Scaling Creative Impact: How a Digital Agency Unlocked $21,000+ in Annual Travel and Incentives from Existing Ad Spend
How a fast-growing digital agency turned $600K in annual spend into $21K+ in high-impact travel, team incentives, and client perks—without spending more. By optimizing cards by category, they more than doubled point earnings and built a rewards system that drives retention and ROI.
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A 14-person digital agency with a monthly spend of $50,000—primarily on paid media, SaaS tools, and travel—was earning just ~1.6% return using a flat 2% cashback card and scattered points systems. They were generating roughly 80,000 points/month and redeeming them inefficiently, often through portals at low value or not at all. Despite $600,000 in annual spend, their rewards strategy was ad hoc and underleveraged, with an estimated annual return of just under $10,000.
Once UpNonStop stepped in, spend was realigned by category to maximize multipliers. Meta and Google ad spend (52% of monthly expenses) was rerouted to a 4x card, while SaaS and travel were assigned 3x earners. Points generation jumped to over 170,000/month—more than doubling their previous output. Over 12 months, they earned 2.07 million points, with a projected value exceeding $31,000.
Of those, 725,000 points were redeemed in the first year for $20,200 worth of travel and upgrades. Highlights included business class flights to Cannes Lions, SXSW hotels, and employee reward trips tied to successful campaign performance. These strategic redemptions not only boosted morale but also repositioned the agency during high-stakes client engagements. All of it came from points—no additional cost to the business.
The remaining 1.35 million points have a banked value of at least $20,000, setting up another year of client-facing and internal wins. With team-wide buy-in and new cultural norms built around points strategy, the agency has shifted its view of rewards from passive perks to an active performance driver. Combined Year 1 ROI: over $21,000—on spend they were already making.
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Overview
This case study outlines how a fast-growing digital agency turned $50,000/month in operating spend—mostly on advertising and team travel—into a strategic reward engine, generating over $21,000 in annual value without increasing their budget. With a team of 14 serving high-end brand clients, the agency had built a solid reputation for performance but was missing a critical piece internally: how to maximize the financial and cultural return of its daily spend.
Before the UpNonStop effect, their credit card use was inconsistent, ad spend was funneled through a single 2% cashback card, and travel rewards were erratic at best. Agency leaders knew they had points floating around but lacked a framework for turning them into anything useful.
- Industry: Creative & Performance Marketing
- Monthly Spend: $50,000
- Pre-Optimization Return: ~1.6%
- Post-Optimization Return: ~4.1%
- Annual Points Value Realized: $21,240
- Team Size: 14 (8 client-facing)
- Implementation Timeline: 6 weeks
The Problem: No Clear System, Scattered Rewards
The agency was scaling quickly, onboarding new clients and doubling its ad volume over 18 months. But internally, finance and ops lacked a strategic lens on points. With five corporate cards in circulation and no single person responsible for maximizing returns, the system broke down.
Key Issues Identified:
- Ad spend routed through a 2% cashback card (losing 3x+ potential earn)
- Flights booked with points through low-value portals
- No consistent tracking of points earned vs. redeemed
- Some cards earning transferable points, others co-branded, few consolidated
Spend Breakdown (Monthly):
| Category | % of Spend | Monthly Value |
|---|---|---|
| Paid Media (Meta, Google) | 52% | $26,000 |
| SaaS Tools & Licenses | 18% | $9,000 |
| Team Travel & Lodging | 14% | $7,000 |
| Client Entertainment | 10% | $5,000 |
| Equipment, Office Ops | 6% | $3,000 |
With spend spread across mismatched platforms, the agency was earning around 80,000 points/month—often redeeming for hotel chains or gift cards at less than 1 cent per point.
“We thought we were doing okay with points. But the truth is we had no system and no idea what they were really worth.”
— COO, Digital Agency
Step 1: Aligning Cards to Spend Type
UpNonStop began with a forensic breakdown of all ad invoices, tools, and travel patterns. From there, spend was mapped to optimal cards that earned the highest multipliers per category—without overcomplicating accounting.
