Ifeelgoods: Creating digital promotions that work for both the retailer and the customer

The holiday season is almost here, and retailers will soon be putting out all the offers, discounts, coupons and deals they can offer so as to lure customers into their stores. When one store screams “Half Price,” another will shout out “Buy One Get One Free,” and as a result, shoppers will, no doubt, be finding it hard to choose from this cacophony of retailers. More importantly, how far do you go with such discounts? Too much of a good thing is always bad, and overkill with these kinds of promotions can destroy the brand’s value as well.

This scenario is something that every retailer worries about: when every one of your competitors is putting out their best deals just like you, what can you offer that would give you an edge over the others? Such traditional offers have become so common that customers have either become almost immune to them, or, worse, they choose to spend only when such offers come into the picture, which would ultimately hurt the company or brand in the long run. So the question most retailers are asking is this: is there an alternative?

Enter Ifeelgoods. This startup company partners with retailers and marketers to put out promotions and offers that are digital in nature, as opposed to traditional but staid ideas like coupons, discounts, etc. In an increasingly digital world, such offers make a lot of sense—customers would be treated to virtual goods and virtual currencies that they can use online or on their social media networks. For instance, customers can be rewarded with Facebook credits, Skype minutes, Xbox games, Itunes apps and much, much more--there are over 100 options in the Ifeelgoods rewards catalog.

Michael Amar, who calls himself “a lifelong entrepreneur with deep roots in ad technology,” is the co-founder and CEO of Ifeelgoods. According to Amar, the Ifeelgoods brand of digital promotions offers two main advantages for marketers wanting to connect with their customers: one, these promotions are significantly cheaper than traditional alternatives and two, in a world where social media has become part of everyday life, these digital campaigns are also much more effective than traditional ones.

Amar says that his company’s platform enables brands and retailers to deepen their shopper marketing strategy by adding richness to the interaction they have with their customers and fans. By doing so, companies are able to ignite passion among customers, which deepens customer-brand relationships and drives them to action. Ultimately, it is this passion that works in the digital age—when people find a promotion that they find appealing, they share it with their friends and networks, allowing the brand to reach out to more people.

The proof of the pudding is, however, in the eating, and Amar is happy to showcase the “incredible” results that advertisers have seen by using his company’s services. “When an online retailer tests a 10 percent off and free shipping offer against an Ifeelgoods digital reward offer of equivalent cash value, they are seeing double and triple the CTR, 30 percent or more improvement in conversion rate, and a significant earned media channel from the 60 percent or more of shoppers that share their success with the offer,” Amar says.

With numbers like that, it’s not a surprise to see why more than one hundred companies have partnered with Ifeelgoods to reach out to their customers. Their clients include several big names like Wal-Mart, Coca Cola, Universal Pictures, Meijer, Renault and more, and with its selection as one of the four finalists of the Gap Shopper Marketing Challenge in ad:tech’s Startup Spotlight series, Ifeelgoods hopes to not only win the challenge and get the ad:tech Innovation Award, but also to add Gap to their list of clients very soon.

Thanks to Ifeelgoods’ proven track record in powering promotions with their brand of virtual goods, Amar is confident about his company’s chances in the competition. “We feel certain that the consumer experiences our platform enables will not just complement but supercharge the promotions Gap is already running and wants to be able to run in the future,” he says. “We can grasp where they would like to go in their shopper marketing strategy, and our proven technology will be the way it gets done.”

To learn more about Ifeelgoods, check out their site: http://www.ifeelgoods.com

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