Gift cards can help you generate sales, attract new customers, and build brand awareness. We've gathered a few gift card campaign strategies below as well as a way you can convert gift card recipients to SMS subscribers.
Why You Should Use SMS to Promote Gift Card Purchases
- With gift cards, customers can easily introduce your brand and products to their friends, family, co-workers, and more.
- You can promote gift cards year-round for holidays, birthdays, and special moments (i.e., thank you gift moments).
- Gift cards are the perfect gift option when supply chain or shipment carrier issues arise.
- You can use gift cards as a creative (and compliant) way to collect more SMS subscribers.
Strategies for Promoting Gift Card Purchases
Give Back Gift Card Campaign
Many brands support their local community or organizations important to them through donations and initiatives that directly involve their customers. For example, Get Back Necklaces designed a special collection of their Saint Christopher necklaces where each design gives back to specific charities important to the brand.
Customers, especially around the holiday season, might be looking for ways they can make donations. You can meet them halfway with a "Give Back" gift card campaign.
Here, you can offer to donate a certain amount to the organizations your brand supports when customers buy gift cards. For example, if they purchase $50 in gift cards, you'll donate $10 to a specific organization in the shopper's name.
Buy and Earn Gift Card Campaign
A "Buy and Earn" gift card campaign rewards your shopper with a free gift card when they purchase a specific amount of gift cards. For example, if they purchase $100 in gift cards, they get a bonus $25 gift card.
While this campaign is great for the BFCM season, it can be effective throughout the year. For example, you could run it for graduation, back-to-school, mother's day, etc.
Gift Guide Keyword for Gift Card Recipients
Create a memorable shopping experience for individuals receiving a gift card and offer them a compliant way to opt-in to SMS marketing using a gift guide keyword.
Gift guides are popular during the holidays and give individuals new to your brand or those overwhelmed with options a digestible way to browse what you offer. You can highlight your best-selling items, items based on price, or another categorization that works for the products you sell.
Here's how the gift guide keyword works:
- Create an eye-catching and branded image for the "Gift Card" line item in your store.
- In the image, include your gift guide keyword, your TFN or short code, and TCPA-compliant opt-in language.
- Alternatively, you can stylize your gift card email to include an opt-in link to a dedicated landing page where they're then directed to your gift guide.
- Customer purchases an e-gift card from your store and either have it sent to their email or the intended recipient's email.
- Gift card recipients can text the keyword to opt-in to recommendations for how to spend their gift card. You might use this keyword reply to share best sellers or refer them to a gift guide link on your site.
- Bonus: Retain them as a customer with a coupon code offer on their next purchase.
You can upload your gift card image (and compliant call to action) as media for your gift card line item. Another option, as mentioned above, is to include this graphic in the email that is sent to gift card recipients when someone purchases a gift card for them.
- Select the checkboxes to the left of Only send once per subscriber and Only send to new subscribers. That ensures that this keyword response goes to new subscribers who have opted in via your gift guide keyword.
- Take this opportunity to delight your new subscriber. Add an image or GIF, use an emoji or two, and interject your brand voice and personality. This is your first interaction with them, and even though it's short, you have a chance to make it memorable and fun.
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