda has over 20 years of experience building, selling and marketing products for F100 and start-ups.
