Spring contacts, whether solid core or stamped sheet metal is currently the main method employed for electrical continuity between connectors & flexible LED strips. There are also the 4-pin insert variety (which are gold plated) but require the female socket to be soldered anywhere a termination connection is desired
Although there are a few connectors out there that have a sharp point which partially punctures the strips pads/layers for a better bite at the cost of some wear and tear on the strips.
Gold plating the pads on LED strips is practically unheard of in the consumer electronics world.
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There's just not enough money in them for that. Perhaps in aerospace applications, but these strips don't sell for enough to warrant such an upgrade. If the pads wear out, then the strip gets replaced.
Unless you're talking about mixed metal reactions., although I've had white LED strips in parts of our office running for ages on the same old cheap compression pin connectors, they had a nickel allow in them if I'm not mistaken.\
Power injection is possible with LiTTT™ Snap! connectors, it's already part of the design. Pigtail connectors can be added to any connector - anywhere in the net, that is to say - at any point down the line to reduce voltage drop over long runs.
I've also got the designs of the PCBs modified sufficiently to help out a little in that regard. Thanks for the input so far, I honestly do appreciate it. It's been a fun project and we're looking to improve the design in any way that matters in the long run.
http://kck.st/2z5hhzw