With the economy in the doldrums and Valentine’s Day right around the corner, this year millions of cash-strapped lovebirds are expected to take advantage of cheerful and inexpensive Valentine’s gifts on social networks.
The popularity of virtual gift-giving on Websites such as Facebook, MySpace, hi5 and Bebo continues to grow as more users send or receive a birthday cake or holiday drink to celebrate real life festivities. These colorful little icons represent big business. Social networking users buy hundreds of millions of dollars worth of virtual gifts each year for the same reason they buy real gifts for loved ones – because it’s the thought that counts.
While virtual gifts often cost anywhere from $1 to $10 or more, Offerpal Media enables gift givers to send these same gifts for free by allowing them to earn the required virtual currency in exchange for taking part in targeted advertising offers such as surveys, discounts and free trials.
This Valentine’s Day is sure to see a high volume of traffic on social networks, with users scrambling to connect with friends and loved ones online, hoping to stand out by sending along a personalized virtual gift.
Here are a few of our top picks for the best Valentine’s Day applications this year:
Valentine’s Day is a huge event on the consumer calendar and we don’t expect to see anything different on social networks. Our publisher partners have come up with some fantastic gift ideas, and with the economic downturn putting the squeeze on consumers’ wallets, we predict virtual gift-giving will be a major trend this Valentine’s Day.
Filed under: virtual economies
