While flashy experiences grab headlines, Verizon’s smartest retention move might be embedding incredible value directly into their wireless plans.

This strategy transforms loyalty discounts from occasional perks into daily-use benefits that become deeply woven into customers’ lives.

When someone’s entire entertainment ecosystem runs through their Verizon plan, switching carriers suddenly means disrupting their lifestyle—a powerful form of emotional loyalty.

Entertainment Bundles That Become Essential

Verizon’s premium plans include access to major streaming services through partnerships like:

• Disney Bundle (Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+)
• Netflix and Max perk
• Apple One bundle

Think about the psychology here: customers on the Unlimited Ultimate plan aren’t just paying for wireless service—they’re paying for their entire digital entertainment infrastructure.

Verizon’s recent customer experience investments, including MyPlan personalization and the Verizon Access loyalty program, are helping fuel growth.

myPlan Customization: Customer Control

The myPlan customization approach deserves special attention because it represents a departure from traditional one-size-fits-all telecom offerings.

Instead of forcing customers into rigid tiers, myPlan allows subscribers to build their perfect plan by selecting the plan perks that matter most to them:

• Want mobile hotspot data? Add it.
• Need TravelPass days for international trips? Include that.

This level of customization increases perceived value proposition while making customers feel in control—a critical component of customer satisfaction.

5G Ultra Wideband & Future-Proofing

5G Ultra Wideband access on premium plans isn’t just about speed—it’s about future-proofing the customer relationship.

As more services and applications require high-speed connectivity, customers on Verizon’s premium plans gain access to next-generation capabilities without additional fees.

This creates a tier progression effect where customers gradually upgrade to higher-value plans to access better technology and perks, increasing their average order value and customer lifetime value simultaneously.

Tiered Loyalty: Unlimited Plus and Unlimited Ultimate

The Unlimited Plus and Unlimited Ultimate plan offerings demonstrate tiered loyalty done right.

Each tier provides incrementally better benefits, encouraging natural upselling as customers’ needs evolve.

Unlike arbitrary point thresholds that feel manipulative, these tiers align with actual usage patterns and lifestyle needs:

• Frequent travelers gravitate toward plans with better international features
• Entertainment enthusiasts choose plans with premium streaming bundles

Additional Embedded Perks

Entertainment add-ons, gaming perks, and cloud storage rewards round out the embedded value proposition.

Verizon’s loyalty program offers:

• $5–$20 monthly discounts
• Exclusive offers
• Partner deals

This multiplicity matters because it increases the likelihood that any given customer will find something personally valuable, improving overall Net Promoter Score and reducing churn probability.

Financial Incentives: Making Loyalty Literally Pay

Beyond experiences and embedded perks, Verizon understands that straightforward financial benefits still matter tremendously to cost-conscious customers.

The company’s approach to loyalty discounts and monthly bill credits demonstrates that saving money remains a powerful retention tool when combined with other value elements.

Smart business owners should note how Verizon balances premium experiences with practical savings—it’s not either/or, it’s both/and.

Auto Pay & Paper-Free Billing Discounts

The Auto Pay discount represents perhaps the simplest yet most effective retention mechanism.

By offering a monthly bill credit (typically $5–$10 per line) for enrolling in automatic payments, Verizon accomplishes multiple objectives simultaneously:

• Ensuring payment consistency
• Reducing administrative costs
• Creating a small but meaningful discount that adds up significantly over time

When combined with paper-free billing, customers can save enough to offset a significant portion of taxes and fees.

Device Upgrades & Trade-In Deals

Device upgrades and trade-in deals create another layer of financial value that keeps customers in the Verizon ecosystem.

Rather than taking their phone to a third-party reseller when upgrading, customers can trade directly with Verizon for credits toward new devices.

These credits often span 24–36 months, creating a long-term commitment mechanism that discourages switching.

It’s a brilliant example of using transactional loyalty to build longer-term relationships.

Mobile + Home Bundling Discounts

The Mobile + Home discount exemplifies how Verizon leverages its multi-service offerings to increase wallet share and reduce churn.

Customers who bundle wireless service with Fios internet receive substantial discounts on both services.

This bundling strategy dramatically increases switching costs—leaving Verizon suddenly means finding new providers for multiple essential services.

