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Updated Jan 23, 2026
Key takeaways in this article 🥡
The Power of Choice: Skip the generic. Letting customers choose their own rewards increases engagement and builds better brand loyalty.
Store vs. Prepaid: Use brand-specific cards for a personalized "treat" feel and prepaid cards (Visa®/Mastercard®) for more flexibility.
Programs vs. Campaigns: Balance "always-on" referral programs with short-term, high-urgency sales campaigns for the best ROI.
Scalability Matters: Use local tools for one-off gifts, but choose a B2B platform like Giftbit for automated, global, and measurable promotions
If you want to stand out in a saturated market (or even harder, get noticed in a crowded inbox), gift cards for business promotions might be your best bet.
Customers are tired of generic junk and tiny, one-off discounts (10% off your first order? really?? 🙄).
We all crave a more personal touch. And digital gift cards can create that personal touch, while also giving your audience the power to choose something they actually want.
In 2026, building a meaningful bond with your audience requires more than just swag. It requires giving them the power of choice.
So whether you're launching a short-term campaign or a long-term gift card incentive program, understanding the best ways to leverage digital rewards will be key to fostering lasting brand loyalty.
In this article, we’ll highlight 11 proven ways to use gift cards for business promotions that are working for our clients right now, plus how and why to use them.
>Ready to get started now? Jump right to the 11 gift card promotion ideas<.
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Why use digital gift cards for business Promotions?
According from report after report from organizations like the Incentive Research Foundation, more and more companies are using egift cards to foster brand loyalty and drive sales (and with good reason).
↓ Learn more ↓
Key Incentive Trends from the 2026 IRF Industry Outlook
Digital gift cards are a win-win: they're easy for you to send and even easier for your customers to use.💪
Work with a reliable gift card platform, and the whole process, from sending to spending, becomes frictionless.
Plus, gift card promotions don't have to be limited by geography. For example, Giftbit's full global catalog will you can offer hundreds of well-known brands to customers almost anywhere in the world.
Specifically, when it comes to planning your marketing strategy, using digital gift cards to support your customer loyalty programs provides key advantages:
| Benefit | Why it Matters for Your Business |
| Automated Delivery | One-click sending or full API integration means your rewards reach customers instantly without manual work. |
| Choice | Instead of picking one brand, you give customers access to a full global catalog, letting them choose what they actually want. |
| Real-Time Tracking | See exactly when a reward is opened and redeemed. This data helps you measure ROI and optimize future campaigns. |
| Cost Efficiency | You only pay for what you send, with no physical shipping costs or "lost in the mail" headaches. |
| Global Reach | Send rewards across borders in seconds. Your promotion works for a customer in New York just as well as one in the UAE. |
Choosing the right rewards: egift cards vs. prepaid cards for your business gift card promotions
While people often use the terms interchangeably, there’s a big difference between, say a Starbucks gift card and a prepaid Visa incentive card. For your promotions to really land, you'll likely need the flexibility to offer both.
A store-specific gift card is a reward that is restricted to one particular retailer, such as Amazon gift cards, Roblox gift cards, or Apple gift cards. They're popular when you want your business promotion to feel like a 'treat,' great for those surprise-and-delight campaigns or "thank you" rewards where you want the recipient to splurge on something they enjoy.
They also work well for small budgets and even micro-rewards.
💬 Like Giftbit Director of Business Development Matt Brossard says, “even with the way prices have gone up, a small coffee card feels like, ‘coffee’s on me, a treat’s on me.’”
Because the reward is tied to a recognizable brand, your customer will associate that positive "reward moment" (like their morning coffee or a new book) directly with your business.
Meanwhile, a prepaid card, like a Visa or Mastercard incentive card, is a network-branded reward that can be spent anywhere that specific payment network is accepted. These are your heavy hitters for high-value incentives, like referral bonuses or significant sales milestones, where you want to provide the recipient with maximum flexibility.
