The ROI of Thoughtful Employee Appreciation Ecards at Work

Have you ever received an ecard?

If so, you know that they’re super fun and better for the environment than physical cards. But did you also know that they can have serious, ROI-boosting benefits for your business?

A thoughtful ecard, sent on an employee’s birthday, to commemorate a work-related achievement or milestone, or to celebrate a national holiday, can help engage your team in their work, inspire them to greater performance, increase staff retention, and more. These moments also contribute directly to employee ROI, helping leaders understand how to measure employee recognition beyond surface-level morale.

In this article, we explore these benefits in greater detail, compare free ecards to paid ecards to see which will produce greater ROI for your organization, list the best paid ecard websites, and share how you can create amazing ecards that jumpstart business growth with Kudoboard.

Electronic Cards: Small Investment, Big Return

Why should you send ecards? Because this small investment of time and money can lead to incredible benefits and offers a clear way to track ROI employee outcomes tied to recognition efforts. We’re talking about better employee engagement, productivity, performance, retention, and company culture. These outcomes help leaders measure the ROI of recognition through employee satisfaction, reduced turnover, and long-term cost savings. Let’s explore the potential ROI of these benefits:

Ecards Engage Employees

If you want your employees to engage in their work, recognize them for their contributions. It is one of the most effective ways to improve employee engagement and increase overall employee satisfaction.

A simple, “Great job today!” will make team members feel like their work matters. And when they feel that their work matters, they’ll continue to give their maximum effort.

This is important because organizations with engaged employees are 18% more productive and 23% more profitable. They also experience 78% less absenteeism and 21% less turnover. In other words, engaged employees will revolutionize your business in every way.

Ecards are an easy way to recognize employees, thus increasing their engagement levels and creating measurable employee ROI tied to recognition frequency and participation.

Ecards Boost Staff Productivity

As mentioned, engaged employees are 18% more productive than unengaged ones.

For perspective, a sales rep who usually generates 50 leads, 5 closed deals, and $7,500 a week, will generate about 60 leads, 6 closed deals, and $9,000 a week when fully engaged.

By acknowledging contributions via ecards, you’ll not only encourage engagement but also reinforce positive actions and behaviors, especially when recognition is delivered as an instant reward that reinforces performance in real time. Your employees will think, “Okay, my boss likes it when I do XYZ. I think I’ll do more of XYZ.” This is how productivity translates to performance. Speaking of…

Ecards Improve Team Performance

A thoughtful ecard will help your team engage in their work. The result? 23% more profitability.

Let’s say your company produces $1M in annual revenue. After reading this article, you realize the importance of employee engagement and the value of ecards. So you sign up for a tool like Kudoboard and start recognizing your team for their contributions. Engagement soars.

Now your $1M business is a $1.23M business. The ecards you sent helped generate $230k in extra revenue. Since most ecard websites cost less than $100 a month, that’s amazing ROI. This is a clear illustration of ROI employee impact when recognition is consistent and intentional.

Ecards Increase Employee Retention

Returning to the previous statistics, employee engagement leads to 21% less turnover, directly improving turnover rates and supporting long-term employee satisfaction.

In the United States, 13.5% of employees quit their jobs every year. So, an average company with 100 employees should expect to lose at least 13 or 14 of them on an annual basis.

Now, if that same company works hard to engage its staff by either sending them ecards or by using some other method, it will only lose 10 to 11 employees per year.

This might not seem like a big deal until you consider this: it costs $1,500 to replace an hourly worker and 100% to 150% of annual salary to replace a technical worker. So the average company in the United States could save hundreds of thousands of dollars by curbing turnover.

Since ecards increase engagement, they also can increase employee retention, making them a practical tool for improving long-term employee ROI.

Ecards Build Company Culture

Let’s recap:

Employee engagement leads to higher productivity, greater profitability, and less turnover. You can engage your employees by sending them ecards to recognize their contributions.

When these things happen, a positive company culture will follow. How could it not? Your team will care about its work more, achieve better results, and build stronger relationships. In other words, you’ll have created a working atmosphere that people want to be a part of.

A positive workplace culture can have recruitment benefits too. Top talent will clamor to work for your company because of the incredible environment. This fact will give you access to better employees, whom you can hire faster. (Because you don’t have to search so hard for them.)

Free Ecards vs Paid Ecards: Which Should You Choose?

Since we’re talking about the ROI of ecards, it makes sense to compare free ecards vs paid ecards. Evaluate how each option supports how to measure employee recognition and overall employee ROI. Which one is best for your organization? Let’s find out.

