Incentive programs are no longer ‘soft’ marketing tactics, they’re expected to deliver measurable results. But one of the biggest challenges organisations face is: What does success actually look like? Without clear incentive program ROI benchmarking or metrics, it’s difficult to evaluate performance, justify investment, or optimise future campaigns.
This guide outlines what metrics you should be benchmarking or measuring in FY27.
The Key Metrics That Matter
While every program has different objectives, most incentive campaigns should be measured across 4 core areas:
1. Participation Rate
The percentage of your target audience that engages with the program.
Employee incentives usually have the highest engagement rate over customer and supplier incentives.
Low participation is often a sign of:
- Poor communication
- Unclear value proposition
- Misaligned rewards
2. Redemption Rate
How many issued rewards are actually used. True Rewards is seeing much higher redemption rates for digital gift cards to that of physical gift cards due to the ease of use in a digital world and our proprietary Web-to-Wallet technology.
Higher redemption indicates strong perceived value and a better recipient experience. Consider the value of your card. A $5 card won’t have as high a redemption rate as a $50 card unless it’s pitched for low cost item purchases.
3. Behavioural Uplift
The most important metric: did the program change behaviour? Examples of behaviour change are:
- Sales increase during campaign
- Increase in repeat purchases
- Improved employee performance or productivity
Typical ranges:
- Sales-driven campaigns: 5–20% uplift
- Retention-focused programs: 10–30% improvement
4. Cost vs Return
Ultimately, incentives should deliver a net positive outcome.
Key measures:
- Revenue generated vs program cost
- Cost per acquisition (CPA) reduction
- Lifetime value (LTV) increase
A strong program doesn’t just break even, it scales profitably.
What High-Performing Programs Have in Common
Across industries, successful incentive programs share several traits:
Clear Objectives
Top programs are built around a single, measurable goal not vague engagement targets.
Seamless Delivery
Friction kills performance. High-performing programs prioritise:
- Instant digital delivery
- Simple redemption
- Mobile-first experiences
Audience Relevance
The reward must match the audience:
- Employees vs customers
- B2C vs B2B
- Different age groups and preferences
- Low versus high cost and involvement categories
Real-Time Tracking
Leading organisations monitor performance live and optimise quickly. Without visibility, it’s difficult to improve outcomes.
Common Benchmark Pitfalls
Many businesses misinterpret performance due to:
- Comparing against the wrong industry
- Focusing only on participation instead of behavioural outcomes
- Ignoring long-term value (e.g., retention or loyalty)
- Underestimating the impact of fulfilment experience
How to Improve Your Results
If your program is underperforming, start here:
- Shorten reward delivery time – consider the rewards you’re sending. You can gain instant brand love with digital gift cards delivered straight to customer’s phone wallet.
- Increase perceived value through choice – Consider how you want the recipient to feel and what level of reward is likely to create that elusive emotional connection to drive engagement.
- Simplify mechanics and messaging – our proprietary Web-to-Wallet technology delivers gift cards via sms and are added to recipients’ phone wallets so easily.
- Segment audiences more effectively – not all rewards need to be created equal. Doing your audience segmentation and understanding drivers and behaviours upfront ensures you deliver the right reward to the right target.
- Test and iterate (don’t ‘set and forget’) – if things don’t land, review, optimise and keep working until you find what does. And remember what worked today, may not work next time so keeping a test and learn philosophy each time is important to ensure continued and sustained growth.
This new financial, the question isn’t whether incentives work, it’s whether they’re working efficiently.
By benchmarking against the right metrics, organisations can:
- Prove ROI
- Identify opportunities for optimisation
- Scale programs with confidence
A successful incentive program isn’t just engaging, it’s measurable, accountable, and results-driven.