Offering incentives to potential customers, either in the form of prizes or some other gift, can be an effective way to generate leads or sales for merchants. However, because of the nature of customers that are sometimes attracted to these offers, incentivized marketing can be looked upon negatively by merchants. While this may be the case, there are still opportunities for affiliates who use incentived marketing methods to work successfully with merchants.
What is an Incentivized Offer?
A great example of a typical incentivized offer is a free iPod giveaway site. These sites are common online, and generally have the following structure - enter your email and shipping address, and then complete one or more “offers” to be eligible to win the free iPod. These “offers” generally consist of a purchase through a merchant. Not only does the free iPod website earn commissions from successfully completed offers, but it generates a valuable database of customers that become loyal to their site and whom can become a captive audience to market to for months to come.
Why they are Often not Permitted
Many merchants do not allow affiliates to drive incentivized traffic, as they do not feel that these referred customers have the potential to become loyal to their brand - they are simply fulfilling the steps necessary to win a prize. As such, these referred consumers are seen as having little value. Incentivized marketing is also avoided by merchants because of its sometimes controversial nature. In fact, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) in the U.S. has been closely investigating marketers using the term “free” (which is frequently used in incentivized marketing, as in the free iPod deal) in their promotions to ensure they are not misleading consumers. A guide to how the word “free” should be used can be found here: http://ftc.gov/bcp/guides/free.htm.
Types of Programs that Allow Incentivized Offers
Lead-generation programs often allow incentivized marketing. A lead-generation program is one that pays the affiliate for sending through potential sales leads that can then be contacted by the merchant’s internal sales team. There are also many retail programs that allow incentivized offers. It is important to consult your affiliate manager before starting any incentivized campaigns.
The original source for this article can be found at https://www.shareresults.com/pressrelease_detail.php?prid=70.
