Credit Cards Article

Designing Your Gift Card

Author: Al Duggan

You\'ve smartly decided that adding gift cards or loyalty cards is a next step in marketing for your business. One of the key items to consider in this process is the design of your card. Let\'s explore some of your choices. There are some common errors people make in this process, but with a little help you can avoid those mistakes.

Custom or Standard?

After you\'ve chosen a card supplier, one of the first things they will want to discuss with you is your card design and whether you want to go with a custom design or a standard design. Custom cards are just that -- they are unique to your company. They pull together your identity (your logo and artwork) to maintain your branding.

Standard card designs are pre-made designs that can be personalized in a variety of ways. These cards do not have to be boring or bland. In fact, many gift card suppliers make available a variety of different designs for a variety of different business categories or vertical markets. These standard cards also can be personalized with your business name, your retail website, your phone number or other items, including your logo (although it may be in one color).

The question is deciding which option is the best for your business? There are a few items you need to take into consideration before you can make that decision. Let\'s take a look at some of the pro\'s and con\'s of each option. Custom cards are the choice of large retailers since they are specifically designed to maintain their branding. They are attractive cards, which can increase impulse buys if promoted well at the point of purchase. Custom cards also give opportunity for uniquely shaped designs, including special die-cuts (cards in unique shapes) and even some advanced features such as cards that will play music or have additional digital info. The downside to some of this is that these cards will cost a bit more and are not as quickly produced.

Standard cards can also utilize unique printing features like metallic inks, clear card stocks and die cuts. However there are limitations as to how much a standard card can be personalized. You may be limited in terms of how many characters of text you can use. There are usually only certain color options for the overprinted type. And the number of standard card designs available is a limitation. But there are advantages to standard cards as well. Standard cards are usually less expensive for most businesses because the vendor has printed a large quantity of each design. Standard cards can be personalized and shipped in a matter of days instead of the several weeks it takes to design and produce custom designs.

Artwork Considerations

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 try to use the images right off your website. These are often not of high enough quality and resolution for card 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 previously printed images. Art that has been printed commercially has been converted into small \"dots\" that create the image. When you reprint these previously printed images, you often get a moire pattern that makes for poor quality images.

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 make the design too complicated. Placing too much info into this small space often reduces the overall visual impact that the card will have. This is a fairly common error people make. Don\'t make it cluttered and lose your impact in the process.

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 look into using custom merchandising vehicles. By coordinating your package (which might include a custom card on a custom card hanger or card carrier) you help increase your perceived value...and that helps improve sales.

Whether you choose to go with a standard card with some personalization and want to begin in a week, or whether you want to go for a full-custom package and coordinate all your marketing efforts, there is nothing like receiving that first box of cards and seeing your attractive, glossy gift cards. Once you start making your customers aware that you offer gift cards, you will also love the increased revenues to your business.

Al Duggan specializes in custom gift and loyalty cards and is the VP of Business Development for Valutec Card Solutions, LLC, a Metavante (NYSE:MV) company, the nation\'s largest provider of gift card programs to small to mid-sized businesses.