scratchcard printing
How scratch card promotions can excite and engage your customers

How scratch card promotions can excite and engage your customers

Tap into the power of scratch card promotions

There’s something irresistible about a scratch card and it’s all down to our psychology. In this post we share what makes scratch card promotions so compelling and offer tips for incorporating them into your marketing, whatever the nature of your campaign.

Our emotions are triggered

Scratch card promotions pull on our emotions. Once you’ve got one in your hands it’s hard to resist the curiosity, the need to scratch and find out what’s under the panel. So you’re drawn into play, and get a kick out of the suspense while waiting to read what you’ve won. The whole experience of playing a scratch card is a positive one – especially if you win.

Everyone hates FOMO (fear of missing out)… even though our brains tell us it’s unlikely we’ll be the big winner, there’s always that ‘what if…’ which means we just have to scratch!

It’s interactive

Print media beats digital for interactivity because of its tangible nature, it has a more personal connection. However, printed scratch card promotions go one step further, they require more than being held and read, they need interaction. They need to be scratched.

Those vital seconds of scratching, blended with the suspense and fun of not knowing what you’ll win, make scratch and win promotions a sticky piece of your marketing collateral. Scratch cards are perfect for well-targeted direct mail campaigns, deepening the interaction your leads have with the brand and offer you are sharing.

Everyone likes to win

If you run an ‘every card wins’ campaign your target will receive something every time they play. Feeling as though they’ve won, even if it’s a small discount or freebie, provides positive reinforcement to your brand.

Everyone likes something for nothing, so associating this goodwill with your brand is a win for you as well as them. You can boost this positive effect by offering your targets the opportunity to share scratch card promotions cards with friends – gaining further leads in the process.

Fun

Playfulness is a winner when it comes to getting people on board with your brand and message. The gaming element of scratch card promotions appeals to our playful natures. As Mary Poppins says, ‘a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, in the most delightful way.’

Aligning your campaign message and prizes to the fun of a scratch card format maximises the positive associations your targets will make with your brand when they play – so keep it visual, light-touch and playful.

It’s instant

Scratching off a card is something you can do straight away. We are psychologically hardwired to like instant gratification – we are less likely to commit to an action after a period of inactivity. The immediacy of scratch cards makes them perfect for point of sale campaigns: customers can scratch their card while you process their order or their goods.

Their win will either entice them to buy more, collect a freebie or return for another sale, depending on what you’ve offered, but the marketing work is done and you’ve been able to strike while the iron’s hot.

Disruption

Guerilla marketing campaigns rely on the element of surprise, and scratch cards can be a great tactic for dishing up the unexpected. Whether it’s offering a scratch card as people enter a store, a street campaign or in a direct mailing, scratch cards are unusual enough for people to be surprised. And surprise is sticky: you’ve got their attention.

So whatever style of campaign you’re planning, scratch card promotions can help you tap into these positive psychological associations and make a bigger impact. Whether you’re looking to boost sales, build your audience or create better brand awareness, there’s a way of making scratch and win promotions work for you.

Experienced scratch card printers get the best results

Experienced scratch card printers get the best results

How to find scratch card printers you can trust

You may have used a local print shop to run off a few business leaflets and posters for you, but do you really think they would be able to handle such a complex job as printing promotional scratch cards? No, of course not. This is why you should only trust dedicated scratch card printers with the right equipment and plenty of experience to manage your printing job.

Scratch cards are currently one of the most effective ways to promote your business. They are unique, intriguing, fun and interactive. Smart businesses are already using them to boost sales, grow revenue and draw in new customers as well as helping to retain their current ones. However, not all printers are equipped to handle scratch card printing and the specialist processes required to process such jobs.

Companies who use the best scratch card printers can achieve better results from their promotional campaigns. Building stronger relationships with their customers and providing a better ROI.

How to the achieve better results?

Bespoke Scratch Card Printers, A6, Gloss Laminated

Don’t risk being let down

Price is always an important factor when choosing a printer to work with on your campaign, but this should never be the deciding factor (you’re probably thinking we’re biased? But, in our 15 years of commercial printing and design experience we have picked up the pieces from poorly produced jobs on more than one occasion).

Going by price alone can risk you not achieving your desired results. If you receive a scratch card quote from a printer that is significantly lower than any other, beware! That printer may not completely understand the campaign and/or process to best deliver it.

 

Using a inexperienced or ill-equipped printer to create your scratch card campaign could incur more costs in the long run, or worse result in a fault or disastrous campaign. In 2011, Ryanair had a profile PR disaster due to a scratch card printing error.

Things to look out for to help you choose a good quality scratch card printing company:

1: Experience: look at the range and variety of projects that the company has produced, request scratch card samples and make a judgement on the quality of their work for yourself.

2. Scratch card options: Can the company offer customisable sizes and shapes variable data printing, individual numbering, security printing, Kitting, coloured latex, latex overprinting etc.

3. Competitive pricing: Beware of cheap, unsubstantiated printing quotes

4. Guidance and advice: An experienced printer will be able to guide you through the entire scratch card production process. From game design to final print and delivery, they should be able to advise you about your choices and suggest suitable improvements (if necessary) so that your campaign achieves the best possible results. Building a good relationship allows you to understand how you can work together to create high-quality targeted campaigns.

You’ve chosen your scratch card printers, what happens next?

Ask yourself what you want to achieve from your campaign. An good scratch card company will understand your needs and add value to your campaign. They will provide product options, supply scratch card samples and explain to you how your cards will be produced.

An experienced scratch card printer will be familiar in every aspect of production from design and planning to statistical analysis and security measures.

If you have never run a scratch card campaign before then a good printer will be able to design and print a campaign that will meet all your promotional objectives. Experienced printers will have handled most game formats before so will be able to offer some sound advice for the novice marketer.

Security plays a major part in any scratch card promotional campaign. No matter whether you are giving away hundreds of low value prizes or a top prize worth thousands of pounds, your printer will be able to support and aid you in all legal and security measures to prevent fraud or forgery.

If you are interested in finding out more about using scratch cards to promote your business, then why not take a look at our free guide: How to promote your business with scratch cards.