Post-Optimization Card Mapping:
| Category | Card Assigned | Multiplier | Monthly Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paid Media | Amex Business Gold | 4x (top 2 categories) | 104,000 |
| SaaS Tools | Chase Ink Preferred | 3x | 27,000 |
| Team Travel | Chase Sapphire Reserve | Avg. 3x | 21,000 |
| Entertainment | Amex Green | 3x | 15,000 |
| Office/Equipment | Amex Blue Business Plus | 2x | 6,000 |
Total Monthly Points Earned (Post): 173,000
Total Monthly Points Earned (Pre): ~80,000
Efficiency Gain: +116%
The new system concentrated all earnings into transferable currencies (Amex MR, Chase UR) and away from low-flexibility portals.
Step 2: High-Impact Redemption Strategy
Next, UpNonStop focused on helping the agency redeem those points with maximum value. The team was regularly flying to industry events and client pitches—but buying tickets out-of-pocket or booking economy with low-value portals. Now, those same trips became high-leverage redemptions that also improved morale.
Top Redemptions in First 12 Months:
| Redemption | Points Used | Est. Value |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Business Class Tickets to Cannes Lions (Delta/Virgin) | 170,000 | $7,400 |
| 3 Hotel Nights (Austin, SXSW) | 90,000 | $2,100 |
| 2 Employee Incentive Trips (Hawaii, NYC) | 180,000 | $4,200 |
| 5 Hotel Stays for Client Roadshows | 130,000 | $3,500 |
| Internal Team Retreat Flights (Denver) | 95,000 | $2,000 |
| Equipment Offset (MR Pay with Points) | 60,000 | $1,000 |
| Total Redeemed | 725,000 | $20,200 |
Over 1.3 million points remain banked after Year 1, with a projected redemption value of $20,000–$26,000, depending on use.
Step 3: Culture of Rewards, Not Reimbursements
The agency took things a step further by integrating points into its talent and client experience strategy. Every new campaign over $100K in ad spend now triggers an internal bonus funded through points: a flight, hotel, or gift trip for the strategist behind it.
Client project teams use points to upgrade flights for in-person pitch meetings, which has subtly—but powerfully—impacted how they are perceived during high-stakes meetings.
“It’s hard to describe the energy shift when we landed in Cannes in lie-flat seats. We didn’t just show up—we arrived.”
— Senior Strategist
Instead of reimbursing team travel from cash flow, the agency is now allocating points for many of those same costs, freeing up actual dollars to reinvest in growth.
Year-End Financial Impact
Points Generated:
| Category | Annual Spend | Est. Points | Est. Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paid Media | $312,000 | 1,248,000 | $18,700 |
| SaaS Tools | $108,000 | 324,000 | $4,900 |
| Team Travel | $84,000 | 252,000 | $3,800 |
| Entertainment | $60,000 | 180,000 | $2,700 |
| Office Ops | $36,000 | 72,000 | $1,000 |
| Total | $600,000 | 2,076,000 pts | $31,100 |
Redemptions (Year 1):
- Redeemed Points: 725,000
- Realized Value: $20,200
- Pre-optimization cashback return: ~$9,600
- Year 1 Net ROI Increase: +$10,600
- Future Banked Points Value: $20,000+
Operational and Cultural Wins
- Premium Positioning in Client Engagements
Upgraded flights, curated hotel experiences, and roadshow perks made the agency feel “next-level” to clients. These small touches added up during competitive bids. - Incentivized Execution, Not Just Effort
Employees began to see the real-world value of successful campaign execution. Reward trips became aspirational. - Revenue-Neutral Perks
With points covering over $20K of travel costs, the agency freed up operating budget for hiring and campaign production—without giving up on recognition.
“We now think of points the way we think about paid ads: with a clear strategy and measurable ROI.”
— CEO
Looking Ahead
The agency is now implementing these next-level optimizations:
- Using referral and reseller agreements to route even more ad spend to 4x-earning platforms
- Building a “Points Vault” system for planned team rewards tied to KPIs
- Training account leads on how to identify client-spend opportunities that also benefit the agency through shared cards
UpNonStop’s ongoing concierge support ensures that new hires are added to the system and that no point is left behind—even in the chaos of a 3-campaign month.
Final Thoughts
This digital agency didn’t earn more money—it just started extracting more value from the money it was already spending. With no increase in overhead, they doubled their return on spend and turned rewards into a talent and loyalty strategy. That’s what happens when you stop thinking of points as a perk—and start treating them like the business asset they are.
