Corporate Gift Card Message Ideas

A business must maintain a balance between being personal and being overly familiar.

You want to have a cordial message, but not necessarily one that you would send to a close friend or family member. On the other hand, you don't want to appear cold or distant.

How do you keep that balance?

Let's tackle holiday gift cards as an example. You have probably opened your share of holiday cards that say simply, "Happy Holidays," with a signed name. This is functional, but it is somewhat disappointing.

You wonder why someone went through the effort of mailing all of these when they really have no hint of personality. You want to bump up your efforts a bit without being overly wordy or taking too much time from your actual work. Some examples:

~ Remembering all you have done for us this year.
~Thank you for your tireless work and great attitude.
~ I/We appreciate your hard work.
~ Our thanks to you for your continued support/business/effort.

You can tweak these to suit individuals: for instance, if you know someone is spending their first Christmas with a new baby, you can send them a baby gift then write something like, "We hope this gift can make your child's first holiday a little brighter." This acknowledges that the person is of value to the company - and that the company bothers to take note of things that go on outside of work.

It is best to handwrite these messages. They're fairly short and should take no more time than the standard, "We wish you a happy holiday," message. They will, however, be much more warmly received. No one wants to feel like a fill-in-the-blank: adding a personal touch goes a long way.

If you are ordering company gift cards in bulk, you have the option to have a message embossed on the card itself. In this case, it is the same message for every card. While you can't write "Enjoy your retirement" or "Congratulations on the new addition," on the cards, you can make them more personal. Even a simple, "Thank you for the work you do" or "We couldn't do it without you" helps to foster a more personal relationship with the recipients. You can and should also include a handwritten message in the envelope or box in which the card is going to be placed

Time is money. Who has time to handwrite a message to 100 (or more) employees, associates, or clients? Who has time to remember who is retiring soon, who is having children, who just bought a home, who just had a loss, who has an illness or injury?

You have the time.

These people have the time to come to your place of business, work, perform services, deliver supplies, or carry out any of the other endless tasks a corporation requires for daily operation. Writing "We hope you enjoy your first holiday in your new home" doesn't take much more time than "We wish you a happy holiday." In turn, though, it creates a much more hospitable work environment.

Take the time to make gift card messages personal and targeted; you will see a return on your investment of time with increased morale and productivity.