Gift cards have always been a convenient way to make presents to people you have known for ages or have just met, family members or employees, closest loved ones, or distant nobodies. E-gift cards are also an absolute lifesaver for busy people. Such a win-win scenario; it almost feels like a semi-illegal cheat code for gifting.
It’s only natural that with the rise of digital gift cards, companies take this sales opportunity even more seriously. Let’s dive deep into how businesses leverage this revenue-generation activity as we equip you with a few brilliant gift card email templates, examples, statistics, ideas, and helpful tips.
Why businesses pay attention to gift card email marketing
The simple answer is: it’s totally worth it. The market is huge. And it’s growing fast, as adopting digital gift cards accelerated the acquisition opportunities multifold.
To put things in perspective, here are some gift card statistics that show just how sizable and high-potential this sales channel is. Allied market research estimated the global gift card market at $835 billion in 2022. Moreover, the estimate is that it will grow to $4.2 trillion by 2032.
global gift card market size
The below insights and statistics are part of the 2022 report by Blackhawk Network, “Understanding the Next Stage in American Gift Card Use.”
- 58% of respondents mention purchasing gift cards for self-use for reasons ranging from better ways to pay for things to desire to take advantage of the discount or pay in cash for digital purposes (53%, 45%, and 40%, respectively);
- 90% of the consumers are OK with overspending on the voucher;
- only 3% of Americans view gift cards as unthoughtful. In fact, many of them think it’s especially thoughtful if it’s for their favorite brand, multi-brand, or for an indulgent purchase out of the user’s regular budget (61%, 43%, and 33%, respectively);
- electronic gift cards are catching up with physical ones — 63% of customers would like to get digital cards, and 73% would prefer physical ones.
(Source: Bellroy gift card email)
When should you send gift card emails to your subscribers?
Gift card emails can be sent for these purposes:
- to help subscribers overcome first-time purchase timidness;
Subject line example: Experience our seamless delivery experience with this first-time buyer $10 Gift card!
- to invite them to a sale;
Subject line example: As if our heavy discount is not enough, grab this $10 gift card towards your purchases in May!
Subject line example: Elevate your experience: Introducing [Product Name] + gift card treat!
Subject line example: Long time no click? Here’s the $20 gift card to prove how we missed your clicks!
- to stimulate the frequency of sales or the average check.
Subject line example: Have you checked out our limited-time deal page yet? Here’s the $30 gift card you can redeem for any $100 product!
Popular occasions to send a gift card email
Now let’s get to the actual selling, not just giving away discounts to motivate customers to shop more. Let’s consider some of the common occasions for every email marketing professional to launch a gift card marketing campaign.
- Birthday;
- Christmas;
- New Year;
- Halloween;
- Mother’s Day;
- Father’s Day;
- Labor Day;
- Thanksgiving;
- Black Friday;
- Cyber Monday.
These are just some of the holidays for which digital experts need to have gift card reward email templates ready before the occasions kick in. Now let’s see some of the elaborate conversion-boosting examples of gift voucher emails.
12 Gift card email examples to inspire a winning marketing strategy in 2023
If you are looking for an email template for sending a gift card to someone, you should enjoy this hand-picked collection from a range of diverse brands — from eCommerce giants to small indie brands.
1. Sell emotion through images
Words can be very powerful, but they also leave space for interpretation. Images paint the picture the way a marketer intends it to. See how Hulu Plus uses an image of a couple relaxing in front of the TV, choosing their favorite show to sell emotion, memories, and the promise of great cozy moments — that come with their subscription.
They also overcome objections preventatively for their newsletter subscriber base by educating them about the low-effort procedure: “It’s fast and easy.”
The CTA button text is also unobtrusive and evokes curiosity without hard sell but inviting subscribers softly to the next step of the conversion funnel: “See Gift Cards Now.”
(Source: Hulu gift card email)
2. Suggest ways how to spend a gift card
The next example by Shein is so good it could be used as a gift card email template for many bigger eCommerce stores with multiple product categories. See how they mix Mother’s Day activities for a great family pastime with the opportunity to invite their newsletter subscribers to explore Mother’s Day gifts and get the kids wanting something for their Moms.
(Source: Shein gift card email)
3. Emphasize the key advantage of the gift cards — the freedom to choose your gift
In this bright and attention-grabbing gift card email example, Virgin reminds subscribers about one of the most powerful benefits of a gift voucher — the freedom to choose what a receiver actually wants. We all have too many dust collectors presented by aunties on our shelves not to appreciate this factor.
