Yes, this is a listicle - you’ve been warned.
Every financial institution wants to increase digital engagement. But that usually turns into a buzzword hunt: layered dashboards, a new widget, maybe a splashy email campaign that drops into the void.
What actually works? Behavior-based engagement. A strategy built around how people actually use their devices, make decisions, and interact with financial education. Here's what we’ve seen drive real lift across our credit union and fintech partners.
1. Gamify the Experience (For Real)
Points, streaks, surprise-and-delight rewards…all of it works. Not because your members are childish, but because gamification taps into motivation in a way static content doesn’t.
When users are rewarded for completing lessons, hitting streaks, or exploring new content, engagement compounds. It's the difference between a one-time login and a daily habit.
2. Serve Content in Bite-Sized, Modern Formats
Financial education doesn’t have to look like a seminar. In reality, it probably shouldn’t. We’re seeing high engagement with short-form content:
-60-second “Money Minute” clips
-Quick quizzes
-Swipeable tips
-Short bursts of relevant, seasonal content
No long PDFs. No intimidating jargon. Just real-world topics in scrollable formats.
3. Reward Behavior, Not Just Clicks
Likes and impressions are how we measure media delivery, which is key to understanding the impact of your marketing funnel. But it doesn’t tell the story of how your efforts resonate with your target audience. To move ROI, what matters is whether your members are learning, saving, and coming back.
Partners have seen success (i.e. increase deposits, new account openings, etc.) when they run small campaigns that Incentivize actual outcomes:
-Complete a budgeting module → earn points
-Refer a friend → unlock a new reward
-Build a savings habit → get recognized
Zogo partners can customize their own rewards (including their own branded currency). When the incentives reflect your brand, the results reflect your values.
4. Turn Engagement Into a Feedback Loop
One thing we’ve learned: members engage more when they see how they’re progressing. Zogo lets users track progress and streaks, and partners can even send personalized nudges based on activity.
It creates a loop: Engage → See your growth → Get nudged → Engage again
5. Nudge strategically
Push notifications don’t have to be disruptive or dull. The goal isn’t volume, it’s relevance. The Zogo Marketing team enables push notifications to users regularly. These are most successful when we use data to inform copy and personalize that copy for the user.
High-performing nudges look like this:
-Data flags users who are on a 6 day learning streak → Push Copy: “You’re one lesson away from a 7-day streak.”
-Data says a user has been dominant for >8 days → Push Copy: “Haven’t logged in for a while? There’s a reward waiting.”
Behavior-based and content-based notifications perform better than generic reminders because they’re specific, personal, and tied to actual user activity.
6. Make space for member input
You don’t need a full-scale research initiative to know what your members care about. Just ask.
Use quick in-app polls or embedded surveys to gather feedback. Ask what topics they want next. See which lessons resonate.
Zogo’s Partner Portal gives you tools to do all of that and dashboards to help you act on the data fast.
7. Time content to real-world moments
Context matters. Serving up a budgeting lesson during back-to-school season or a credit-focused series around graduation hits differently.
We help partners align their content calendar with the real world. Because when the topic fits the moment, members are more likely to engage and retain what they learn.
Increase Digital Engagement With Your Members
Here’s the short version: increasing digital engagement works when it’s built around real behavior, not surface-level metrics.
Want help turning that into something actionable? That’s what we do.
Talk to our team →
