If you’re going to embrace the growing e-gift-card business, you need to augment those efforts with the proper marketing program. Lauren Freedman, president of consultancy E-tailing Group, offers up a few tips.
- PROMOTE PROMINENTLY
Make sure you’re providing above-the-fold home page placement, especially during the key gifting periods. You should have a separate landing page to promote your gift cards and educate consumers about your e-gifting offer’s benefits and features. And if you have a gift center, make sure your e-gifting visibility is strong there as well.
- MAKE IT SIMPLE FOR YOUR CUSTOMERS TO FIND AND USE
Placing an e-gift card link in your site’s main navigation makes it easy for your consumers to find your offering. The link should be bold and simple, and appear consistently on every page.
- PUSH THE OFFER OUT
E-mails are ideal to promote urgency, so consider a campaign for your e-gift cards. Use subject lines both to promote the e-gift card as a perfect last-minute gift, as well as to highlight the last day for expedited shipping for holiday delivery. You should also include your gift card promotions on any post-order communications, such as on your order confirmation pages and messages.
- GET SOCIAL
Merchants should create an e-gifting tab on their Facebook pages with a link to their e-gift card pages. When a user “likes” the page, it will appear in their friends’ feeds. And remember that discounts and promotions, exclusive content and early information are the biggest drivers in attracting Twitter followers.
- CAST A WIDER NET
Distribute your e-gift card to third-party aggregators and businesses to broaden your reach.