💡 Note: the Giftbit Mastercard can be sent and spent anywhere in the world that accepts Mastercard (that's most places! 😉).
You'll also want to use global prepaid cards when you don't know a recipient’s personal brand preferences or when you want the reward to be almost as practical as cash.
Ultimately, a successful marketing or sales promotion won't box your customers in. Look for a global gift card distribution company that lets you offer both.
💡 And word to the wise: don't take this level of global flexibility for granted. It's not always a given, so double check what a platform actually offers before you sign up.
| Feature | Store-Specific Gift Cards | Prepaid Cards (Visa/Mastercard) |
| What is it? | A reward for one specific retailer (e.g., Amazon, Starbucks, Target). | A network-branded card that works anywhere that network is accepted. |
| Best Used For | "Surprise & delight" moments, thank-yous, and brand-building. | High-value incentives, referral bonuses, and flexible payouts and disbursements. |
| The "Vibe" | Feels like a personalized gift or a "treat." | Feels like practical spending power or a cash bonus. |
| Key Advantage | Creates a strong brand association ('branded currency'). | Offers ultimate freedom and universal value to the recipient. |
💡Good to know: Gifbit let's you offer your recipients a gift card (or prepaid card) to one brand, a curated list of brands to choose from, or the freedom to choose whatever they want from the whole rewards catalog.
Not sure what's the best option for your goals?
Book a little time with our Sales team to pick their brains!
Choosing the right gift card tool: GiftFly vs Giftbit
In your search for a rewards partner, you’ll likely come across options GiftFly. Let's walk through how these types of tools work so you can pick the best platform for your specific promotion strategy and goals.
Options like GiftFly work best for individual merchants (often small or local businesses) to sell their own digital gift cards online and via their own channels, rather than as a broad, many-brand rewards catalog for other companies’ campaigns.
Options like Giftbit, on the other hand, are B2B-focused digital rewards platforms that serve companies needing to send incentive or reward gift cards at scale, often across many brands. They usually also include options to integrate reward sending into you existing workflows or applications (including via a gift card API).
For a professional loyalty or sales promotion, choosing a dedicated B2B rewards platform over a merchant-direct tool matters for three main reasons:
- The Power of Choice: GiftFly focuses on individual merchant cards, typically for a single business at a time. With Giftbit, you don't have to guess whether your customer likes a specific local shop; you can offer a broad catalog of popular brands and prepaid card options, giving recipients the flexibility to choose what suits them best.
- Scale and Automation: If you’re running a complete gift card or rewards program, you need to be able to send many rewards at once or trigger them automatically through integrations or an API. Giftbit is built for this kind of high-volume, automated “set it and forget it” workflow, while merchant-direct tools are generally oriented toward more manual, one-off or small-batch gifting.
- Centralized Reporting: With a professional distribution platform, you get campaign-level visibility into sends, engagement, and redemptions from a central dashboard. That consolidated view is essential for understanding the ROI of your promotion and making data-backed decisions about what to do next.
Ultimately, the choice comes down to the scope of your project: use a tool like GiftFly when you want to support a specific local or boutique business, and use Giftbit when you need a scalable, multi-brand rewards strategy that supports ongoing, measurable business growth.
Strategic growth: gift card incentive programs vs. project campaigns
How you structure your gift card promotions can significantly impact their benefits and outcomes.
So you'll first need to decide whether an incentive program or project campaign will best help achieve your company's goals:
1. Incentive Programs (The "Always-On" Engine)
An incentive program is a long-term strategy with no set end date. Think of this as a permanent part of your customer experience.
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Example: A standing "Refer-a-Friend" program where customers always get a $20 gift card for every successful referral.
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Best for: Building long-term habits, increasing "lifetime value" (LTV), and creating a predictable stream of leads or reviews.
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The Strategy: These programs work best when automated via API so that the reward is delivered the second the customer hits the milestone.
2. Project Campaigns (The "Short-Term" Spark)
A project campaign is a time-bound promotion designed to drive a specific behavior fast.
