Two easy ways to drive sales with gift cards and email

Sell the card, then bring the guest back. Two campaigns that do both.

A gift card is two sales in one. The guest pays now, and the visit that follows usually spends more than the card is worth.

Most venues stop at the sale. Getting the card redeemed and the guest back is where the repeat business is, and both halves work better when you pair gift cards with email and SMS to your own audiences.

Sell more gift cards, sooner

A gift card is a product, so treat it like one. It needs somewhere to buy it, a reason to buy it now, and a reminder before the occasion passes.

Put it where people already are:

• On the website and in the booking confirmation, so a guest booking a table can add a card in the same visit.

• At the till, with a table tent and a line in the staff prompt. Ask once, plainly.

• By email and SMS to your audiences, timed to the moments people actually buy: birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, Mother's Day, Father's Day, and the weeks before a quiet trading period.

Digital cards sell while you're closed, arrive instantly and cost nothing to post. If you still sell paper cards, sell both and let the guest choose.

Turn a card sale into a second visit

A card sitting unredeemed in an inbox is a guest who's forgotten you. Nudge them before they do.

Three sends cover most of it:

1. A thank-you and a how-to, sent straight after purchase with the redemption steps and a link to book. It stops the "how do I use this" emails and gets the card used sooner.

2. A reason to come in. Pair the card with something worth planning around: a set menu, an event, a seasonal offer. Send it to card holders only, so it reaches people who already have credit to spend.

3. A last-chance reminder. If your cards expire, say when. A short SMS a fortnight before expiry is the most effective nudge there is, and it fills midweek tables.

Both campaigns run on data you already collect. Guest Wi-Fi sign-ups, bookings and loyalty all feed the same guest profiles, so a card buyer becomes somebody you recognise next time rather than a transaction that ends at the till.

Sell to businesses as well

One corporate order is worth a stack of consumer cards. Local companies buy gift cards for staff rewards, client thanks and incentive schemes, and they tend to buy at the same time every year.

Make it easy to do: a page on your site with a corporate enquiry form, a minimum order and a named contact. Keep the buyers in their own audience, so you can email them when the next round of budget is due instead of sending them the Sunday roast offer.

Know what the sends return

Both campaigns are measurable if you keep them off your general list. Tag card buyers at the point of sale, send to that audience only, and check analytics afterwards for redemptions, revenue and repeat visits.

Two numbers matter. How many cards are still unredeemed after 90 days, which tells you how hard to push the reminders. And what the average redemption visit spends against the card value, which tells you whether the card was worth the discount you gave to sell it.

Set the sends up once as workflows and they run without you. Start with the reminder: it's the cheapest win here, and the guests it brings back are the ones who already paid you. For the festive version, see 5 tips to sell more gift cards this season.