GiftCard Partners Blog

Loyalty360 recently released
Understanding Customer Engagement: The Opportunities & Challenges Marketers Face Today. The report goes into depth about defining exactly what customer engagement is and the importance it has for today’s marketers. Depending on the organization or company, customer engagement can come in a variety of forms but one consistent thread needs to be addressed and acknowledged: look at customer engagement as a
two-way street, a constant dialogue between a company and its customers. In the report Marc Glazerm, VP Brand Loyalty from Kobie Marketing discusses the stages of moving the customer across the “engagement continuum.” Glazerm explains that, “The overarching goal of course is to move someone into the Advocacy stage, where they've grown so much, earned so many points/status, claimed their winnings and rewards and now believe so fervently in the brand and its wares that they can’t wait to tell the world about it and share the benefits with friends and family, in turn creating new members with their own customized life cycle.” Without rewards, engagement can take a hard hit. Giving customers the gift of choice and flexibility, with rewards such as gift cards, can increase traffic to your brand or service and in turn raise engagement levels.
To learn more from other leading marketers in the industry check out Loyalty360’s full report here.

Do you remember that Customer Loyalty Program your company has in place? Oh that’s right I think Bob’s looking into that every other Thursday. Well it’s time to take it to the next level, it could be the difference between having a successful year that’s one for the books and barely making it through. Entrepreneur released an article explaining the importance of a Customer Loyalty Program and how it is more valuable than ever “in this age of social connectivity.” Word-of-mouth has gone to a whole new level…and spreads like wildfire. It’s important to invest financial resources into making your current customers feel appreciated, after all they could end up being a spokesperson for your company or for your competitor. The article highlights 5 ways to improve your Customer Loyalty Program. Here’s a couple that caught our eye:
Refresh the ‘Thank You’- Give your 'Thank You’ a facelift, after all it’s seen by all of your customers. Entrepreneur states, “…ideas for improvement include lacing in a promotion to instigate immediate action…” Why not offer gift cards to new customers to show that you appreciate their business, whether it’s to
SUBWAY for a healthy lunch or family night at
Boston Market they're sure to be grateful.
Improve your feedback channel- Most company’s don’t realize how critical your customer feedback can be. Make sure that you are getting relevant information and turning it around to give your customers the best experience they can have. *Tip: Maybe you understand the importance of customer feedback and find it hard to pry it out of your customers? I smell an incentive. Try rewarding them with gift cards to their favorite restaurant or clothing store! To find out more ways to kick start your Customer Engagement Program check out
5 Ways to Take Customer Loyalty to the Next Level here.

The challenges in the commercial cleaning industry are many. Service providers, also known as “janitors” are often considered by employers to require “low skill” and little to no industry specific education. These circumstances often lead to the lack of motivation for cleaning service providers which can result in high employee turnover, and higher than desirable expenses. What can commercial cleaning and janitorial companies do about this? Here are a few ideas:

Since gift cards are given as gifts, incentives and employee rewards, they are often thought of by retailers and merchants as a customer acquisition tool. Let’s say a customer doesn’t shop at a particular retailer or merchant often or at all. Yet a family member, friend or employer gives a particular brand based on it meshing well with the recipients’ needs. This gift card now becomes a new customer acquisition tool or a customer loyalty tool for the retailer. BUT, are retailers also thinking of their own gift cards as a tool to lower operating costs? When your customers use debit and credit cards for their purchases, the burden of the transaction fees falls on that retailer. There are no fees when your customers utilize their closed-loop gift cards in your own name. The impressive numbers add up when you think of the difference your gift cards can make when selling them by the hundreds and thousands in the B2B market. GiftCard Partners’s customers buy multi-millions of dollars in face value gift cards annually across all our retail brands. Those are all consumers using your gift cards versus credit or debit payment card options that rack up fees charged to you. Check out
First Data’s Perspective: The Evolution of Gift Card Strategy to see how retailers and merchants are re-evaluating their cost of payment acceptance at their POS locations.