By bundling services, families not only enjoy cost savings but also benefit from enhanced features like unlimited data and priority customer support.

Verizon Visa Card & Verizon Dollars

The Verizon Visa Card and associated Verizon Dollars program adds another dimension to financial rewards.

Credit card rewards represent a proven loyalty mechanism across industries, and Verizon’s card allows customers to earn credits toward:

• Their wireless bills
• Device purchases

This creates a closed-loop ecosystem where spending in everyday categories generates value specifically within the Verizon relationship, reinforcing brand affinity with each purchase.

Anniversary Offers & Milestone Rewards

Anniversary offers and anniversary gifts provide milestone rewards that recognize customer tenure.

Long-term subscribers receive special benefits based on how long they’ve been with Verizon, acknowledging their loyalty with tangible rewards.

Verizon appreciates customer loyalty and offers anniversary offers and gifts, with different benefits unlocked based on how long someone has been a customer.

This lifetime milestones approach makes customers feel valued and creates emotional touchpoints that strengthen the relationship.

Targeted Community Discounts

For eligible customers, specialized discounts demonstrate brand values alignment while providing meaningful financial benefits to important community segments:

• Military discount
• First responder discount
• Nurse and teacher discounts
• Student savings

Through ID.me verification, Verizon ensures these discounts reach intended recipients while simplifying the application process.

These targeted programs create brand advocacy within specific communities and generate powerful word-of-mouth recommendations.

The Strategic Genius Behind Verizon’s Approach

Now let’s step back and analyze why Verizon’s loyalty architecture works so brilliantly from a strategic perspective.

As business owners considering your own retention strategy, understanding these underlying principles matters more than copying specific tactics.

The genius lies not in any single element, but in how everything interconnects to create a comprehensive customer experience that makes loyalty feel natural rather than forced.

Authentic Customer Centricity

Verizon’s approach recognizes that customer centricity must be authentic, not performative.

Loyalty programs drive a 43% increase in CLTV, making them the single most powerful engagement-to-loyalty conversion tool.

Yet while 80% of operators offer a program, only half of customers are enrolled.

Verizon addresses this enrollment gap by making their programs genuinely appealing and easy to access through mobile-first design.

The My Verizon app removes friction from discovering and claiming benefits, ensuring high participation rates.

Data-Driven Personalization

The data-driven marketing capabilities enabled by loyalty program participation cannot be overstated.

Every interaction—from which rewards customers claim to which entertainment bundles they use—provides:

• First-party data
• Zero-party data

Verizon uses this to refine personalized offers.

Customers engaged within Verizon Up overindex on many different metrics including:

• NPS
• Reduction in churn
• Transactional benefits
• Even more so if they have multiple relationships with Verizon

This data-driven approach enables increasingly sophisticated behavioral triggers and hyper-personalization that makes each customer feel individually understood.

Seamless Omnichannel Integration

The omnichannel loyalty integration demonstrates sophisticated CRM integration capabilities.

Whether customers interact through:

• The mobile app
• Website
• Retail stores
• Customer service channels

Their loyalty benefits follow them seamlessly.

This seamless checkout experience across channels removes frustration and ensures customers can access value regardless of how they engage with Verizon.

Business owners should note that modern loyalty programs must work everywhere customers interact with your brand.

Experiential vs. Monetary Balance

Verizon’s emphasis on experiential rewards rather than purely monetary incentives aligns with research showing that non-monetary incentives often create stronger emotional loyalty than cash equivalents.

Verizon Up blends the best of points and perks by providing meaningful rewards customers want, not just arbitrary point totals, helping customers feel recognized and valued.

Experiences create memories and stories; discounts create transactions.

The former builds brand evangelists; the latter creates price-sensitive switchers.

Gamification That Drives Engagement

The gamified rewards elements—countdown timers, limited availability, exclusive access—leverage proven gamification principles that drive engagement.

These mechanics transform the loyalty program from a passive benefit into an active game that customers want to play.

The psychological principle of variable rewards (you never know exactly what amazing opportunity might appear next) keeps customers checking back regularly, maintaining top-of-mind awareness and emotional connection.

Creating a Multi-Dimensional Relationship

Perhaps most importantly, Verizon’s programs address the fundamental tension in telecommunications: customers need the service but often view carriers as interchangeable utilities.

