GiftCard Partners Blog

Everyone uses social media to communicate what they are doing and how they are feeling, good or bad, positive or negative.  It is a way to broadcast your thoughts in a largely unfiltered environment.  Furthermore social media is unescapable, and infiltrates our lives more and more as social media practices progress.  So why not use social media as a vehicle for employee recognition?  It gets the message out from an original source, there is a widespread audience seeing the recognition, and the employee gets recognized instantaneously for good behavior, or a professional achievement.  To learn more about
social media employee recognition click here.

Greg Williams, employee of MeadWestvaco Corp. in Richmond, VA likens his pedometer to his American Express card, because he never leaves home without it.  It is a big part of his companies employee wellness program, which helps him lose weight and gain money in gift cards (he has accrued about $800 in rewards so far).  To find more information about this program, or other similar programs check out this
article.

Excerpt from Engagement Strategies Magazine:
Gift Card Landscape Has Shifted, Bringing New Vistas, Values
Four industry experts discuss how recent changes in the market are affecting the use of gift cards as a motivational tool
Gift Card Trends What other important trends are we likely to see in the use of gift cards over the near term? The experts we spoke to had some different views and suggested different opportunities, but all agreed that the use of gift cards as incentives and performance and recognition rewards will continue to grow. NGC’s Adam Van Witzenburg expects to see more use of gift cards – especially virtual cards – as incentives to get customers to come into stores or to come to the phone – “things like, ‘If you come in, we’ll turn this card on,’ and ‘If you take this survey, you can have this card’ more proactive marketing with the cards.” For the rest of the article:
http://www.engagementstrategiesonline.com/Gift-Card-Landscape-Has-Shifted-Bringing-New-Vistas-Values.1014.0.html

Here are a few tips for establishing loyalty programs every small business should know about to maximize success: 1. Do unto others. 2. Clearly disclose all program benefits and rules (including potential restrictions). 3. Offer attractive redemption options. 4. Communicate with customers. 5. Empower employees. For more information on these best practice rules check out this
article, and keep these in mind when building your company's next loyalty program.

DPS offers gift cards to encourage parental involvement Detroit Public Schools officials will give a $25 Target gift card to the first 500 parents who sign up for the "I'm In" parent involvement card as a way to encourage parents to become more involved in the Detroit schools. The card will be used to track parent engagement and workshops in the district's eight parent resource centers. Every time parents use their card, they will receive points that will earn them entries into raffles and prizes. This isn't the first time DPS has used Target gift cards to encourage parental involvement. Last September, the district offered $20,000 in Target gift cards — including five $1,000 prizes — to parents who brought their children for a full day on Count Day, when attendance figures are used to determine state funding levels. From The Detroit News:
http://detnews.com/article/20110316/SCHOOLS/103160439/DPS-offers-gift-cards-to-encourage-parental-involvement#ixzz1GsYg2tZq