Ohai! Virtual Goods Are Not Just For Gamers
Former Charles River Ventures VC and now CEO of ohai, Susan Wu, gave a great presentation at Le Web in Paris earlier today about the market for virtual goods.
She pointed out that 70% of Tencent’s annual revenue of $1bn comes from the sale of virtual goods. Faced with minimal opportunity to monetize via online advertising in China, the company chose a different path. Considering that advertising is on the wane at present, many companies would do well to follow Tencent’s lead.
You can watch Susan’s presentation below, and I encourage you to do so – for me these closing words from her are a great call to action:
If your users are interacting or building relationships, you can monetize via virtual goods.
Your community will participate, with or without you.
Find ways to capture the passion from ‘verbs’ – behaviors users are already participating in.