By adding layers of:

• Experiential value
• Embedded entertainment
• Financial benefits

Verizon transforms the relationship from purely transactional to multi-dimensional.

This complexity creates genuine competitive advantage because competitors must match not just one element but the entire ecosystem to truly compete.

The Business Impact: How Loyalty Programs Drive Customer Lifetime Value

For business owners evaluating whether sophisticated loyalty programs justify their investment, let’s examine the financial impact. The telecommunications industry provides particularly clear data because customer relationships are long-term, monthly recurring, and easy to track.

The metrics tell a compelling story about how loyalty marketing translates into measurable business performance.

Verizon’s NPS Leadership

Verizon’s current NPS score is recorded to be 37, one of the highest in the industry.

This demonstrates that customers not only stay but actively recommend the service to others.

Net Promoter Score strongly correlates with growth because it measures the likelihood customers will become brand advocates, generating valuable referral program effects without explicit incentive structures.

When customers enthusiastically recommend your service, your customer acquisition costs drop significantly.

Impact on Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)

The CLV of loyalty program members increases along with the money they spend—estimated at an extra 12% to 18%—over non-loyalty program members.

This statistic alone justifies loyalty program investment for most businesses.

When existing customers spend nearly 20% more over their lifetime simply because they participate in your loyalty program, the return on investment becomes obvious.

For Verizon with millions of subscribers, this translates to billions in additional revenue.

Churn Reduction Benefits

The churn reduction impact provides another compelling metric.

• Only 47% of customers remain with their primary telecom operator for more than 5 years
• Churn rates average between 10% and 67% annually
• Acquiring a new customer is anywhere from 5 to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one

Any program that reduces churn by even a few percentage points pays for itself many times over when you consider avoided acquisition costs.

The Compound Effect of Retention

The mathematics of retention become even more impressive when you consider compound effects.

Studies show that increasing customer retention rates by just 5% can boost profits by 25% to 95%.

This exponential impact occurs because retained customers typically:

• Spend more over time
• Require less support as they become familiar with services
• Generate referrals that reduce marketing costs

Loyalty programs serve as the mechanism that drives these retention improvements.

Increased Spending by Loyalty Members

Research by Annex Cloud found that loyalty program members spend 12–18% more per year than non-loyalty members, creating immediate revenue lift beyond retention benefits.

This increased spending stems from multiple factors:

• Greater engagement with the brand
• More frequent purchases to maximize rewards
• Higher trust leading to trials of additional products or services

The cross-selling and up-selling opportunities multiply as the relationship deepens.

Predictive Analytics & Proactive Retention

From a predictive analytics perspective, loyalty program data enables sophisticated RFM analysis (recency, frequency, monetary value) that identifies at-risk customers before they churn.

By analyzing patterns like:

• Decreased app usage
• Ignored rewards
• Reduced spending

Machine learning algorithms can trigger win-back campaigns before customers actively consider switching.

This proactive approach to retention costs far less than reactive responses after customers have already decided to leave.

Lessons for Business Owners: Applying Verizon’s Strategies

So what can business owners in other industries learn from Verizon’s loyalty success? While you might not have FIFA World Cup partnerships or streaming bundles to offer, the underlying principles apply across industries and business sizes. Let’s translate these lessons into actionable insights for your customer retention efforts.

1. Start with Customer Understanding, Not Program Mechanics

Verizon didn’t build their programs around what was easiest to implement—they built around what customers actually value.

Conduct deep customer segmentation research to understand your target audience’s preferences, pain points, and aspirations.

Ask: Do they value experiences over discounts? Convenience over variety? Social status over savings?

Your loyalty program should align with these authentic preferences, not industry conventions.

2. Make Participation Effortless Through Mobile-First Design

75% of consumers say they would engage more with loyalty programs they can easily access from a smartphone.

If your loyalty program requires customers to carry physical cards, remember login credentials, or navigate complex redemption processes, you’re losing engagement.

Invest in intuitive loyalty app design or seamless integration within your existing customer app.

Every point of friction costs you participation and value realization.

3. Balance Multiple Value Types to Appeal to Different Segments

Notice how Verizon offers experiential rewards, embedded entertainment value, and straightforward financial discounts simultaneously.

