游戏邦注：本文原作者是Super Rewards高管Bobby McFarland，他在文中总结了社交游戏虚拟商品和货币促销打折的五种有效手段。

打折销售已为网络和实体经营使用多年，旨在获得客户、推销产品、提升品牌忠诚度并大大增加盈利。对于社交游戏内的虚拟货币和商品而言，类似的方式已被证实相当有效。下文将列举某些可供社交游戏发行商使用的打折技巧，使投资回报率（游戏邦注：下文简称ROI）最大化并让玩家更深入地参与到游戏中。

City Life(from socialtimes.com)

1、虚拟货币打折分级

现已证实，将打折分为不同级别能够保持用户的参与度，尤其是那些所谓的“硬核”玩家。Facebook游戏《Country Life》在这方面做得很好，玩家支付5美元可换取50金币，10美元换取105金币，20美元换取220金币。不过一旦这些直接付费比率（或兑换比率）定下，便很难在不影响用户的情况下做出改变，因为他们已习惯这个价格。但有商家顾虑玩家花越来越少的钱买到更多的东西。尽管如此，这只是个假想出来的问题。今天人们的资金更为充足，他们购买东西的数量超过实际需求，而且花费速度也比预想的要快。多年来，实体商店畅销的大袋圆筒短袜和家庭装产品已证实上述说法。Super Rewards提供了简单的工具，用于构建此类动态比率。

维持直接付费盈利和广告盈利间的平衡以避免蚕食游戏收益也非常重要。比如，直接付费每10美元兑换100金币，使用Netflix方式每20美元兑换100金币，这种做法毫无意义。而且，应该注意到的是，这可能会导致货币通货膨胀。可能用户每花费1美元就有平均125金币流入游戏系统中，而不是你所期待的1美元100金币的比率。

2、设定合理的兑换比率

发行商和开发商越来越多地使用多变量和A/B测试来帮助其设定打折程度和货币兑换比率。Super Rewards正同开发商展开合作，帮助其制定准确的测试模型，以更好地理解用户在各种情形中的行为。我们鼓励开发商在游戏设计中使用测试技术，这样才能不断改善用户体验并使ROI最大化。在兑换比率上，许多游戏开发商抱着“设定后就随之而去”的心态，凭感觉设置数值。虚拟货币也是一门科学，需要用事实来做决策，而不是感觉。除了A/B测试工具外，Super Rewards Game Advisory Team甚至我们的客户经理也可以提供相应的帮助。

zynga-yoville-superrewards(from insidesocialgames.com)

3、用双重货币来缓解通货膨胀

随着时间推移，即便是合理的打折和兑换比率也无法完全避开通货膨胀，这也是有些游戏开发出两种货币的主要原因。这种模式能够发挥作用，因为随着新老玩家等级逐渐上升，它会诱发他们不断购买货币。这种模式也会改善用户留存率，提高游戏综合体验，为发行商源源不断地带来盈利。《Mob Wars》是个实行双重货币的绝佳范例。1级用户可以开心地用10美元购买1万金币，而30级用户可能每天通过农场便能够赚取10万金币。确保让每个等级的玩家都能产生不可抗拒的价值取向，让双重货币在相同价格下向玩家提供更多金币。

4、根据假期或特殊事件开展打折活动

对休闲玩家来说，虚拟货币打折（游戏邦注：如商品全面让利20%）也很有效。尽管这种“全面让利”打折比上述分级打折更具易变性，但它们能够对盈利产生巨大的推动作用。假期（如圣诞节、黑色星期五、复活节和独立日）以及特殊事件是发行商开展此类打折活动的良机。比如，《Galacticos Football》在世界杯球赛期间打折，时间通常为1到2天。这里需要注意的是别让玩家“等待”打折之日的到来。如果他们知道每周日会打折，就会等到周日才买东西。不可让用户明白打折比例和开展活动的规律，保证打折活动的不可预测性。普通销售只能带来些许盈利，其效果远远比不上打折活动。

5、限时促销或供应虚拟商品

吸引玩家的最后一个简单有效的方法是在短期内打折销售某些虚拟商品，通常将时间定为1到2天，有时甚至只有几个小时。对于像《魔兽世界》之类的角色扮演游戏，或《Pet Society》和《FarmVille》等目标在于随时间收集物品的游戏来说，这是最为有效的办法。在《FooPets》中，玩家会发现商家为自己最喜爱的虚拟宠物提供打折水箱或皮带。设置某些特别稀有的道具，只供应几天时间便取消或让其过期，这种做法通常会让盈利上扬至日常值的3到4倍。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

5 Tips for Using Discount Pricing to Maximize Revenue in Social Games

Bobby McFarland

Discount pricing programs have been used for years by online and brick-and-mortar businesses to acquire customers, promote products, drive brand loyalty, and materially increase profits. Similar programs have been proven to work extremely well for virtual currency and goods inside social games. Below are some discount pricing tips that social game publishers can use to maximize ROI and more deeply engage their players.

