Loyalty Program Enrollment: How to Get More Customers to Join

Loyalty program enrollment is the step where a customer joins a program by creating a member account, usually with an email address or phone number, so purchases and other actions can earn rewards. Enrollment rate is the share of eligible customers who join, and it matters most when the people who join go on to use the program.

Customers can join at checkout, in an app, from an email or through a promotion, and each route brings in members with different habits. This guide covers why customers do not join, where to ask them, which sign-up incentives to use, how sweepstakes can drive enrollment and the rules that apply, how to turn new members into active ones, how to measure enrollment and what changes for B2B programs.

Key Takeaways

What stops customers from joining a loyalty program?

Customers often skip a loyalty program because they do not know it exists, see no reward worth having, find sign-up too slow or do not want to share details.

Each barrier has a different fix:

• Awareness: the program is not mentioned at checkout, on the website or by staff, so customers never hear about it. The guide to promoting a loyalty program covers awareness in detail.
• Value: the first reward looks too far away, or the benefits are described vaguely. A specific, reachable reward, such as a free item after a set number of visits, is easier to judge than "exclusive perks."
• Friction: long forms, required passwords or a separate app download ask more than a customer at a busy checkout will give. Ask for the minimum needed to identify the member, and collect the rest later; the guide to building a loyalty sign-up people finish covers form design and assisted sign-up.
• Trust: customers wary of more marketing messages hold back unless the sign-up says what it collects and lets them join without opting in to promotions.
• Timing: asking when the customer cannot see an immediate payoff, or after they have already left, misses the moment when the program's value is clearest, usually when they could earn on a purchase they are making now. Asking before a purchase works when the ask carries its own reason to join, such as a sweepstakes entry.

Where should brands ask customers to enroll?

Ask customers to enroll where they are already buying or engaging, and make the ask fit each moment, from checkout and the app to order emails, packaging and staff conversations.

Each touchpoint depends on systems working together behind it. The point-of-sale system, ecommerce platform and app need to find the same member record, whether the customer gives a phone number in store or an email address online, so a customer who joins in one place is recognized in the others. Plan for duplicates: customers who join twice under different details need a way to merge accounts, with their points combined. Record each member's marketing consent with when and where it was given, separately from the enrollment itself, so a customer can join without agreeing to promotions. A phone number given to look up an account at the register is not, by itself, consent to marketing texts: the FCC says "Commercial texts require written consent" (FCC). In California, a business covered by the California Consumer Privacy Act that offers financial incentives, such as program benefits, in exchange for personal information must notify consumers of them, and may enter a consumer into such a program only with prior opt-in consent that "clearly describes the material terms" (California Civil Code 1798.125). And decide how purchases made just before joining are handled, since a customer who joins after checkout will expect that order to count.

Offering to credit points for the purchase just made, if the customer joins within a set period, gives a reason to join after the moment has passed. In order emails, keep the enrollment message secondary: under the FTC's CAN-SPAM guidance, a message mixing account information with promotion is treated as commercial if its subject line reads as an ad or the account information does not appear mainly at the beginning (FTC).

Which sign-up incentives work best?

The best sign-up incentive depends on the goal: instant bonuses reward joining, discounts drive a purchase, and sweepstakes or instant wins can attract customers not yet buying.

A program can combine them: a small bonus that puts the first reward within reach, plus a sweepstakes entry during a campaign. Whatever the incentive, the first reward should feel reachable within a member's normal buying pattern, since a bonus that leaves a member far from any reward gives them little reason to come back.

How can sweepstakes drive loyalty program enrollment?

A sweepstakes can drive enrollment by offering entries or bonus entries for joining, giving customers a reason to sign up now, even if they are not ready to buy.

Sweepstakes work differently from instant sign-up rewards: members join and then wait to find out whether they have won. Three practices help a sweepstakes earn the sign-up.

1. Offer a prize worth the wait

The prize has to be appealing enough to justify joining and waiting for a drawing. A generic prize such as cash may draw more entrants, but a prize the target customer actually wants, such as a product bundle or an experience tied to the brand, is more likely to attract people who will buy afterward. Prize value also changes the rules, as covered below, and the guide to prizing strategy covers one large prize versus many small ones.

2. Give members more chances to enter or win

Bonus entries for actions after joining, such as completing a profile or returning each week, keep new members coming back during the promotion. Weekly drawings give members several chances to win and several reasons to return. Brandmovers' BLOYL™ platform runs a promotions builder alongside the loyalty program, covering sweepstakes, contests, instant wins and bonus events, with receipt validation and built-in fraud protection where entries are tied to purchases.

3. Promote the sweepstakes everywhere customers see the brand

Put the promotion on the website, in social posts, in store and on packaging, and tell existing customers who have not yet joined, since they already buy from the brand. Order confirmations and shipping notices can mention it; keeping the order information first and the subject line about the order keeps them from being treated as commercial email under the FTC's CAN-SPAM guidance.

What rules apply to enrollment sweepstakes?

Enrollment sweepstakes must be free to enter and need official rules; when prizes total over $5,000, New York and Florida require registration and a bond or trust account.

