The top reason why companies don’t achieve significant user adoption of a loyalty rewards program is due to a simple lack of marketing. In general, large banks and corporations are really great at cross-selling “core” banking and finance products, but not
so great at conveying the benefits of a rewards program.
This is almost certainly because they have not yet caught up to the idea that to their customers, loyalty programs
are core products.
A friend of mine recently experienced this directly. He learned that rewards were available through one of his credit cards for dining at some of his favorite restaurants, but he hadn’t taken the step to activate the restaurant rewards program his card enabled
(even though it was already available with his card). All he had to do was toggle one simple switch.
For years, he could have been earning rewards for dining out, but he didn’t know about the program! And why would he? His card provider did a terrible job telling him how he could benefit from the program.
Recent research illustrates this gap: in a recent
report, PYMNTS found that only around half of people who buy travel online look at available card or program perks when researching their trip. And CapGemini’s
World Retail Banking Report 2025 revealed that only 44% of respondents received recommendations for the complementary products that add value to their credit cards.
“If we build it, they will come,” is not a viable product or marketing strategy. Nor will your loyalty program “sell itself.”
I’m here to tell you that it is critical to your success to intentionally
communicate your program’s benefits in a tangible way that demonstrates its value to the customer. Your program is very likely to be overlooked if you simply leave your product adoption to chance.
It’s all too common to see banks or financial services companies put energy into building the rewards program, or integrating with a third party or white label rewards platform, but then fail to put equal or more energy into getting that program into the
hands of customers.
Especially when it comes to rewards programs, companies put all this energy into building new products and features. So why do they drop the ball when it comes time to help customers understand how they can benefit from it? The benefits of the program mean
nothing if they’re not surfaced to the customer.
Here are some of the key principles we recommend for building a rewards program marketing plan:
Phase 1: Set Clear Goals and Understand Your Audience
Start by defining measurable goals – activations, installs, opt-ins, and usage – that map to broader business outcomes like customer lifetime value.
Then, revisit your customer through the lens of this new product. What value does your rewards program offer them? What problems does it solve? Why would they care?
Build or refine your customer persona with these insights. Understand their motivations, behaviors, and how they perceive your brand. Also, take a close look at the competitive landscape: which rewards options are they using today, and why? What will compel
them to choose yours instead?
This foundation sets the stage for meaningful engagement. It helps ensure your marketing speaks directly to the customer’s needs and expectations.
Phase 2: Define Messaging & Value Proposition
Once you’ve set your goals and understand your audience, the next step is to articulate why your rewards program matters. What’s the core benefit, and how does it solve a real need for your customers better than alternatives?
This value proposition should be simple, specific, and consistent, and then echoed across every touchpoint: emails, landing pages, FAQs, browser extension copy, and app store listings.
Then map your customer journey: how do customers go from unaware to active users? Identify key touchpoints and decide which channels (owned, earned, or paid) are best suited to deliver your message at each step. This will help shape a channel strategy that’s
aligned to your audience’s behavior and preferences.
Phase 3: Execute, Measure, Optimize
With your messaging and channels defined, build a marketing plan that aligns to the customer journey and sets expectations around timing, frequency, and performance metrics.
Avoid over-engineering. Instead, focus on:
-
Delivering the right message in the right place at the right time
-
Keeping CTAs clear and tailored to each channel
-
Measuring what matters (e.g., activations, installs, conversions)
Once you’ve launched, begin measuring results. Don’t waste time waiting weeks to assess performance of all the messaging in your marketing plan. Instead, immediately study the data as it comes in, optimize, and plan your next move right away. Otherwise you
lose valuable time during which you could be delighting more of your customers with your new program.
The impact of marketing
The impact of marketing on the adoption and ultimate success of a rewards program can’t be overstated. Businesses that execute frequent, consistent and persistent messaging with customers, and their installed user base, see continued growth in user participation,
program engagement, and revenue.
One good real world example of this is a heavily seasonal business that recently launched a rewards program. At launch, it was their off-season so their marketing was more limited. Three months later, they focused marketing efforts as their busy season started,
going all-in with active, full audience marketing targeted for engagement. This resulted in 136% install growth in month three, then 439% install growth in month four.
Another business was initially complacent with their marketing approach. As a result, they didn’t see the installs or the order volume that had been projected. However, 11 months after launch, they opened the floodgates with a strategic, targeted marketing
program – as a result, program engagement metrics and resulting revenue doubled as compared with month 10.
Make marketing the driver of loyalty program adoption
A rewards program that no one knows about won’t drive loyalty, or drive the benefits you expect. Marketing isn’t an afterthought, it’s the engine for user adoption. Set goals, know your customer, tell a compelling story, and commit to learning and optimizing.
When you put in the work up front, be diligent, and be proactive, you’ll see much better results for your rewards program than if you simply “let it market itself.”