1. Tier Discounts for Virtual Currency

Creating different tiers or levels of discounts is a proven way to keep users engaged, especially for “hardcore” gamers. The Facebook game Country Life does a good job at this: gamers can pay $5 for 50 coins, $10 for 105 coins, $20 for 220 coins, etc. But once these direct pay ratios (or exchange rates) are set, it’s difficult to change them without irritating users who’ve grown accustomed to the pricing. One concern is that players will spend less when they get more. But this is a well-debunked myth. People will buy more than they need today, have a flush account, and then spend it all much more quickly than they intended. Brick-and-mortar stores have been proving this for years with massive bags of tube socks and ‘family-sized’ portions. Super Rewards provides simple tools for building these types of dynamic ratios.

It’s also very important to balance the payouts received from direct payments with those received from advertising offers to avoid cannibalizing offer revenue. For example, it would not make much sense to offer 100 coins for $10 via direct pay if the payout from a Netflix offer is $20 for 100 coins. Also, note that will cause some currency inflation as now you may have on average 125 coins going into your system for every dollar a user spends instead of your expected ratio of 100 points per dollar.

2. Set Proper Exchange Rates

Publishers and developers are increasingly using multivariate and A/B testing to help set their discount levels and currency exchange rates. Super Rewards is working with developers to help them set up accurate testing models to better understand user behavior in various scenarios. We encourage developers to build testing technology into their game designs to continually improve user experience and to maximize ROI. Many game developers have a ‘set it and forget it’ mentality when it comes to their exchange rate and use a number that they initially ‘felt’ was right. Virtual currencies are a science: go with facts not feelings. The Super Rewards Game Advisory Team or even our Account Managers can help with this, in addition to A/B testing tools.

3. Reduce Inflation with Dual Currencies

But over time, even smart discounts and exchange rates cannot completely escape inflation, which is the main reason why some games have developed two currencies (more details, here). The model works because it motivates both new and aggressive gamers to continue buying currency as they climb different levels. The model also improves user retention rates, enhances the overall game experience, and drives sustainable revenue for publishers. Mob Wars is a good example of the dual currency model in action. A user at level one will happily buy 10,000 coins for $10. A user at level 30, for example, may earn 100,000 coins a day on their farm. Make sure there is a compelling value proposition for all levels of players. This is where a dual currency easily allows you to offer more coins for the same price.

4. Tie Currency Discounts to Holidays & Special Events

Virtual currency discounts (e.g., a 20 percent off “across the board”) are also effective, particularly for casual gamers. While these “across the board” discounts are more volatile than the tiered discounts above, they can produce significant revenue spikes. Holidays (e.g., Christmas, Black Friday, Easter, 4th of July) and special events are good opportunities for publishers to offer this type of discount. For example, Galacticos Football has tied its discounts around World Cup soccer events, generally for one to two days. A pitfall to watch out for here is having players“wait” for a sale. If they know every Sunday is discount day, they will wait until Sunday to buy. Mix up the discount percentages and their frequency. You don’t want to be predictable. Having a sale will likely cause a dip in revenues as people ‘stock up’ on sale day, but the dip is always much less than the spike.

5. Discounted or Limited Time Virtual Goods

Finally, another simple but effective way to engage gamers is to discount virtual goods for short periods of time, usually one to two days or even for a few hours. This is most effective for role-playing games like World of Warcraft, or games where the goal is to accrue goods over time, such as Pet Society and FarmVille. In FooPets, you can find discounted water bowls or leashes for you favorite virtual pet. Having an ultra-rare item that is only available for a few days and then is no longer available or expires can often see spikes in revenue of 3-4x your usual daily rates with little residual revenue down turn effects in the following days. (Source: Inside Social Games)