The Welcome Back To The Office Gifting Guide

By Mary Matton on May 12, 2021

If I were to guess, your HR and people teams have been pouring over the survey we’re about to quote in this guide and many more like it.

As the United States and Canada have started to open up with the rise of vaccination rates and the decrease in COVID-19 cases, companies have started to think about when and how to return to the office.

While some companies have opted to be fully remote for the foreseeable future, according to an Eden Workplace survey, 85% of office workers are looking forward to returning to the office in some capacity.

Whether your company is choosing to return to the office on a monthly or weekly basis there is one thing we know for sure: Desks in office spaces will soon be filled again.

While people won’t be glued to their office desks 5 days a week, with flexible schedules there will be people coming in and out of offices again.

With this move, we can’t help but think about a marketing channel that’s had to make major shifts in the last year – direct mail and personal gifting.

The return to the office means we can shift our focus from a strictly digital world to another hybrid model…

All of this to say Physical Gifting is back.

But the world has permanently changed since physical gifting and direct mail were being delivered to offices on a daily basis.

So we put together a guide on how to help ease yourself and your prospects back into the office, back into physical gifting, and back into a new world.

Here is your Welcome Back To The Office Gifting Guide.

Physical Gifting With Alyce

You don’t have to tell us gifting is wasteful. 65% of all direct mail ends up in the trash. It costs local and state governments $320 million to dispose of that trash every year. With 100 million trees being harvested and 28 million gallons of water being used every year to manufacture it – it’s safe to say:

Direct mail is terrible for the environment.

So we take a different approach with our physical gifting offers.

Our philosophy with our physical gift invitations mimics our philosophy for our business:

Give first, give consistently. Several of our gift invitation offerings give back to the community or to organizations that protect our planet.

Impactful. We know first impressions are everything. Our gift invitation line has been curated to wow your prospects from the moment they are received.

Unique. We strive to make Alyce’s invitations one of a kind.

Sustainable. All of our invitations are designed to be recyclable or made from recycled material. Parts that cannot be recycled are designed to be reused.

As we start to think more about your “Welcome Back to The Office” gifting campaigns, we want to continue to keep gifting waste as low as it is with digital e-gifting.

The Alyce Model

Our gifting platform is different from traditional direct mail. Our whole model is based around gift invitations, because direct mail can be so wasteful, we take a recipient first approach: Our customers invite their prospects to engage with them digitally or physically.

Then, their prospects can see the gift you want to send and accept, exchange, or donate the dollar value of the gift in a digital format.

This digital experience allows you to have an integrated gifting experience into how your prospects are engaging with your prospecting initiatives and report on these activities accordingly.

Alyce is the only recipient-first direct mail and gifting platform that allows you to give your prospects the power of choice with a gifting marketplace of thousands of gifts to choose from.

After all, how are you supposed to know what your prospects want? Rather than use the old “get what you get and don’t get upset” model, we’re in the business of treating your prospects like people – not kindergartners.

When we think about the new gifting flow you’ll start to implement when you add physical gift invitations to your campaigns, the timeline of events starts to get longer. With your prospects returning to the office, you can start to include physical gift invitations in your campaigns. It is important to note that the timeline differs compared to digital (email) invitations.

Generally, it can take 7 business days after you submit your contact into Alyce for the invitation to reach your prospect. This time accounts for address validation/discovery and shipping and handling.

That means that your reps can start hinting at the gift before it’s sent, while also being notified of the invitation being delivered, the gift redemption landing page being viewed, and the gift being accepted.

Want some inspiration on how to structure your outreach cadences with physical gifting? Check out our Gifting Outreach Templates!

Which Gift Invitation To Choose

Now that you’ve decided to structure your program to include physical gifting, it’s important you choose the right gift invitation type! Not all of these invitations are created equally or make the same impact. Here are some pro tips on the best gift invitation method to use for your next campaign.

VIP Prospects

Cedar Boxes, Gallery Edition, and Sleek Edition gift invites are best to use when you’re trying to get the attention of your top prospects. It’s hard to ignore these beautiful boxes, especially when one lands on your desk.

Mid Sales Accelerators

Sleek Edition and Lovepop cards are great little reminders for prospects who you already know but want to nudge in the right direction.

Customer Engagement and Appreciation

There’s nothing like a little celebration to keep customers happy. Using the Cause Folio Edition and LovePop Cards, you can surprise and delight your customers with a thoughtful card before they even check out the gift you want to send them.

VIP Event Invitations

Putting together an important event? Want to make sure the right people are there? Send a physical gift invitation and gift with a Post Gift CTA to make sure your VIP prospects show up to your event. It’s hard to say no to an invitation that shows up on your desk vs your inbox.

You Can’t Go Wrong With Any Physical Invite

Depending on your budget, your campaign, and the impact you want to have on your prospects, each and every one of the physical gift invitations we offer can drive an impactful experience for your VIP buyers and customers.

Each gift invitation has its own social impact, its own way of being recycled, its own causes the money used to buy the invitation supports. By appealing to your prospect’s passions through any physical gift invitation, you can be sure to make a lasting impression and truly personal experience that will be sure to stand out in a sea of digital gifts.

What To Send In Your Back To The Office Gifting Campaigns

We’ve set up the campaign structure, we’ve decided which gift invitation method to use for your campaign, now it’s time to choose the right fits to send in your back to the office gifting campaigns. 

Well lucky for you, our team put together a Themed Marketplace full of gifts that are appropriate for going back to the office. The marketplace is called Alyce Back To The Office. 

Plan Ahead Campaign

As we start going back to the office, packing lunches ahead of time is something we haven’t had to do in over a year. With these gifts, you can use the theme of planning ahead – both with going back to the office and tying it into your company’s value prop in some way to create a thematic and thoughtful campaign! 

Dress For Success Campaign

We’re leaving athleisure behind when we head back into the office and with a year of changes, old backpacks or work bags could be worn out from dis-use. We also need new accessories like hand sanitizers. Use this themed marketplace to send your prospects portable hand sanitizers,  new backpacks or work bags, or maybe even a gift card for a new work wardrobe.

The Portable Office Campaign

With businesses and employees more comfortable working from home and from the office, having digitized note-taking is key to make sure you never leave your important notes in one office when you’re working from the other. With these gifts in the marketplace, you can set your prospects up for multi-office success!

Your Welcome Back To The Office Gifting Guide

Whether your team is heading back to the office or not, within the next few months we’ll start to see more offices fill back up – at least a few times a week. 

Getting in front of your prospects and customers with physical gift invitations with Alyce will be a great way to welcome them back to their new environment and make the transition back to office life a bit easier, all while introducing yourself to their business in a way that drives attention and action. 

Physical gift invitations are a great way to break through the noise, just don’t forget to follow up accordingly!