The challenge
A panel is not a community
The platform connects brands with real consumers through product testing, surveys and community feedback. Its members were participants rather than a community, arriving for a task, completing it, and having no reason to come back beyond the next invitation.
That shape limits what the platform can sell. Brands want depth: people who will test a product, then write about it, then attend an event, then bring someone else. Engagement across multiple activity types was the goal and nothing in the experience encouraged it.
The platform also had behavioural data it was not using. Without segmentation, a silent user and a UGC champion received the same communication, which is the fastest way to lose both.
- Incentivize consumer engagement - in trials, surveys, reviews, UGC and events
- Use gamification and rewards - to drive retention and repeat participation
- Deliver a frictionless digital experience - via a branded mobile app
- Leverage behavioral data - for segmentation and targeted communication
The solution
Reward the ninth thing, not just the survey
Nine touchpoints earn: profile completion, product testing, surveys, reviews, UGC, event attendance, referrals, learning modules and anniversaries. Breadth is the design goal rather than generosity, because a member who has earned on four different activity types is in a relationship with the platform, while one who has only ever completed surveys is a contractor.
Earning rules are configured in Loyalife and triggered by API or webhook from the platform's own systems, so no new operational process was needed. Tiered engagement runs Explorer, Advocate and Ambassador with milestone recognition, and segmentation splits the base into New Explorers, Top Contributors, Silent Users, UGC Champions and Event Enthusiasts, each receiving targeted campaigns and exclusive offers rather than one undifferentiated send. Redemption is the in-app Plum catalog with wallet integration.
- Rule engine - nine earning touchpoints across profile completion, product testing, surveys, reviews, UGC, event attendance, referrals, learning modules and anniversaries
- APIs - activity-based rules configured in Loyalife and triggered via API or webhook from the platform's own systems
- Tiers - Explorer, Advocate and Ambassador with milestone recognition
- Segments - New Explorers, Top Contributors, Silent Users, UGC Champions and Event Enthusiasts, each receiving targeted campaigns and exclusive offers
- UGC-based rewards - reviews and user-generated content earning alongside trials and surveys
- Rewards marketplace - an in-app Plum catalog of gift cards, merchandise, experiences, travel and local rewards, with wallet integration
- Communications - push notifications, in-app messages and email campaigns with contextual nudges
- Infrastructure and white-labelling - a mobile-first app plus microsite, with global catalog integration and real-time analytics dashboards
The results
Members who do more than one thing
64% of members are now active on more than one activity type. That single number is what the platform sells: a brand commissioning a product test is reaching people who will also review it, post about it and turn up to the event, rather than a panel that answers a questionnaire and disappears.
Repeat participation rose 3.1x and 47% of members now sit at Advocate tier or above. The Explorer, Advocate and Ambassador ladder gave that progression a shape members could see, and segmentation turned the platform's behavioural data into something operational, because a Silent User and a UGC Champion now get different messages, which is the difference between reactivation and attrition. Because earning rules are triggered by API from existing systems, none of it required new operational overhead.
Takeaway: a panel answers what you ask. A community does the next thing unprompted, which only happens if the next thing also earns.
64%
Of members active on more than one activity type
3.1x
Increase in repeat participation
47%
Reaching Advocate tier or above