The Advantages of Free Ecards

As the name implies, free ecards don’t cost anything. This means you can create and send ecards on zero budget, which is a big advantage for cash-strapped companies and/or teams.

Actually, free ecards are beneficial for all businesses, even those that have money in the bank. How so? They give users the chance to test ecard concepts without investing capital. Which ecards work best for your team? A free ecard website will help you find the answer for cheap.

The Disadvantages of Free Ecards

Free ecard websites often have limited feature sets.

You’ll probably have access to basic templates and be allowed to write a personalized message, but that’s about it. If you want more capabilities, you’ll need to pay for them.

Many free ecards also include a watermark, which is a disadvantage. You want your colleagues, friends, and/or family members to focus on your message, not a giant logo. Plus, most people know that a watermark equals free service, which will diminish the quality of your card.

The Advantages of Paid Ecards

Paid ecard websites offer more features.

Take Kudoboard. Our platform gives users access to professionally designed templates, allows them to schedule ecards to send at predetermined times, and offers card-based analytics.

Kudoboard users can also attach gift cards to every ecard, turning recognition into an instant reward, and convert their digital creations into hardbound books or wall posters. (Just in case your recipient wants a physical item.)

Finally, Kudoboard enables peer-to-peer recognition by allowing multiple people to participate in the card-giving process. Ask colleagues to write a personal note, attach a funny meme, or even shoot a custom video to add to the ecard and make the occasion more special.

The Disadvantages of Paid Ecards

You have to spend money on paid ecards.

It’s probably not as much as you expect. For instance, Kudoboard charges $5.99 to $19.99 for a single card. The more you spend, the more features you get access to.

Kudoboard also offers a monthly subscription, which will give you access to unlimited cards and top features. Plans start at $25 a month and can be used by up to 50 team members.

At the end of the day, free ecards are good for cash-strapped organizations. But if your company can afford it, paid ecards offer the highest ROI. The extra features will help you engage your team on a deeper level and enjoy all of the benefits above.

The Best Paid Digital Ecard Websites

If you have the budget for a paid ecard platform and want to maximize ROI, which option should you choose? One of the five options below will fit the bill and represent some of the best ecard sites available for teams focused on recognition-driven ROI employee outcomes:

Kudoboard

Kudoboard makes it easy to design and send ecards, while giving leaders visibility into how to measure employee recognition and the resulting employee ROI.

Our platform is completely intuitive, gives you access to top-level features like custom branding, automation, gift cards, peer recognition, and in-depth analytics, and is affordable.

That’s why major brands like Coca-Cola, T-Mobile, Atlassian, GoFundMe, and Airbnb use our solution.

Want to use it too? Get started with Kudoboard right now!

Jacquie Lawson

One look at the company’s templates and you’ll realize that Jacquie Lawson creates something you can’t get anywhere else. The brand is known for its gorgeous, hand-painted designs.

Does that fit your company’s vibe? Then you’ll also enjoy the option to add a personalized song or attach a gift card to every ecard, as well as an affordable monthly subscription. Just know that Jacquie Lawson cards aren’t nearly as customizable as other options.

Group Greeting

Group Greeting specializes in, you guessed it, group cards.

Going to the store to buy a physical card, passing it around the office for people to sign, and getting it to the intended recipient on their special day is a lot of work. Group Greeting simplifies the process while providing thousands of templates and the ability to attach digital gift cards. 

Group Greeting isn’t as full-featured as other solutions. But it offers a solid user experience and the ability to send quality ecards, which is the most important thing. 

JibJab

Want to make your recipients laugh? Send them an ecard from JibJab.

The tool helps users insert photos into funny music videos and scenes. For example, you could add a picture of your colleague’s face to a video of funny animals singing karaoke.

This strange, beautiful app isn’t super intuitive due to poor organization. And it’s not suitable for all occasions. (You probably shouldn’t use JibJab to offer condolences, for example.) But for the right situation, JibJab can help you make a memorable impression at work.

How to Create an ROI-Boosting Ecard with Kudoboard

Kudoboard will help you recognize your employees and engage them in their work. When this happens, your organization will experience better productivity, performance, and retention. Win!

Follow this easy five-step process to use Kudoboard, understand how to send an ecard effectively, and maximize ROI for online cards:

1. Choose a Template

First, choose card templates to match the situation.

Kudoboard has templates for birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays. We also have templates to welcome new team members, say goodbye to colleagues, send employees awards, and more.

Each template is professionally designed and includes a quick personal message. But can we share a secret with you? These messages should be customized to ensure results…

2. Personalize Your Message

The best ecards are personalized to their recipients.

