4 Ways to Sell More Gift Cards this Holiday Season

Over the last couple of months I’ve been writing about “little white marketing lies” which are falsities many business owners tell themselves and others. These are things they often want to be true about their business but either don’t really understand or don’t want to do the real work needed to make them true.

Here’s one more little white marketing lie:
Your gift cards make great gifts.

In your mind, your gift cards make great gifts. You know the benefits and wonderful products and services that your business provides to its customers. But much like the illusion provided by the artist who created these graffiti stairs in a Toronto train station, it may be that you perceive something that others don’t or that just isn’t there. And if you act on your perception, you may find yourself stumbling forward and hitting the wall!

Don’t hit the wall when it comes to gift card or gift certificate sales. If your customers aren’t “seeing” your gift cards as gifts, change their perception.

Many people aren’t conceptual, meaning, you need to help them visualize how your gift cards become “gifts” and for whom they are best suited. If your gift cards are collecting dust on – or behind – the counter, these 4 tips are for you.

1. Make gift card suggestions specific. Use signage that draws attention to a problem or a person that would be a perfect gift card recipient:
• last minute gifts
• extra on-hand gifts for unexpected guests
• picky mother in law
• teen or tween
• the boss you need to impress
• co-workers such as your best friend at work, receptionist, security guard, etc.
• clients or vendors
• holiday party gift exchanges
  
  
2. Display or package your gift cards with illustrations or descriptions of the products or services for which they could be exchanged or which demonstrate the solutions they could provide.
   
   
3. Package your gift cards with best-selling retail.
   
   
4. Bundle gift cards with other items that are, in fact, “gifts:”
   
   • Gift-quality books (‘She’ is one of my favorites)
   • Men’s grooming or women’s beauty products or tools
   • Gift baskets
   • Chocolates or other goodies
   • Craft kits
   • Games
   • Novelty or unique retail items
   • Branded wares

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Elizabeth Kraus is the author of 365 Days of Marketing.

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