Its not enough to just create great content anymore. The world of problogging and social marketing is much more crowded and competitive.
Multi-channel syndication is absolutely necessary. A “channel” that is increasingly bringing eyeballs and subscribers is the ad widget. (Not to be confused with Wordpress widgets.)
Recently, DoubleClick invested in this advertising channel by launching widget advertising within their core ad serving platform. These “Widget Ads” enable media and creative agencies to integrate a viral component into any campaign. This technology allows consumers to “snag” or “grab” the ad and place it on their personal homepage, blog or social network page.
According to Ari Paparo, vice president of advertiser products for DoubleClick: “Widget Ads provide audiences with the ability for self-expression and identification with well-loved brands while providing marketers the benefits of virality and engagement along with the measurability of traditional online channels.”
We have already touted the power of ad widgets in creating a viral marketing campaign. Our post on SproutBuilder explained how to get started creating widgets and then syndicating them with the networks linked to SproutBuilder like Gigya.com. This step by DoubleClick extends the interest and importance of widgets and will surely make widget even more familiar and shareable with consumers.
So, the real social marketing trick is to create a widget that intrigues your core demographic so much that they are compelled to “grab” or “share” it. This is no easy task but certainly worth some investment of time or $$. Imagine the power of a viral bit of code that “lives” on the personal homepage, desktop or blog of your core audience. That is an absolute home run in the world of social marketing.
The type of widget that goes viral will probably not be a flash style RSS feed of your blog or “feedplayer”. No, you are going to have to be much more creative than that. In fact, the main purpose of your widget will need to be something very entertaining or highly functional. Something that will feel “exclusive” or “novel”.
Your branding comes in at the bottom of the widget with a small, graphical “sponsored by” statement. This subtle “ad” builds your web presence without souring your audience which allows the clever content on your widget to shine.
And this leads to massive widgetication.
Related Posts From Other Great Blogs
Do you Know Where Your Widgets Are?
Light Speed - Blogger Widget
WikiPatents Widget!
You have reached the public welcome page for the private Product Launchers Group hosted at Jack Humphrey’s Social Marketing Central community.
…established March 12, 2008.
Give me a minute to do a bit of strategic thinking and I will update this page with a Mission statement for the group worthy of The New York Times.
For now, I know the following about Product Launchers:
The group will remain “by invitation only” and could be limited based on activity
The group will focus on product research, development and launch strategies & techniques
The group won’t be a buzz group
The group should be a testing ground and testimonial source
The group may receive free copies of the products hatched here
More to come…
I am sure you know by now that Microsoft is making overtures toward a “takeover” of Yahoo!.
What would this mean to the future of Yahoo! and Microsoft?
My opinion?
Simple: The best and brightest at Yahoo! (who have stuck around during the recent stock slide & turmoil) will take their windfall of earnings created by the takeover and finally skadaddle; leaving Microsoft with a rather large, disjointed mess of software and services to untangle.
However, what’s most interesting about the combination of these two household names are the fantastic mashups the media will use to descibe the corporately conjoined-twins.
MicroHooSoft! seems like a shoe-in…
But, of course, we can’t overlook those already offered by Vindu at San Jose Mercury News: Microhoo and Yahoosoft.
How about YaMicroHoo or, my favorite, MiYaCroSoft!…?
What could the stock symbol be? Perhaps MSHO or, even better, YAMS!
Your Opinion
C’mon, I know you want to add to the mayhem that will ensue if Mighty Microsoft buys Yahoo!
What do you think?
Should I race over to GoDaddy and register MiYaCroSoft? How will this merger affect the average net user? What will it do to PPC? Is Google worried? What will the media call the merged mammoth? What tags should I have used for this post?
Let us know below…
An amazing new online service just demo’d at DEMO.com that could have big syndication & social marketing implications.
While quite a few shiny new Web 2.0 companies have offered up ways of building widgets that can be shared on blogs and social networks, the new service called Sprout Builder is something extraordinary!
Watch the short video from the CEO of Sprout Builder onstage at DEMO and see if you think this thing rocks!
P.S. If you happen to have connections with anyone on the Sprout Builder staff, I am seriously interested in a Beta invite! (…hint, hint…)
If you are an authority site owner, a “blogger”, an eBook author, an online lead generator, an affiliate marketer, or anyone else that depends on web traffic for ultimate success, you may be interested in this.
I am promoting Jack Humphrey’s brilliant new Social Power Linking course so, if you are afraid that my powerful copy will mesmerize you and extract your credit card from your wallet, you may want to look away.
Would you like to know how to build a digital “funnel” that has a mouth as wide as the internet and a nose as small as your web site?
Imagine…
A traffic funnel that collects qualified prospects from the most active parts of the web and sends them spiraling down onto pages you’ve earmarked for massive traffic.
Is this hype?
For some…. YES!
The fact is anyone can build a “traffic funnel” but… in this case… SIZE DOES MATTER!
Most advice you get on generating prospects, leads, opt-ins, etc. is being shared by someone whose collective experience and funnel “diameter” is not that much greater than yours.
Why not learn from the dude who actually introduced the internet marketing community to “authority site building” and who owns dynamic membership sites with hundreds of members whom he’s taught how to funnel BIG traffic to their little sites?
As many are beginnning to relaize, social marketing is HARD. Getting started can eat up hundreds of hours. The mistakes and misdirections that most newbies make can delay the first sale… the first profitable campaign… and the first day as a full-time internet marketer for months.
As you build your blog or web site, why not build your BIG “traffic funnel” at the same time.
Save hundreds of hours, reach success in a few weeks, rather than months or years. (or worse - i.e. never)
For more information, head on over to Social Power Linking for the full explanation.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
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