The Bilt Mastercard: How to Make Rent Rewarding
Do you like paying rent? Well, of course not! And do you know what makes it even worse? The unnecessary credit card fees you must pay in order to get the privilege of paying rent… However, in the last couple years Mastercard has come out with a solution. Their Bilt Credit Card is designed specifically for renters. It allows them to earn points on rent payments and covers the cost of transaction fees.
In order to raise awareness and increase its customer base Bilt has been running a yearly campaign called “The Bilt Rent Day Campaign” where they offer extra rewards and benefits while also promoting the card on social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
What the Bilt Rent Day Campaign is trying to accomplish:
- **Increased Usage:** Bilt uses videos and content to encourage renters to use their Bilt Mastercard for both rent and non-rent purchases by offering double points on all non-rent spend on the first of the month.
- **Enhance Customer Engagement:** Bilt wants to foster a sense of community around Rent Day through exclusive offers and partnerships. They also hope that this will cause an increase in user generated content.
- **Boost Membership and Retention:** Attract new members to the Bilt Rewards program and retain existing members by continually testing new benefits
- **Promote Partner Brands:** This gives Bilt the opportunity to ensure successful partnerships with brands such as SoulCycle and Virgin Voyages.
Why this works:
One of the reasons this card has been successful is because Bilt is trying to solve a problem that unites pretty everyone — high rent. By offering these rewards they are clearly saving people money, and that is often all it takes to retain a customer base. The Rent Day campaign is also trying to show customers that the credit card can be used for purchases other than rent, which it does quite successfully. The campaign also helps create a sense of community by connecting their brand name to already successful brands. An example is SoulCycle, which already sees a high user retention and brand trust and by promoting this partnership Bilt is able to dip into SoulCycle’s users.
A few ways Bilt has been promoting the Rent a Day Campaign:
· Instagram: Bilt uses its Instagram account to share updates, exclusive offers, and interactive content related to Rent Day. They also have targeted videos with other accounts in order to maximize impressions and engagement.
· Targeted Ads: Bilt runs targeted online ads to reach potential customers who have interacted with partners or similar products. These ads highlight the benefits and “fun parts” of Rent Day.
· Targeted Partnerships: Bilt collaborates with well-known brands such as Alaska Airlines and Virgin Voyages to create engaging content. These partnerships help attract new members and allow Bilt to create videos that are not credit card focused.
Effectiveness of the Bilt Rent Day Campaign
The Bilt Rent Day campaign has been incredibly successful. One of the likely reasons is because of its targeted partnerships with travel companies. Traditional credit cards stand out because of their travel benefits and Bilt is often thought of as the “rent” card. However, by marrying engaging travel content with the Rent Day campaign Bilt is showing the massive utility of the card.
The Rent Day campaign is one of the largest drivers of user engagement and customers for Bilt. The deals are very successful and Bilt has been largely profitable and popular. Their model is interesting because it tries to make a really negative part of life (rent) a little better with very few tradeoffs. The biggest threat that Bilt may face is the waiving of credit card fees by companies such as Chase and Visa when they realize that they are losing many renters as customers to Mastercard and Bilt.
