Loyalty Program Revamp

Context

When I joined Skillz, incentives accounted for approximately 45% of Net Gaming Revenue, largely driven by free tickets given upfront based on loyalty tier. The program was expensive, rewarded low-contribution users, and ran on a strict monthly cadence that made iteration difficult. The mandate was to reduce incentive cost by 20% without harming player engagement, with a non-negotiable deadline tied to the first of the month.

Approach

• Analyzed player-level data and identified a large segment with low gameplay contribution but high reward consumption, creating negative ROI.
• Redesigned the program from upfront entitlement-based rewards to engagement-driven rewards distributed only on active participation.
• Introduced tiered gamification: missions, challenges, daily goals, live event tournaments, and deposit bonuses.
• Launched at the same effective cost as the old program under introductory offers to ease player adaptation, then gradually reduced incentive cost in subsequent cycles.
• Aligned Customer Support with response macros, prepared contingency plans, and monitored sentiment closely post-launch.
• Treated launch as the starting line and iterated on mechanics based on real post-launch behavior.

Result

• 30% reduction in incentive cost, exceeding the 20% target by 50%.
• 9% increase in ARPU through higher engagement.
• Improved unit economics without triggering player backlash.
• Established a more sustainable, engagement-based loyalty model.

Stakeholder management note

When development delays forced a phased rollout, I held individual alignment with marketing and analytics leads before announcing the change, walking them through trade-offs and a clear phase-two commitment. The live brackets meta launched successfully in phase two without trust erosion.

Treat the launch as the starting line, not the finish line. The first month is for the players to teach you what your new program actually is.