What does this look like? Instead of saying, “Great job on your last project,” say, “You crushed the last project! The extra time you took to interview subject matter experts and make sure we had the deep, insightful data we needed for the report paid off. Thank YOU!“

Can you see the difference? One message is generic, and the other speaks to an exact situation, which always hits harder. So, take an extra minute or two to customize your notes.

One more thing: Kudoboard allows for multiple media types. Sure, you can write a quick message and call it a day. But you can also add internet memes, short animations, personal pictures, and even custom videos. Doing so will make your ecard more memorable.

3. Invite Others to Participate

Peer-to-peer recognition is 35.7% more likely to have a positive impact on financial results than manager-only recognition. So in terms of ROI, peer shoutouts are a big deal.

Kudoboard enables peers to celebrate each other. Simply invite your other employees, or even the recipient’s loved ones, if the situation calls for it, to contribute to the ecard. That way, they can offer their well wishes via written text, personal images, and/or custom videos.

(Worried your employees won’t want to participate? Don’t be. Our research shows that 80% of people prefer contributing to Kudoboards to physical cards. The process is more fun.)

4. Attach a Gift Card (If Applicable)

Kudoboard gives users the ability to attach monetary gifts and/or rewards to ecards.

Will you pay for the gift card using the company budget? Or will you ask your other employees to donate money? Either way, the funds will be presented to your recipient as a lump sum.

Recipients can then use the funds to purchase a prepaid Visa card or a gift card of their choice from dozens of participating retailers. They can also donate the money to charity if they want to. 

While gift cards aren’t mandatory, they can elevate the ecard experience. As such, consider attaching them to the ecards you send to fully express your gratitude.

5. Send Your Online Card!

There’s only one thing left to do: send your ecard to its intended recipient, making this final step in how to send an ecard simple, timely, and impactful.

With Kudoboard, you can send your ecards via email, Slack, Microsoft Teams, social media, or via your company’s intranet. You can also display them on TVs around the office.

Also worth mentioning, Kudoboards can be created and sent immediately or scheduled to be sent at a later date. This handy feature will give you tons of flexibility. For example, you can write all birthday messages at the start of the year, then automate them to send on each employee’s special day. Doing so will help you save time and boost productivity.

Realize Strong ROI With Ecards

A thoughtful electronic card can generate incredible ROI for your company.

Why? Because ecards recognize employees for their contributions, which engages them in their work. When employees engage, they naturally become more productive, achieve greater performance, look for other jobs less, and contribute to a stronger workplace culture.

When it comes to ROI-boosting ecards, use Kudoboard, one of the best ecard sites for organizations focused on recognition, instant reward delivery, and measurable employee ROI. Our industry-leading platform is intuitive, jam-packed with quality features, and affordable for just about every budget.

Common FAQs About the ROI of Ecards

Why are ecards important?

Ecards are a fantastic way to recognize employee contributions and make them feel valued. As such, ecards have the power to boost employee engagement, which can lead to other benefits such as higher productivity, greater performance, less turnover, and better company culture.

What ROI can I expect from sending ecards?

It’s impossible to predict the exact ROI of ecards. It depends on the unique makeup of your team, how often you send ecards, and the other employee appreciation initiatives you implement.

That said, studies show that employee engagement can boost productivity and performance by 18% and 23%, respectively, while lowering turnover by 21%. Set key benchmarks for leaders, evaluating ROI employee outcomes, and learning how to measure employee recognition effectively.

So, if you use ecards to engage employees in their work, you can tentatively expect to achieve similar results.

Which ecard maker is the best for my company?

Every company is different. Ask yourself, “What do I need my ecard maker to do?“

If you want to send basic ecards a few times a year, a free e-card maker is probably the best fit. But if you want to build a full-scale employee recognition program and acknowledge employee contributions via ecards on a regular basis, we suggest a paid e-card maker.

When it comes to paid ecard makers, you can’t go wrong with Kudoboard. Our platform is easy to use, ultra-powerful, and affordable for most budgets. Get started to see for yourself.

How will Kudoboard help me build an employee recognition program?

A Kudoboard monthly membership will give you access to a simple user interface, top-level features, and the ability to send an unlimited number of ecards.

Because of these things, Kudoboard can facilitate your entire employee recognition strategy. Simply create ecards to acknowledge employee achievements, invite other team members to contribute, and watch as team performance and retention go through the roof.

Kudoboard also offers an analytics dashboard so you can see which forms of recognition work best and adjust your efforts accordingly. Plus, our users can attach gift cards to every ecard they send and/or turn them into physical books and posters. Talk to our team to learn more.