Tapping our hunger for Facebook Credits
Ifeelgoods' Silverman on Facebook Credits [Video]
Facebook Credits prove a lure for Shoebuy
Posted on April 7, 2011 in Press
Ifeelgoods wants to help you get your Facebook Credits fix.
by David Sims. Originally published on O'Reilly Radar.
The winner of the Startup Showcase at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco last week wants to make a business based, in part, on their understanding that people want Facebook Credits but don't want to pay for them. Ifeelgoods, which describes itself as a virtual goods platform, helps companies offer Facebook Credits as incentives for trying or buying.
Scott Silverman, co-founder and VP of marketing at Ifeelgoods, says the offer is enticing because, like shipping, virtual currency is something that people want but don't necessarily feel is worth paying for. "You look at the demographics of people who are playing
," Silverman said in a phone interview, "and it's people who are controlling household spending." These social gamers start playing free games and "they get wrapped up in it, they want to advance, but it's uncomfortable for them to spend money [on Credits]." But if they can find a way to get those credits "off budget" as it were, they'll go for it.
To test their theory, Ifeelgoods ran an A/B test of ads on Facebook — ads targeting shoppers, not necessarily gamers. One ad offered $5 off a purchase at an Internet shoe retailer and an identical second ad offered 50 Facebook Credits, worth the same cash value. Silverman says the clickthrough rate was double on the ads that offered credits. Their theory: when presented with a chance to earn credits for doing something they would do anyway (buy shoes), gamers grab them.
Read the full coverage on O'Reilly Radar: Tapping Our Hunger for Facebook Credits