You’ve decided it’s time to take your marketing to the next level and add gift cards to your business — a wise choice. Now, you are ready for the next step, and choosing the right card design is an important part of the process. Here are some do’s and don’ts and common mistakes people make when designing their gift cards.

A Custom Card or a Standard Card?

After you have teamed up with a gift card provider to help launch your program, you will discuss various design options. One of the questions will be whether you want a custom card design or whether you can utilize a standard design. Custom cards help marry your existing marketing initiatives and branding as completely as possible.

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).

So which is right for your business? There are some things to consider before making your choice. Custom cards have many advantages – they look more like the cards offered by “big box” retailers because they are designed specifically for the business using them. They usually have more eye appeal, which can result in more impulse purchases if displayed properly to the consumer. Custom cards allow the merchant to consider unique design options like specialty die-cutting (unusually shaped cards), distinctive materials (foils, metallic inks and specialty card stocks) and even some trendy ideas like cards that play music or contain digital information. Disadvantages? Custom cards usually cost more to produce and they take longer to make.

For standard card designs, you can still get some special printing options such as unique die cuts, clear card stocks, and metallic inks. There will be, however, some constraints on how much the card design can be personalized. The overprint type will have some color limitations. The amount of text you can use may be more limited. And the range of standard designs is also limited. On the other hand, there are many advantages because of this. Your cost will often be lower since the supplier has pre-printed the basic designs. You also will get your cards much faster — days instead of the weeks it takes for custom cards.

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