Why gift certificates and discounts are great holiday promotion ideas for small businesses

If you’ve been thinking of making a list and checking it twice, there’s a good chance the holidays are around the corner! For business owners, those lists can translate into a whirlwind season of holiday sales. From Black Friday marketing to Boxing Day door-busting deals, there’s no shortage of holiday promotion ideas for small businesses. 

This flurry to take advantage of the giving season is for good reason. This handful of weeks can have an outsized impact on annual revenue for businesses of any size. However, for small and medium-sized businesses, these months can often provide cash flow to support them well into the new year.

For experience providers, there’s even more reason to be jolly and bright this time of year. A recent Holiday Shopping Survey from Intuit QuickBooks shows North Americans are likely to spend roughly “40% more on experiences in 2022 than in the previous year.” With that in mind, one of the best ways to capitalize on consumers turning their wallets towards businesses like yours? Holiday gift card promotions.

Three Creative Ways to use Gift Certificates to Boost Holiday Sales

There are a lot of reasons why gift certificates are effective when it comes to making extra revenue. From convenience (hello, last-minute shoppers!) to being able to stay on budget, customers often reach for this popular gifting option. 

If your gift card sales strategy looks like having a stack of them next to your register, might we suggest sprucing up your tactics a little? Don’t worry. Learning how to sell gift certificates online won’t take long! We’ve put together some easy and creative suggestions to help you make the most of them this season. 

1. Themed Gift Certificates

Giving your customers choices is a great idea when thinking of gift card marketing ideas. Creating custom themes for gift cards is simple and straightforward with Checkfront. 

Try these:

• Happy Holiday!
• Birthday 
• Just for being you 
• Oops, I forgot
• Treat Yourself! (self-gifting is a thing!)

2. Set multiple price points

People tend to gift differently to a co-worker versus a family member. But you can provide options that meet all their needs! Try providing gift card increments like: $25, $50, $75, $100, and $250.

With Checkfront, holiday promotion ideas like these are a breeze, with access to gift certificates built into any Soho, Pro, Plus, Enterprise, or Flex account.

3. Giveaways and Contests

By the time November and December roll around, cash flow for ads and promotions can be tight. If that’s the case for your business, consider using gift certificates in giveaways and contests! It won’t directly strain your bank account and can still grow your business or drum up more holiday sales.

Give a Little, Grow a Lot

Using a gift certificate as a carrot to entice customers to take an action or share their email isn’t new. But there’s a reason that it’s used so widely – it works! Take a moment to think about what area of your business could benefit the most from this:

• A survey to gauge interest in a new product or offering
• Increasing your Newsletter list
• Growing your social media following

Then, settle on a juicy gift certificate amount that will pique your customer’s interest and watch the survey responses, emails, or followers roll in.

Draw a Crowd by Drawing a Winner

Everyone loves the promise of being the lucky winner! So, it makes sense that giveaway contests are a solid holiday promotion idea. Host a giveaway yourself or partner with a group of like-minded companies to offer a selection of gift certificates or products with a holiday theme. If you go the group route, there’s the added benefit of increasing your company’s exposure to new potential customers by sharing the giveaway on each others’ newsletters and social media.

North Americans are likely to spend roughly 40% more on experiences in 2022 than in the previous year.

Intuit QuickBooks Holiday Shopping Survey

Go Beyond Gift Cards

With consumers looking to give more experiences as presents for the 2022 holiday season, it could be the perfect time to explore offering a discount to your customers. Oftentimes, a small discount, 10% or 15%, is enough incentive for consumers to commit to the purchase. 

For example, take advantage of customers’ commitment to supporting local by participating in Black Friday for small businesses. In under 5 minutes, you can set up a Black Friday weekend discount code in Checkfront and customize it by selecting:

• How many times the discount can be used
• What days the code applies to
• How much the discount is for
• Exactly what product it applies to

There’s no shortage of holiday promotion ideas for small businesses. But, with Checkfront’s gift certificate feature, you’ve got plenty of ways to make this season a little bit more green.

Not a Checkfront user yet? Our booking software is the gift that keeps on giving.