The difference between a good marketing tactic and a great one? Timing. It’s a marketing superpower. If you want to keep your loyalty program top-of-mind, tapping into trending moments and cultural events is a smart, strategic way to drive engagement and sign-ups.
From national holidays to viral social media trends, aligning your rewards program with what people are already talking about can make your brand feel relevant, exciting, and impossible to ignore. Have fun with the messaging, but make sure it's aligned with your brand identity.
Here are 6 ways you can do it:
1. Create Themed Promotions Around Holidays and Seasons
We already know this promotional strategy, and we know that people are more likely to spend during these extra special days (e.g. Canadian retail sales increased by 2.5% in December, from November 2024). People already expect special offers during big moments—so don’t miss out on these simple opportunities to grow your loyalty program base and keep your existing customers engaged.
A few ideas:
- Valentine’s day:
- “FREE Valentine’s Day exclusive cookie with every drink order.”
- “We’re crushing on our members 💕 Double points for all purchases this week!”
- “Personalize your Valentine’s Day gift to make it extra special—free engraving!”
- Holiday season:
- “12 Days of Loyalty” with rotating perks each day for members.
- “Earn 5 stamps and get a limited edition Christmas ornament—while stocks last!”
- Summer vibes:
- “Extreme weather warning? We’re feeling the heat in our hot yoga studios! Refer a friend and you each get 50% off your membership!”
- “Stay cool: exclusive members-only iced drink rewards.”
Use holiday colors, emojis, and messaging to make promotions pop in emails, texts, and social posts.
2. Jump on Global Events
Global events like the Olympic Games, Wimbledon, and Coachella are universally relevant and a great conversation starter. These events represent more than just sports and music. Fashion, beauty, food and nutrition, fitness—all of these also play into the entire global experience. Find where your brand fits into the narrative and tap into that energy:
- Music festival:
- “Member Deal! Festival-goers get a free pastry with any drink—this weekend only!”
- “Missing out on EDC? Say no more. We’re bringing it to this weekend’s spin class”
- Sports event:
- “Celebrate the championship with a free coffee for loyalty members.”
- “Members only! Earn 5x points on your order for every Gold medal won by the Canadian team”
In fact, we tested this strategy with Mr. Puffs’ loyalty program, by offering free puffs every time Canada won a gold at the 2024 Olympics. This more than tripled their membership base within 4 months and members who redeemed points spent an average of 57% more per order compared to non-redeeming members.
3. Consider Local Events too
What do you do when the Olympics only happens once every four years? You check out the local scene and see what’s happening. It doesn’t have to be a winning medal for the country, it could be treating marathon runners (and loyalty members!) during a marathon weekend with a freebie. Have a popular band doing a world tour stop in the city? Jump in on the craze! If the City of Toronto can put up “Taylor Swift Way” street signs to welcome The Eras Tour to Toronto, you can get creative too.
Daily Bread Food Bank / LinkedIn
Here are some other local events that you can tie your loyalty program to:
- Concert weekend:
- “Show your ticket stub and get 2x points today.”
- “A Taylor Swift playlist 🤝 our Lavender Haze taro bubble tea—$4.99 only this weekend!”
- Conventions and food festivals:
- “Cosplay as your favorite anime character and get $2 off your drink order!”
- “Stopping by the Food & Drink Festival? Members get an extra freebie when you visit our booth!”
4. Celebrate Member Milestones During Big Moments
This is a great opportunity for your business to personalize member experiences—especially if you have the data to do so. If you know a member’s birthday or anniversary is near a major event, personalize the celebration:
- “It’s your birthday and the Jays won? You’re getting triple points—enjoy!”
People love when brands notice personal milestones, it adds an extra thoughtful touch to the sentiment. When they overlap with broader events, well that’s just the perfect reason to celebrate, right?
When you have data points like birthday, location, average order value, regularly purchased items, it provides insights allowing you to personalize a member’s customer experience and offers you the opportunity to elevate that experience and stand out from other loyalty programs.
5. Ride the Wave of Social Media Trends
Social platforms are full of viral moments—and the best brands move quickly to join the fun. The tricky part about social media trends is, again, timing. They come and go very quickly. The 2025 Sprout Social Index finds that 27% of respondents believe it’s only effective when brands respond to trends within the first 24-48 hours.
Some social media trends have a longer lifespan and make for good evergreen content. Ultimately, the takeaway is to use sound judgement when deciding to follow social media trends. Does it fit your brand identity? Is this trend going to fizzle out before you even get it to your audience? If you’re ready to hop on the bandwagon of trendy social media conversations, make sure that wagon hasn’t left yet!
Some loyalty tie-ins could be:
- Fitness trends: “Get yourself a rewards-eligible protein smoothie after your #HotGirlWalk!”
- Trending audio, memes, or phrases: Use it to highlight how “loyalty hits different” or remix it with your best perks.
- Trending flavors and recipes: Repurposing flavors like the banana bread matcha latte that had everyone in a chokehold to match your product offerings, or offering bundle deals for ingredients to “create a homemade 3 ingredient high protein cheesecake—just for members!”
An example of a brand that gets their timing right is IKEA. Their social listening skills help them stay ahead of the conversation, and people start talking about it. It doesn’t always necessarily emphasize their loyalty program—but it creates buzz, interest, and keeps their brand top-of-mind. When IKEA enters the chat, suddenly you remember you need to get some supplies for your home, and maybe even a quick, easy meal before you leave. That’s where the loyalty program comes into play.
When the timing is right and the tone is authentic, this can attract a fresh wave of interest in your brand and loyalty program.
6. Talk About the Weather
Everyone’s favorite way to make small talk—and a great way to effortlessly sneak into your members’ awareness. It’s not exactly a trend, but you can leverage the weather forecast to inject some slang/trending terms into your messaging. Send a timely app push notification or text message (even better if you can personalize these based on customer location!) and it’ll double as a weather reminder—creativity and utility level: 10000.
- “Have you seen the cherry blossoms yet? You should get a matcha latte on your way there—earn an extra 100 points today!”
- “Rainy days ahead? Better stay dry at home and order in some food—earn 2x points!”
- “This heavy snow might be a bummer, but our stores are still open to serve crowd pleasing pastries. S(no)w cap.”
Conclusion
Your loyalty program shouldn’t feel like a background feature—it should feel alive, timely, and fun. By leveraging trends and substantial events, you create more opportunities for customers to interact, engage, and build emotional loyalty to your brand.
Plan ahead, stay flexible, and don’t be afraid to take creative risks. With the right moment and message, your next loyalty promotion could go viral.
