Freewebs' Chris Cunningham details the current widget landscape and explains how you can use this new tool to build your brand.
"The revolution will not be Televised, it will be Widgetized" proclaims technology blogger Dave McClure. Like many, Mc Clure is thrilled with the creative nature of widgets and the amazing success these extremely viral applications are having in bringing people together and creating engagement in social environments.
At iMedia's recent brand summit at Coronado Island, Freewebs VP of Sales Chris Cunningham took the audience through a blazing and provocative look at the widget landscape. He not only shared a framework from which to understand widgets and some powerful examples, but he also offered seven best practices for marketers using widgets.
As a seasoned online advertising executive, Cunningham believes passionately in the power of the widget for marketers and told the audience that "Widgets represent the purest form of word of mouth marketing online."
So what are widgets?
Widgets are little applications that allow for content, utility or personalization within their frames; they live either on our desktops via downloads or on webpages. While desktop widgets are for our personal use, widgets on the web can be available for personal or public use. For our personal use we may customize our homepages like iGoogle, and for public consumption we may use widgets on our Facebook or MySpace pages.
According to Cunningham there are three types of widgets:
1.) Content widgets, featuring elements such as Movie Trailers, Games and News all updated via Internet feeds.
2.) Utility widgets, empowering users by providing tools for things like Chat, Commerce, Search and Maps.
3.) Personal widgets, allowing users to customize their own Slideshows, Text Effects, Countdowns and much more.
Why should we care?
Widget usage is exploding worldwide. Comscore reported in April that 25 percent of the internet's daily audience views widgets. Add to this the growth of social networking sites and all the global web publishers like Freewebs that allow users to build sites in minutes, and one can imagine a world where everyone has a widget-powered public site.
Why should marketers specifically care?
According to Cunningham, "Widgets empower brand ambassadors, allowing those most passionate about those brands to pull down their widgets and share." Demonstrating the creative approaches brands are taking, he took the audience through a variety of examples including a movie trailer widget for "Chuck and Larry" and a fun calendar where your head can appear on Mr. Bean's body as you help promote his film. Cunningham also showcased a campaign for adidas where users can share their inspirational stories of "What Impossible Is" through the adidas widget, in addition to shopping. You can see these examples and more on Freewebs' site; learn more about the metrics by contacting Freewebs directly.
How can you make widgets work?
The iMedia audience was clearly interested in distribution for widgets. Here are some of Freewebs recommended outlets for widget distribution.
- Brand property: Clients promote widgets on their own sites.
- Widget providers: The providers promote widgets to widget fans.
- Widget galleries: Thousand of galleries supply widgets to fans.
- Widgets themselves: Each widget itself is a distribution point that a fan can simply click and grab.
While distribution is important, knowing how to succeed with the audience really propels success in the world of widgets.
Here are Cunningham's seven rules for widget success:
- KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid. Make it easy to understand.
- Bring the bling: Your widget has to stand out and provide value. Delight the audience.
- Speak dog: Meaning…speak the language of your customer. Be Authentic.
- Eat your own dog food: Be part of the fun with the audience. Your widget is your brand.
- Color outside the lines: Widgets are a place for creativity and exploration.
- Be contagious: Offer something your audience would like to share.
- Be useful: Offer real value and help to your audience.
As the session concluded with Cunningham encouraging the audience to experiment with their own widgets, one thing was certainly clear: while widgets may be small, they can represent your brand in a very big way.
Vince Thompson leads Middleshift Consulting. Read full bio.
