Even though there are several ways to promote your gift cards, selling them through social media is incredibly effective. Engaging with customers on social media regularly is a great way to create loyal customers. Also, remember that people don’t necessarily need the holidays for the excuse of purchasing gift cards– Covid-19 has already shown us that.

In this article, we look at gift card marketing on social platforms and how to get the best out of it.

9 Ways to Leverage Social Media to Promote Gift Card Sales

Assess Your Current Social Media Presence:

If you take a look at your social media handles, what does it say about your brand? Do you come across as exciting or dull? Would potential customers be attracted to your content on social media? Would they be enthused to buy your gift cards?

What does your social media analytics for gift card sales tell you? What is the post-to-comments ratio? No matter its state now, you can find ways to make social media a channel to sell more gift cards. Creating an interesting social media brand takes time. You must put out creative content that attracts your target audience to like, comment, and share. The growth will be exponential once customers and non-customers start liking your content.

Gift Card Giveaways on Social Media:

To get the word about your brand’s gift card spread, you can even start a giveaway. In fact, it is one of the easiest ways to make your customers know about them. You can create ample amount of interest if offer a gift card with a generous amount included in it. Imagine offering a $200 gift card. The kind of response it will elicit can be compared to a marketing campaign’s performance. Unlike a marketing campaign replete with soulless words, the chance of winning a $200 gift card (or even more) can result in customers

Here’s what promotions for social media gift card promotions can do:

1. Create brand ambassadors as they will actively spread the word about your brand to get the giveaway prize
2. It will create more visibility about your gift cards because of the engagement it creates
3. You will get more followers on your handles as more people will get introduced to your brand

Feature Gift Cards on Your Social Media Handles:

The easiest way for boosting gift card sales on social media is to direct people to the gift card landing pages on your social media handles. It is easier for customers to locate, especially if they are looking for gift cards to purchase. With a single click, they can go to the gift card landing page and make the purchase. Add an attractive Call-to-Action (CTA) button and design to redirect customers to gift cards.

Paid Social Media Advertising fo Gift Cards:

Marketers across spectrums will tell you that paid ads are one of the most powerful ways to get more people to buy gift cards. Organic marketing methods are good to have, but nothing equals the ability to start getting people to buy gift cards from day 1 of the ads. Channels like Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, YouTube Ads, etc., are so powerful that you can target the right consumers, while doing it in a cost-effective way.

You can expect the following for your gift card campaigns with paid ads

1. Boost awareness about your gift cards
2. Assist your organic marketing efforts
3. Work according to your budget
4. Gather consumer insights

Use SM to Nurture Customers:

Social media is a great way to remind your customers about your brand. While you don’t want to market your gift cards every day, you can simply choose to remind your customers that your brand is active and that you are selling your products as usual. Top of the mind recall is important for brands of all sizes and revenues.

Create a community of your users or be so active on social media that any post or comment about your brand name gets a response. Ask follow-up questions if a customer has doubts or clarifications. When they have a positive experience with every interaction, guess who they will think of? People who feel like they are a part of your community are more likely to buy your gift cards for themselves and their loved ones.

The social media trends in e-commerce will tell you that most of your sales come from warm customers. They are the ones who you’ve been sending emails, push-notifications, SMSes, and whatnot. The secret to be successful at social media holiday gift card promotions is to keep your customer base engaged with your brand.

Write Persuasive Copy:

Consumers these days want more than just a mass-produced product. They want to experiential treatment. Your gift card messaging needn’t be vanilla. Would they be enthused with “Make Memories With Those You Love,” or “Buy Our Gift Cards at $5 Discount.” The answer is simple, it is always going to be messaging that appeals to their emotions.

Hire a copywriter to get those emotions right. People are highly emotional and that is something which gets reflected in their purchasing behavior.

User Generated Content for Gift Card Marketing (UGC):

One of the best things about UGC is that your customers are more likely to be swayed by content that is shared by people similar to them. Making the decision to buy something requires a lot of effort and demands a level of trust. People want to be sure about their purchase. Reading reviews or looking at how people use the product they intend to buy gives them the much-needed push. You can persuade your customers to buy gift cards with the help of UGC.

Customers can speak about the benefits of gift cards. They can share their experience of gifting gift cards on special occasions. Ask them to share photos, write testimonials, or get in front of a camera and record a video for your customers. Make sure to get their permission before making the material public.

Influencer Collaborations for Gift Card Marketing:

Not leveraging influencers when using social media is a grave mistake. It is easy to capture the attention of your target audience with the help of microinfluencers (follower count of 10,000 to 100,000). Creators with more than 100,000 followers (or macroinfluencers) usually have a 3% engagement rate, and are a great asset if the intent is to spread brand awareness. But if you are looking for a high conversion rate, microinfluencers are your best bet since their audience is more engaged with their content. They usually come across as more authentic, possess expertise (or relevance) in a particular niche, and have a more loyal audience base.

Referral Marketing:

Getting referrals from customers is so much more easier with a referral program software, especially on social media. Referrals have a high ROI because you end up attracting high-intent customers, reduce churn, increase profits, etc. Using the services of a referral marketing software like the one offered by 99minds can be a great addition to your marketing stack.

Here’s how referral marketing can help:

• People are more likely to trust a brand that is recommended by a close friend or family
• Customers who come from referrals are more likely to end up becoming loyal customers
• Referral marketing helps you reach customers who might not have been part of your target audience
• It will result in viral gift card campaigns once people start referring their friends

Wrapping up:

Your business doesn’t have to be active on every social media site. All you must do is to choose two or three platforms where your customers lurk and find ways to make them feel heard, appreciated, and valued. If you do this consistently, they will be thrilled to gift their loved ones your gift cards. For businesses that aren’t sure how to begin gift card marketing on social media, the easiest way is to use a gift card marketing software. They would know the no-nonsense way to get things done.

If you are looking to set up a gift card program, get in touch with the 99minds team. We will be able to help you not only with setting it up for you, but our all-in-one platform helps attract and retain clients. With us, setting up a gift card program is just an upside, you get to do so much more with us.