The FTC tells consumers that "Real sweepstakes are free and by chance. It's illegal to ask you to pay or buy something to enter or to increase your odds of winning" (FTC). Registering with a free program can be part of entering, as in the Gerber example above, but if the program itself requires a purchase or a fee to join, or entries are tied to purchases, the promotion needs a free way to enter, and paying or buying must not improve a person's odds. Florida, for example, makes it unlawful "To require an entry fee, payment, or proof of purchase as a condition of entering a game promotion" (Florida Statutes 849.094).

Prize value adds filings. New York requires a promotion offering prizes by chance, "where the total announced value of the prizes offered is in excess of five thousand dollars," to file with the secretary of state "at least thirty days prior to the commencement" of the promotion, with a bond or trust account for the prize value (New York General Business Law 369-e). Florida requires operators of game promotions with prizes "greater than $5,000" to file "at least 7 days before the commencement of the game promotion" and to set up a trust account or surety bond. Both states also require a list of winners of prizes worth more than $25 afterward, within 90 days in New York and within 60 days in Florida.

Prizes have tax consequences too. The IRS instructions for Form 1099-MISC include "amounts paid to a winner of a sweepstakes not involving a wager" as reportable prizes and state that, "For tax years beginning after 2025," the reporting threshold "increased to $2,000" (IRS). Write official rules that state eligibility, entry methods, how bonus entries are earned, dates, prizes and odds, and keep the opt-in to marketing separate from the entry itself. The 2026 promotions compliance guide covers the rules in more depth. This is general information, not legal advice.

How do you turn new enrollees into active members?

Turn new enrollees into active members with a welcome that shows how to earn, a first reward within reach and messages in the first weeks that bring them back.

Enrollment is a starting point. A member who joins and never earns again costs the program a sign-up incentive and adds nothing. The first weeks matter most: a welcome message that explains how to earn, a first reward close enough to reach on a normal purchase or two, and a reminder when a member is close to it. The onboarding email sequence covers these messages.

Not every enrollee joins for the same reason, and the differences between enrollees affect how to treat them. Customers who join at checkout are already buying; customers who join for a sweepstakes entry may be interested mainly in the prize. Track members by the route they joined through, and give prize-driven enrollees a reason to make a first purchase, such as bonus points on their first order, rather than assuming they will behave like checkout enrollees. Limit entries to one account per person and check for duplicate sign-ups during the promotion, since extra accounts made to win more entries inflate enrollment numbers.

How do you measure loyalty program enrollment?

Measure enrollment by rate and cost at each touchpoint, then by how many new members become active, so the program pays for members who use it, not just sign-ups.

• Enrollment rate by touchpoint: the share of eligible customers who join at checkout, in store, in the app and through promotions.
• Cost per enrolled member: incentive, prize and promotion costs divided by new members from that source.
• Activation rate: the share of new members who earn or redeem within 30, 60 and 90 days.
• Cost per active member: total cost divided by the members who became active, a fairer comparison between sources than cost per sign-up.
• Opt-in rate: the share of new members who agree to marketing messages.

As an illustration: a sweepstakes that costs $15,000 in all, prizes plus build and administration, and enrolls 6,000 members costs $2.50 per enrollee; if 1,200 of them earn or redeem within 90 days, that is $12.50 per active member. A checkout bonus worth $3 to each of 2,000 new members costs up to $6,000 if every bonus is redeemed; if 1,000 are active at 90 days, that is $6 per active member. The promotion looks cheaper per sign-up and more expensive per active member, and it may reach customers who were not buying yet, which the checkout bonus cannot. Cost per active member also leaves out what those members are worth, so compare what active members from each source spend, not only what they cost. Where possible, compare new members' purchases with similar customers who did not join, and remember that customers who join may already be more engaged, so the gap can overstate what enrollment caused.

How does enrollment differ for B2B programs?

B2B programs enroll companies and the people inside them, so enrollment usually runs through account managers and needs the partner company's agreement as well as each user's.

In a dealer, distributor or contractor program, a company may enroll first and then add its sales staff or technicians as users. Account managers are often the best enrollment channel, since they already talk to partners, so give them a short explanation of the program and a simple way to sign partners up. Check whether partner companies allow incentives paid directly to their staff before inviting individual users. Programs that pay individual users may also need to collect tax information at sign-up: the IRS tells payers to report prizes and awards "for services performed by nonemployees, such as an award for the top commission salesperson" in box 1a of Form 1099-NEC, and the reporting threshold rose to $2,000 for tax years beginning after 2025 (IRS). Build that step into enrollment rather than adding it at the first payout. Make sure each partner understands how earnings are calculated before they join, since a dispute after the first statement can undo the enrollment.

Conclusion

More customers join a loyalty program when they know about it, see a reachable reward and can sign up quickly at the right moment. Ask at checkout, in the app, in order emails, on packaging and through staff; choose sign-up incentives to fit the goal; use sweepstakes within the rules; and follow up so new members become active. Measure cost per active member by enrollment source, and put more effort into the sources that bring in members who stay. Which of your touchpoints asks customers to join today, and which one is missing the ask?

Sources

• California Civil Code 1798.125
• Federal Communications Commission, Stop Unwanted Robocalls and Texts
• Federal Trade Commission, CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business
• Federal Trade Commission, Fake Prize, Sweepstakes, and Lottery Scams
• Florida Statutes 849.094, Game promotion in connection with sale of consumer products or services
• IRS, Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC
• New York General Business Law 369-e