[G246]Gift Card Credit Card

Now that you've made the wise decision to incorporate gift and/or loyalty marketing into your business, you've got a number of decisions to make. One of the first - and most critical - is the decision regarding the card you will offer to your customers. In this article, we'll examine your options and explore some common design and artwork mistakes and what you can do to avoid them.
A Custom Card or a Standard Card?
After you have teamed up with a gift card provider to help launch your program, you will discuss various design options. One of the questions will be whether you want a custom card design or whether you can utilize a standard design. Custom cards help marry your existing marketing initiatives and branding as completely as possible.
Standard designs, on the other hand, are ready-made designs that your gift card supplier has in stock. Many gift card providers have designs that cater to specific categories of business. Therefore, they do not have to be bland. These standard designs also can be personalized by adding your business name, website and telephone numbers and even a logo (but usually in a single color).
So which is right for your business? There are some things to consider before making your choice. Custom cards have many advantages - they look more like the cards offered by "big box" retailers because they are designed specifically for the business using them. They usually have more eye appeal, which can result in more impulse purchases if displayed properly to the consumer. Custom cards allow the merchant to consider unique design options like specialty die-cutting (unusually shaped cards), distinctive materials (foils, metallic inks and specialty card stocks) and even some trendy ideas like cards that play music or contain digital information. Disadvantages? Custom cards usually cost more to produce and they take longer to make.
For standard card designs, you can still get some special printing options such as unique die cuts, clear card stocks, and metallic inks. There will be, however, some constraints on how much the card design can be personalized. The overprint type will have some color limitations. The amount of text you can use may be more limited. And the range of standard designs is also limited. On the other hand, there are many advantages because of this. Your cost will often be lower since the supplier has pre-printed the basic designs. You also will get your cards much faster -- days instead of the weeks it takes for custom cards.
Some Things To Consider About Your Artwork
With standard cards, your job is pretty easy -- select your card design from your choices and determine how to personalize it. For the custom card, however, there are more choices. If you have an existing agency that handles your creative work, you will likely work with them to create your design. If not, you will work directly with the supplier. Some suppliers may even have their own in-house creative departments to help you with your design. Either way, you will need to provide the designers some direction. You may need to supply them with some of your existing artwork so that they can base their designs on your current branding. For example, if you run a restaurant, you may want to provide them with the art from your menu. Or, maybe your business has brochures or ads that use your art and would be suitable for this purpose. These materials will help tie in your current marketing to the card.
Some additional Do's and Don'ts for providing you artwork:
1. DON'T take the art from your website. These graphics often aren't of high enough resolution to use for printing.
2. DON'T supply images that will need to be enlarged. That, in effect, also reduces the resolution and your images will appear fuzzy or out of focus.
3. DON'T utilize images that have been commercially printed. These images usually have "dots" that comprise the printed areas. When you reprint these images, they often develop a "moire" pattern that makes for low quality.
4. DO send original files that you have on your computer -- the kinds of files you send out to get printed. These files will usually be clear and of high quality, and they are perfect for a designer to create a quality integration into your card's design.
5. DON'T clutter your design with too much info. It's a very common error that people make, trying to hit every marketing point. Keep the design simple to keep your visual impact high.
6. DO take advantage of your logo. Your logo is a constant branding image that your customers actually expect to see on your various advertising and marketing creative. A gift card or loyalty card is like a pocket-sized billboard for your company. Take advantage of your logo. You want your clients to remember your name.
7. DO consider customized merchandising tools to complement your card design. A custom gift card affixed to a custom-designed carrier or card hanger presents a coordinated, attractive package that has a higher perceived value that will increase card sales.
There is nothing like opening that first box of gift cards and seeing your colorful designs ready for selling. Whether you go with a full-custom design or with a standardized card (so that you can start selling in a week), get started soon. Start pulling in those additional revenues and promoting your gift cards as soon as your customers arrive at your door.