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Example: "Refer three friends by March 31st to earn a limited-edition $100 Gift Card."
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Best for: Clearing inventory, hitting quarterly sales targets, launching a new product, or boosting engagement during the holidays.
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The Strategy: Use these to create a sense of urgency and "FOMO" (fear of missing out). Because they have an expiration date, they tend to see higher engagement in a shorter window.
| Feature | Incentive Program | Project Campaign |
| Duration | Ongoing / Indefinite | Short-term / Fixed Dates |
| Primary Goal | Retention & Loyalty | Immediate Action & Growth Spikes |
| Effort | Low (once automated) | High (requires promotion/hype) |
| Success Metric | Monthly Active Users / LTV | Total Conversions in Period X |
11 creative ways to use gift cards for business promotions
Time to get creative with your customer loyalty promotions to better target your customer base and maximize your ROI.
Here are 11 great digital gift card promotion ideas that are currently working wellfor Giftbit clients:
- Giveaways: Give a gift card to a random customer to show your appreciation for their loyalty. Customers can enter the giveaway by making a purchase, signing up for your email list, or completing any other action they see fit.
- Holiday promotions: Celebrate the holidays and engage your customers with a holiday gift card promotion. Customers can use their gift card toward a future purchase through your business.
- Thank-you campaigns: A thank-you campaign is the ultimate way to drive customer loyalty and show appreciation. Send your most loyal customers a small gift card just to thank them.
- Referral campaigns: Encourage customers to refer their friends to your business through a gift card referral program. Your current customer and their referral can receive a small gift card reward when the referral makes a purchase.
- VIP rewards: You can use digital gift cards as rewards within your VIP loyalty program. Customers can earn a gift card when they reach a certain reward tier after spending X amount of money on your business.
- Second-purchase rewards: Motivate first-time customers to become loyal members of your brand family through second-purchase rewards. Customers can receive a digital gift card once they complete their second purchase.
- Bonus offer promotions: Drive more sales among your customer base by offering a gift card bonus when customers spend a certain amount of money. They can use the gift card toward their current purchase or the next one.
- Social promotions: Host a social media giveaway that customers can enter by following your social profiles, commenting on a post, and sharing it with their followers. One lucky participant can win a gift card.
- Discount gift cards: Instead of providing a percentage discount, allow customers to earn digital gift cards when purchasing your sale items.
- New service or collection promotions: Digital gift card promotions are a great way to promote new products and services. Customers can earn a gift card when they buy from a new product line.
- Sign-up rewards: Encourage customers to sign up for your newsletter, email list, or VIP program with a sign-up gift card bonus. In addition to earning their trust, this keeps your brand top of mind.
Create and launch your next gift card promotion
Setting up a reward program shouldn’t be a project in itself. Whether you're running a quick holiday giveaway or a long-term referral program, here is how to get moving:
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Create your free account: Sign up in minutes. With Giftbit, there's no subscription fees or minimum commitments—you only pay for the rewards you actually send.
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Add your funds: Load your account via credit card or bank transfer (among more options you can see here). This single balance covers every brand in the catalog, making it easy to manage your promotional budget in one place.
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Curate your rewards: Choose the specific gift cards and prepaid cards that fit your campaign, or give your customers the "ultimate choice" by letting them pick from the full global catalog.
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Launch and track: Send your rewards instantly via email, generate unique links for social media, or automate the whole process with our API. Then, watch your redemption data roll in to see exactly how your promotion is performing.
Protip: choice matters, but narrowing the selection down for your recipients can help them better envision the value they'll receive from their rewards.
And remember, a successful promotion strategy is only as good as its execution. By moving away from manual spreadsheets and one-off purchases toward a complete gift card program, you'll gain the infrastructure needed to scale your efforts without adding to your workload.
Start using gift cards for business promotions now: sign up for your free Giftbit account now, or talk to Sales to learn more or ask about bulk discounts.
