A recent virtual goods campaign for Nestle Toll House resulted in more than 1.1 million Nestle Toll House virtual cookies sent, an ad engagement rate of 3% and a 17% purchase intent lift of 17%.

For users on Facebook who participated in the campaign that translated into more than 4,300 photos uploaded.

The campaign, developed by AdNectar, inserted Nestle Toll House branded cookies into the catalogs of top Facebook applications. As people sent them, an interactive frame customized with their photos appeared in their news feeds.

Friends would download the photos and send their own as the campaign widened.

The Latest

Nestle is the latest company to use virtual goods on social networks to build up a real world, and in this case, quite established brand. Other examples include 3M's virtual goods marketing campaign to promote its Privacy Filters product line, another Ad Nectar campaign.

The company also developed the Malibu Rum launched a "Get our Island On" themed marketing campaign in which more than a dozen different types of drinks were featured on several different social applications on Facebook.

$1B and Counting

The virtual goods industry is on track to become a $1 billion business this year, and is expected to grow to an estimated $1.6 billion in 2010, according to a report last year by editors at InsideFacebook.com and Serious Business.

The growing popularity of virtual goods represents a new opportunity for online marketers to generate practically overhead-free revenue while marketing their brands and services to consumers spending increasing amounts of time on social networks and with other Web 2.0 tools.