This multi-faceted approach ensures that different customer types all find something appealing.

Your program should include elements of:

• Surprise and delight (unexpected rewards)
• Practical utility (everyday savings)
• Aspirational experiences (special occasion perks)

4. Create Authentic Scarcity and Exclusivity

The ticket drops and Super Tickets generate excitement through genuine limited availability, not artificial scarcity.

Customers perceive the difference.

Your VIP benefits and exclusive offers should provide real value that you couldn’t offer to everyone sustainably, not manufactured urgency designed to pressure purchases.

Authentic exclusivity builds brand trust; manipulative tactics destroy it.

5. Use Data to Personalize, But Be Transparent

Zero-party data helps with the phasing out of cookies and customers are in control of the data they choose to share with your brand, and that is key.

Modern consumers will share considerable data if they understand how it benefits them.

Be explicit that you use engagement data to customize offers, improve recommendations, and provide relevant rewards.

This privacy-compliant marketing approach builds trust while enabling sophisticated marketing automation.

6. Integrate Loyalty Into the Entire Customer Journey

Verizon’s approach touches every phase from onboarding through service usage to re-engagement.

Think about how loyalty benefits can:

• Reduce friction during signup
• Add value during service delivery
• Re-activate dormant customers

The customer journey should feel like a continuous relationship with increasing value over time, not discrete transactions separated by marketing campaigns.

7. Measure What Matters: CLV, Not Just Participation

Many loyalty programs celebrate high enrollment while delivering minimal business impact.

Focus your metrics on:

• Customer Lifetime Value
• Retention rates
• Average order value
• Frequency of purchase

—the outcomes that drive profitability.

Customer Lifetime Value is the anticipated total revenue a customer is predicted to generate throughout their entire association with the company; a rising CLV indicates that customers are not just being retained but are also contributing increased value.

If your program boosts participation but not CLV, it’s not working.

8. Invest in Technology Infrastructure to Scale

Verizon’s programs work because they’re built on cloud-based loyalty platforms with sophisticated API integration enabling real-time reward distribution, personalized messaging, and seamless redemption.

As you grow, manual loyalty program management becomes impossible.

Invest in scalable rewards technology that can handle complexity without requiring proportional staff increases.

This infrastructure investment pays dividends as your customer base expands.

9. Create Emotional Connections, Not Just Rational Transactions

The David Beckham partnership, surprise ticket drops, and personalized offers all contribute to emotional loyalty that transcends price comparisons.

Customers who feel emotionally connected to your brand exhibit attitudinal loyalty—they prefer your brand even when cheaper alternatives exist.

This emotional buffer against competition is invaluable in commoditized markets.

Conclusion

Verizon’s loyalty ecosystem demonstrates that in industries where customers can switch providers with a few clicks, customer retention requires far more than lip service.

It demands genuine value exchange, memorable experiences, embedded benefits, and personalized attention that makes customers feel seen and appreciated.

The results speak for themselves: Verizon’s revenue amounted to 32.48 billion U.S. dollars in the first quarter of 2024, making it the largest telecommunications company in the US—a position built significantly on their ability to keep subscribers happy and loyal.

For business owners, the lesson is clear: investing in sophisticated loyalty programs isn’t optional in competitive markets—it’s essential for survival and growth.

The telecommunications industry provides a particularly stark example because switching barriers are low and service offerings are relatively commoditized, yet Verizon still manages to command premium pricing and maintain lower churn rates through superior customer experience and loyalty programming.

Remember that brand loyalty and customer lifetime value are built slowly through consistent positive experiences, but can be destroyed quickly through broken promises or disappointing execution.

As you design or refine your own retention strategy, ask yourself: Are we creating genuine value that makes customers’ lives better? Are we making it easy for customers to realize that value? Are we using customer feedback loops to continuously improve? And critically, are we measuring the right outcomes—CLV, churn reduction, Net Promoter Score, and brand advocacy—rather than vanity metrics that don’t correlate with profitability?

In a world of infinite choice and zero switching costs, loyalty becomes the ultimate competitive advantage. Verizon has shown the blueprint—now it’s your turn to build something remarkable, perhaps starting with our digital loyalty tool Happyrewards.io to bring your vision to life.