What is incent traffic?

Incent traffic, or incentivized traffic, is traffic generated to a web or app page based on a system of rewards. A user receives some type of reward, such as a discount, for clicking on a link. The goal of incent traffic is to get a large group of customers in a very short period of time.

It may come as a surprise but incentivized traffic is actually considerably more cost effective than non-incentivized traffic generation and it can get you to your goals significantly faster. As with anything, there are pros and cons, but as you’ll see below, the pros tend to outweigh the cons.

How incent traffic works

  1. Content locking

    One form of incentivized traffic is content locking, which requires a user to answer a brief question or survey prior to accessing a Web or app page or an offer. Once the user responds to the question(s) the page will appear.

  2. Offer wall

    An offer wall, often used on gaming sites and apps, provides the user with a specific reward, such as game tokens, in exchange for the user completing some type of offer, such as providing access to social media friends or followers.

  3. Good traffic or bad traffic?

    Marketers are split in their opinion about the value of incent traffic. One view is that incent traffic isn’t an authentic representation of overall traffic since visitors have received an incentive; an opposing view is that visitors motivated to meet the requirements is a better potential consumer.

  4. Types of Incentives

    There are many different kinds of incentives that can be used to boost traffic. The variety of forms can range from cash, in-app points, discounts, or access to content. Deciding which incentive to use is one of the most important factors of the campaign and can be the deciding factor when it comes to the cost benefit of the campaign.

Why incent traffic matters

  1. Incentivized audience

    Visitors coming in through incent traffic are seen as more motivated consumers since they’ve taken the time to meet the requirements for access. These are visitors more likely to be converted to consumers.

  2. App traffic

    For apps, incent traffic campaigns can help smaller companies compete with larger organizations by boosting installs and other metrics that can advance an app’s ranking on the Apple charts.

  3. B2B opportunities

    Incent traffic can be a powerful b2b tool. Partnerships between companies might offer online discounts on one company’s product to push traffic to the partner company’s Website or offer. Incent offers can be particularly helpful in helping affiliates grow revenues.

  4. Cost Effectiveness

    Incentivized campaigns are generally considered more cost effective than non-incentivized campaigns. For instance, a non-incentivized campaign that spends $3-4 for each new customer or download, can easily cost as little as $.70 when incentivized. The biggest reason lies in the fact that the drive to download is much clearer in an incentivized campaign than it is in a non-incentivized campaign, costing far more per engagement.

  5. Boosted Volume

    It is no surprise that incentivizing consumers to take action through rewards is a faster way to build your user base than non-incentivized campaigns. Think about it this way, if you received a coupon code for an item you wanted to buy anyway, you're more likely to make the purchase now. Without the incentive, it's harder to convince you to spend the money now. Similarly, incentives create higher impulse downloads that by creating instant gratification.

  6. Quicker Pivoting

    By quickly and efficiently boosting your user base and increasing your app store rankings, incent traffic allows your company to pivot to other goals and/or tactics more quickly. Non-incentivized campaigns take far more time to reach the goals necessary boost volume and ranking which is a far greater investment than a quick incent traffic campaign that reaches those goals more quickly and allows your company to turn to other priorities.