Everyone loves a reward! They work whether you’re training a dog, persuading your kids to study more, or executing a mobile incent campaign. Gaming apps have known this for years. They use in-game rewards to get players to watch ads or take other desired actions, and players regularly say they love the win-win nature of these rewards. Incent campaigns come in many different forms and can drive user acquisition for a wide variety of apps. Incent networks are a key piece of the puzzle for making rewarded ads work for your app, so let’s explore.

What is an Incent Ad Network?

Incent Ad Networks are ad platforms that sell incentivized inventory, where users are rewarded for completing an ad action. In other words, they are the ad networks serving you the rewarded ads in your favorite game. There are typically two types of ads. First, there is the traditional offer wall, which rewards users for installing or completing an action in the app, but the reward is generally external to the app. On the other hand, there are rewarded videos that usually give users in-game currency (or another in-app reward) for watching or interacting with an ad shown within the app.

Pros and cons of incent traffic

Rewarded ads have one major advantage: they are very popular and effective. Udonis reports that 76% of mobile gamers in the U.S. prefer opt-in rewarded video ads over interstitial ads. Perhaps even more importantly, players who watch rewarded video ads are six times more likely to complete in-app purchases.

However, rewarded ads don’t lend themselves to every app category. While they work great for gaming apps, and we have had great success with fintech apps and incent campaigns, they are not always a fit for every app. Typically, you need to be able to offer the user a reward, like a free first ride or $50 for setting up a direct deposit.

Tips for being successful with incent campaigns

We have found that the objective of a campaign typically matters more than the app’s vertical when running an incent campaign. For instance, when installing volume or driving up app store rankings is the priority, incent campaigns can be an important part of your toolbox. (Check out this case study for details on how we drove a 365% increase in click-to-event conversions.) Meanwhile, ROAS and LTV tend to be lower for down-funnel metrics for offer wall campaigns. Generally, though, rewarded ads offer a good balance between low CPAs and decent ROAS.

Want to learn about how incent can be part of your media mix? Contact FeedMob today.