There’s no surprise that online advertising methods are increasingly becoming more complex. With the rise of programmatic advertising, there is now a myriad of different ways to buy and place ads online. One such method is called incentivized traffic, which is a type of ad buying that involves paying people to view or click on an ad. If you want to know what it is, how it works, and whether or not it’s the most effective method for you, this post will give you some insight.
What Is Incentivized Traffic?
Incentivized traffic is defined as website traffic that is generated by providing incentives to users in exchange for clicking on links or taking specific actions. It takes the form of a contest, sweepstakes, coupons, or other forms of incentive. The goal of incentivized traffic is to increase the number of visitors to a website or landing page. The visitors are only motivated by the rewards, and usually have no interest in making purchases. Therefore incentivized traffic is considered to be bad quality.
In other words, the method is an effective way to boost unresponsive leads. They’ll take your offer but stay on your list of subscribers and do nothing else. Incentivized traffic will do very little to increase brand awareness.
Are Incentivized Traffic Sellers Legit?
There are a variety of legitimate incentivized traffic programs available out there, each with its own set of rules and regulations.
But there are also dishonest traffic programs, typically solo ad sellers. They drive visitors to your site by telling them there is a reward available. For example, a free gift is ready to be picked up on your site, when it’s not.
Whether legit or not, incentivized traffic providers often offer users something that’s unrelated to your niche, so it’s unlikely to work unless your niche is entertaining enough for the general public. If you’re interested in using incentivized traffic, it's important to carefully consider the terms and conditions of any program before participating.
Pros and Cons of Incentivized Traffic
Freebie takers that come from incentivized traffic will barely give you benefits, but at least they visit your site and have a chance to learn about your business.
Pros:
Cons:
What Other Traffic Methods Should You Use?
Here are some other strategies that you can employ instead of using incentivized traffic, which will at least help you to build responsive leads, and ultimately, generate revenue.
SEO (Organic Traffic):
You may be doing it anyway, but just in case your website is not a blog site and you’ve never considered this;
Organic traffic refers to visitors who come to your site through search engines like Google, YouTube, or Bing. To generate organic traffic, you need to start blogging and optimize your site for search engine keywords.
“Blogging” may sound like writing a diary but it’s not in this case. You will write informative content so that people will find it useful. Organic traffic is free, and the higher the quality of your content is, the higher it will rank in search engines. It’s worth considering if you haven’t.
Referral Traffic:
Referral traffic comes from other websites that link to yours. To generate referral traffic, you need to get popular and relevant websites to link back to your site, which is outside of your control. There are a couple of ways to try;
- Email other website owners, introduce your particular webpage to them, and ask them to link back to you. However this method has become notoriously widespread in the past few years, and you may end up annoying the website owners.
- Run surveys and publish the results on your site. “According to the survey we carried out, 85% of people are…” Many bloggers love to talk about statistics, so they may find your survey results and refer to them on their blog sites.
You can also promote your site on social media and forums, so it’s visible to a wider audience.
Traffic from Paid Advertisements:
Paid traffic comes from advertising on other websites or through pay-per-click (PPC) ads on search engines, Facebook, Instagram, etc. You need to set the daily capping amount according to your budget and regularly monitor your spending, otherwise, you’ll end up spending a fortune. But it is an effective way to generate quick results.
Direct Traffic:
Direct traffic occurs when people physically type your website address into their browser or click on a bookmark that they’ve saved. If your website address is easy to remember, and when it’s established as a brand, your repeated visitors will create direct traffic.
What Can You Do Instead of Using Incentivized Traffic?
You can offer a “lead magnet” to your prospects yourself. The principle is the same but you have total control over what you are offering. Nobody’s making a false promise on your behalf just to get them to visit your site. A useful lead magnet can be;
An e-Book to Download
A PDF file or a series of PDF files containing valuable information about your niche or industry, so you’ll gain trust from your new leads.
A free Entry to a Webinar
Invite your prospects to one of your paid webinars for free, to interest them in your business and also to build trust.
Discount Voucher/Code
Your leads will be benefitted by purchasing your products at a lower cost.
A Bonus Giveaway
Giving away something but only upon purchase of your product. They are notified of this before they decide to sign up with you or not.
How to Get the Most Out of Traffic You Drive
Here are a few things you can do to ensure that you’re making the most of whatever traffic generation method you use.
Make Sure Your Offer Is Enticing
Incentivized traffic works best when you have a compelling offer that will entice people to take action. Whether it's a discount, free shipping, or something else, make sure your offer is strong enough to get people to take notice.
Use a Big, Bold Effective Call To Action
Your call to action should be clear and concise, and it should tell people exactly what they need to do in order to take advantage of your offer. Be sure to test different calls to action to see which ones produce the best results.
Target Your Audience Carefully
Not everyone is going to be interested in your offer, so it's important that you target your marketing efforts towards those who are most likely to be interested in what you have to say. This way, you'll get the most bang for your buck, especially with paid traffic.
What Is incentivized traffic?: Final Words
If you are offering a freebie you think is really useful to your audience, don’t rely on incentivized traffic sellers. It should be something related to your niche, and the offer you’re making now should benefit your business in the long run, if not in a short period. I hope at least one of the alternative traffic generation methods above will help you grow your online business over time. Good luck!