The main reason why a large number of users who have not implemented a loyalty reward program is due to a lack of simple marketing. Generally speaking, large banks and companies are really great at cross-selling “core” banks and financial products, but not as good at communicating the benefits of reward programs.

Almost certainly, they have not followed the idea of a customer, loyalty program
yes Core products.

A friend of mine has experienced this directly recently. He learned that rewards can be earned through one of his favorite credit cards for dining at restaurants, but he did not take the steps to activate the restaurant rewards program for his card activation (even if his card is already available). All he had to do was switch a simple switch.

Over the years, he could have been rewarded for dining out, but he didn’t know the plan! Why did he? His card provider did a horrible job telling him how he could benefit from the program.

Recent research illustrates this gap: in the latest
ReportPymnts found that when studying travel, only about half of those who buy travel online will check out available cards or program privileges. and Capgemini

World Retail Banking Report 2025 It shows that only 44% of respondents received recommendations for supplemental products that add value to their credit cards.

“If we build it, they will come.” This is not a viable product or marketing strategy. Your loyalty program will not be “for sale”.

I’m here to tell you that this is crucial to your success deliberately
Communicate the benefits of your plan in a tangible way to prove its value to your customers. If you only use the product by chance, your program will most likely be ignored.

It is too common to see banks or financial services companies invest their energy in building reward programs, or integrating with third-party or white-label reward platforms, but then unable to invest equal or more energy in taking the program into the hands of customers.

Especially when it comes to reward programs, companies put all this energy into building new products and features. So why put the ball down while helping clients understand how to benefit from it? If the plan does not surface, the benefits of the plan will not mean.

Here are some of the key principles we recommend to establish a rewards program marketing plan:

Phase 1: Set clear goals and understand your audience

First define measurable goals – activation, installation, selection, and usage – map them to a wider range of business outcomes (such as customer life value).

Then, revisit your customers through the lens of this new product. What value does your rewards program provide them? What problems does it solve? Why do they care?

Build or refine your client role with these insights. Learn about their motivations, behaviors and how they view your brand. Also, take a closer look at the competitive landscape: what reward options do they use today and why? What would force them to choose yours?

This foundation lays the foundation for meaningful participation. It helps ensure that your marketing directly meets the needs and expectations of your customers.

Phase 2: Defining the message and value proposition

Once you set goals and understand your audience, the next step is to articulate why your rewards plan is important. What are the core benefits and how to better address your customers’ real needs than other alternatives?

This value proposition should be simple, specific and consistent, then echoing at each touchpoint: email, landing page, FAQ, browser extension copy, and App Store list.

Then map your customer journey: How do customers go from unconsciously to active users? Identify critical touchpoints and determine which channels (owned, earn or pay) are best suited to deliver your message at each step. This will help shape channel strategies that align with audience behaviors and preferences.

Phase 3: Execution, Measurement, Optimization

As your messaging and channel is defined, build a marketing plan that aligns with your customer journey and set expectations around time, frequency, and performance metrics.

Avoid over-engineering. Instead, focus on:

• Pass the correct message at the right place at the right time

• Keep CTA clear and tailored to each channel

• Measure important things (such as activation, installation, conversion)

After starting, start the measurement result. Don’t waste time waiting for weeks to evaluate the performance of all messaging in your marketing plan. Instead, study the data immediately, optimize and plan your next move immediately. Otherwise, you will waste valuable time, during which time you may bring more customers to your new plan.

The impact of marketing

The impact of marketing on the adoption and ultimate success of reward programs cannot be exaggerated. For businesses that perform frequent execution, ongoing and ongoing messaging with customers and their installed user bases, see User Engagement, Program Engagement and Continuous Revenue Growth.

A good real-world example is a seasonal business that recently launched a rewards program. At launch, it was their off-season, so their marketing was even more limited. Three months later, as the busy season began, they focused their marketing efforts, and went all out to target the participation of comprehensive audience marketing. This led to a 136% increase in installations in the third month, and then a 439% increase in installations in the fourth month.

Initially, another business was complacent about its marketing approach. As a result, they did not see the predicted installation or order volume. But 11 months after their release, they opened the floodgates through strategic, targeted marketing plans—as a result, program engagement metrics and revenue doubled rather than month 10.

Make marketing the driver of loyalty programs

A rewards program that no one knows won’t drive loyalty or the benefits you expect. Marketing is not an afterthought, it is the engine adopted by users. Set goals, understand your customers, tell a compelling story, and work on learning and optimization. When you work early, be diligent and proactive, you will find that the reward program results are much better than “let it sell itself.”