3 Ways to Take Advantage of the Flexibility of Branded Currency During the Last Minute Holiday Rush
In a perfect world, your holiday marketing plans and promotions would be set in stone and never deviate. But we all know that sometimes plans change, goals shift, and we’re often left trying to fill in the gaps as the holiday shopping season comes to a close. While it’s true that traditional ways of promoting gift cards require months of planning, there are some quick and easy ways to promote your brand’s gift card to keep your brand at the top of the consumer’s minds and help meet moving holiday targets. 1. Get social
Merchandising can often require planograms and store communications to be done well in advance. Signage promoting gift cards requires design and production. And, when consumers do go in store to do their shopping, they spend a lot of their time looking down at their phones anyway.
Working with the social media team to post pictures of the physical gift cards offered is an easy way to give your gift card significantly more exposure throughout the busiest shopping season of the year. The posts can be as simple as pictures of the gift card, can include small up-sell opportunities like Nordstrom, or a quick animation in order to fully take advantage of the social media algorithms like Panera’s B2B focused LinkedIn post and Kohl’s holiday inspired instagram.
Don’t forget, social media is all about being social, and with the gifting season nearly wrapped up, one of the easiest ways to up engagement while promoting the card is to ask folks what they’re buying with the gift cards they received and to tag and thank the person who gifted it to them. 2. Guide the gifting
If your brand did a gifting guide this year, hopefully the gift card was included like Athleta, and YETI. But if like Asos, Bauble Bar, and many others it wasn’t included, it’s not too late to get your card in front of gifters who need ideas. It’s no secret that content is king of the internet, and working with the content team to get a simple Last Minute Holiday Guide that includes the gift card is an easy way to point consumers to your card. These blog posts from Buckle and Omaha Steaks are great examples of how to be included in fundamental content marketing.
If branded content isn’t and option, another option is to collaborate with key influencers who are developing their own gifting guides that often have a more flexible content schedule and speak to a highly targeted audience. Lauren Conrad’s blog post Tuesday Ten: Top 10 Online Gift Cards to Last Minute Gift, posted just six days before Christmas last year, is a prime example of how partnered content can promote your brand. Posts from travel blogger Christie Sultemeier of ckanani.com and lifestyle blogger Jacey Duprie from Damsel in Dior are other examples of partnering with influencers to promote your gift card in a clear, targeted manner.
3. Remember the basics
During the busyness of the season, sometimes the most fundamental promotional methods are the first to be forgotten. Simply sending out regular communication to front line employees reminding them about the benefits and flexibility of gift cards can help increase sales—gift cards are the gift that always fits and digital gift cards always arrive on time. Having consistent messaging so the store level employees understand when and how to talk about gift cards can be empowering and help them solve a number of customer issues on the front line.
Key items to remind employees include:
Directing consumers to a gift card if an item is out of stock
Listing a couple of items to include with a gift card purchase to make it feel more personal and including that in an up-sell question ie- “did you want to include a bag or coffee or anything with the gift card?” Or “would you like to put that in one of the card cases we have up front?”
Include asking folks if they need any last minute gift cards with their purchase while they’re checking out
Because gift cards and branded currency programs are so flexible and accessible, it’s easy for brands to try out new marketing methods to drive sales and increase awareness. If you want to hear more about the latest trends straight from the brands who are blazing branded currency trails, register now for your spot at Flourish Conference 2019 (and don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter to save $200).