Marketing

Rewards drive better ROI than discounts, claims study

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June 12, 2025

Reward and incentive-based promotions can drive a better return on investment than a discount strategy as well as higher annual improvement in customer satisfaction.

Those are two top findings from a Blackhawk Network research report that revealed reward-focused promotions translate to better customer experiences, more sales and revenue, greater customer lifetime value and more efficient sales pipelines, according to a press release on the findings.

"During uncertain economic times, we see businesses increase their focus on three things: retaining the customers they have, effectively competing for precious new customers, and retaining their best employees. This is a very clear formula," David Leeds, SVP, strategy and sales, BHN, said in the release. "Our research found that the most forward-thinking businesses are employing reward and incentive based promotions, as opposed to discounting, to boost marketing ROI. In doing so, these companies are also bolstering customer satisfaction and saving money. Happy customers have become a business imperative, and strategic marketing campaigns that offer rewards and incentives smartly position companies to nurture valuable customer relationships."

Reward advantages include:

• 36% greater improvement in shortening the length of sales cycles.
• 16% higher return on marketing investment.
• 15% higher increase in profit per customer.
• 14% better marketing conversion rate.