(Source: Virgin gift card email)
4. Show the value of time in a gift card email example
Fracture marketers nailed it in this fine specimen of email marketing by reminding readers that they can stop wasting time gift-hunting and return to what thrills them: “Wrap up your shopping and get back to what really matters.”
Further in the copy, the company addresses the benefits of this decision, reiterating just how universal their product is, how convenient digital vouchers are, and how customer-oriented their 60-day replacement guarantee is.
(Source: Fracture gift card email)
5. Stress the novelty of the service for new gift card products
This gift card email example from Uber opens the text paragraph with “Starting today,” which makes a reader register in their mind that it’s the option they have not been in a position to implement before but can do now. So a customer adds this idea to their mental repository of possible gift ideas for parents and friends who use Uber often.
In this short paragraph, they also educate the reader about the possibility of scheduling the gift card to be sent to a receiver, which also makes a reader think in this direction right away.
(Source: Uber gift card email)
6. Include a sweet free downloadable in a gift card email campaign
Dunkin Donuts was really sweet about it. They added an opportunity for kids and families to DIY their Mother’s Day cards by including a printable for coloring. A hand-painted DIY project made by kids is there to stay in the family for generations, so the emotional bond that the brand created here is priceless.
(Source: Dunkin’ Donuts gift card email)
7. Take the guesswork out of technicalities
Disney+ used all the right images with popular movie characters for the target audience. But also, they made a simple 3-step graphic on how to send a gift subscription, easing their existing clients into a purchase.
(Source: Disney Plus gift card email)
8. Let the figures speak for themselves
When you give away discounts worth a few hundred dollars, it’s OK to let the dollar amount take the central stage. No need to sugarcoat it, use euphemisms, or rake thesaurus for descriptive epithets. Free $230 is free $230.
(Source: Sleep Country gift card email)
9. Offer the solution to their problem
Not many people genuinely love shopping, let alone shopping for someone, and fearing the risk of getting it wrong. Gift cards elevate this problem. See how the Moment company speaks to this fear and offers a way out.
(Source: Moment gift card email)
10. Motivate subscribers to make choices that come with the purchase of their gift cards
See how cleverly Airbnb gets a reader’s mind to wander about all of the wonderful destinations their Dad could go to celebrate Father’s Day.
Usually, this stage should only kick in when someone decides to travel and purchases the card. But this simple question, “Where will Dad go first?” supported by pictures of legendary US destinations, reverses the process. It makes a user dream about Dad having the time of their life on the beaches of Miami before even purchasing a vacation.
Using three price points is also extremely smart, as the addressable market for a $25 purchase is huge, to put it mildly.
(Source: Airbnb gift card email)
11. Use gift card sales to boost your average check
If you have a segment of loyal customers whose average check has space for improvement, consider including gift cards for purchases over a certain amount. Bougie company offered tiered pricing for free gift vouchers in accordance with minimum spending.
Essentially, it’s a 25% discount, but it allows you to take your customers into this new spending range mentally, hopefully forming a positive reinforcement with great purchases for a recurring effect.
(Source: Bougie gift card email)
12. Plant the seed of awareness for later with educational campaigns
Every company with a newsletter can adopt a best practice when e-gift cards are the subject of a few ever-green email marketing campaigns or part of the onboarding cadence for new customers.
Even if you know the birthday date of your client, you don't know the birthdays of their friends and family. This means that you may be missing many selling opportunities if your clients are not advised about your company's digital card offering. So ensure there’s awareness for the product and sit tight for when it yields fruit.
(Source: On gift card email)
Helpful tips for successful gift card email marketing
No gift card template’s good for all businesses, but these tips will help you produce emails that attract subscribers' attention and motivate them to act:
- include your branding elements like logo, colors, and fonts to leverage the trust you have managed to build with your audience;
- consider using some eye-catching elements in gift email design, like short videos or GIFs, for better conversion;
- A/B test your e-gift card email subject lines to find the best options for your audience;
- mention at least one major benefit of using digital cards and state how a subscriber can save time/effort/get it right with gifting.
(Source: Amazon gift card email)
Wrapping up
Tapping into the lucrative growing market of physical gift cards and their digital alternatives is a must-have activity in a marketing strategy for 2023. Stripo offers a wide range of ready-made templates, including gift card reward email templates.
What ideas are you going to be playing within your next holiday email marketing campaign? FOMO? Time-saving? Last-minute gifting opportunity? Discounts? Or just bringing awareness about e-cards and their ease of use when the time is right?
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