Discover 5% Growth
Date
2022-2025
Role
Growth Strategy · Email · Web
Team
Rewards · Lifecycle Marketing · Growth
Overview
Discover's 5% Cashback Bonus asks cardmembers to activate rotating categories every quarter, then actually use the card. I designed the journey between those two moments across email, the mobile app, and web.
Approach
Email is one of three primary activation channels. Across 10 quarters I designed 50+ A/B tested emails, introduced segments for new cardmembers and students, and extended testing into app messaging. Then I redesigned the confirmation landing page to surface every eligible category at a glance and connect straight into category shopping.
Results
Activation lifted by up to 24.2% across recent, lapsed, and never-activated audiences. Category spend rose 7% on average year over year. The quarterly rhythm brought cardmembers back to the app and site every quarter to keep Discover top of mind and wallet.
Email, app, and web each had a job. Email opened the door, the app kept it open, and the landing page turned the click into a swipe. Designing them as one sequence instead of three campaigns is what moved the number.
→ Activation lifted by up to 24.2% across recent, lapsed, and never-activated audiences.
I rebuilt the confirmation landing page to show every eligible category at a glance and link directly into category shopping. In quarters with direct merchant partners, I added shopping links that carried cardmembers from confirmation to checkout in one step.
→ 7% average lift in 5% category spend, year over year, 2022 to 2025.
