Regardless of the type of business you’re running or even the industry you’re operating in, standing out in a crowd is always one of your top priorities. Your customers love promotions and direct mail is one of the best opportunities you have to give that to them in a way they won’t be able to ignore. Having said that, there are a few key reasons why the choice between gift card mailers and coupons isn’t really a choice at all.
The Power of Gift Cards
One of the major reasons why gift cards are the way to go more often than not is because they add perceived value to an already compelling promotion. If you send your prospect a coupon, they still have to be somewhat ready to make a purchase. With a gift card, you’re essentially sending them free money – making it easier for them to save and redeem, even if they were still on the fence.
Gift cards, especially the ones featured in plastic postcard mailers, also have a far better shelf-life than their coupon counterparts. They’ve got a natural cache and more high-end appeal and, as a result, are more likely to get stored in your prospect’s wallet for future redemption.
Employing gift cards throughout your marketing campaign is also a great way to give yourself more flexibility in terms of the types of offers you create, thus improving your response rate and increasing your ROI at the same time. You can create multiple offers and versions of creative collateral based on your target prospects, for example. You can experiment with A/B testing to find the perfect message, and can even send different gift cards to different segments based on the previous data you’ve collected.
This allows gift cards to be highly personal, too, which is always good for your ROI in terms of getting people motivated and excited about a purchase.
None of this is to say that coupons are inherently bad. Far from it. It’s just that if you can only choose one, you’ll want to choose gift cards more often than not for all of these benefits and more.
If you’d like to find out more information about why gift cards can bring a powerful boost to your marketing campaigns, or if you have any additional questions you’d like to see answered, please don’t delay – contact us today.