Targeted and disciplined media planning is essential to successfully leverage widgets. Move beyond their novelty by incorporating a few basic strategies.
Call them what you will -- widgets, gadgets, wadgets, minis or whatever else the industry drums up. The bottom line is that these "things" (we'll call them widgets in this article) have created an enormous buzz in online media. And for good reason. Widgets represent a powerful means to connect advertisers with a mass of users, in the spirit of increasing customer loyalty and, ultimately, revenue -- but only when deployed smartly.
Widget defined
First, let's establish a basic understanding of widgets. Technically, "widget" is the common term for a portable chunk of code that can be embedded on any web page to add utilities or content that is not static (e.g., a news feed). Functionally, widgets have gained popularity as a way for websites to enhance the user experience, particularly on the rapidly growing number of social media sites, by allowing people to add, share and create information relative to their interests.
While the industry has seen a handful of successful installations with scale (e.g., maps, weather, calendars, horoscopes, music, etc.), widgets have created -- thus far, in one person's humble opinion -- more noise than value. If media companies don't take a more disciplined approach around widgets, we will see their novelty wear off like many other innovations. That said, there still is a tremendous opportunity to move beyond the hype and deploy widgets in a manner that truly enhances your brand and the user experience.
Start by focusing on the following basic media planning strategies:
Thoughtful concept development
From the onset, it's important to clearly define your widget and its role within your broader media mix. Often, widgets are deployed without much consideration for their true business value. When developing your widget strategy, adhere to the basic tenets of media planning: timeliness, frequency and relevance.
Like any strategic planning, start by clearly identifying your target audience, first placing yourself in your customers' shoes and then in your brand's shoes. By no means is this a new concept. Yet you'd be surprised by how many widgets are developed that don't gain significant traction. Ultimately, you want your customers to answer "Yes!" when asked if they would place your widget on their profile page. In fact, it wouldn't hurt to conduct a customer survey or poll to that effect.
Next, before moving forward with any widget development and deployment, address the question, "How can I leverage my audience needs to create an affinity with my product, service or brand?"
Below are guidelines on how to add value for your users through widgets:
- Save them time. Deliver the information that users want and seek out on a regular basis by personalizing their experience (e.g., "Remember Me" and "My Preferences") and creating frequency (e.g., stock quotes, weather reports, election results and so forth).
- Save them money. Offer promotions that entice them based on their interests, wants and needs. For example, PETCO might consider offering discounts on a pet-related site, while Patagonia and Sidestep target lifestyle sites.
- Reinforce the relationship. Let users know you care by consistently delivering fresh, relevant content. For music junkies, this might be concert ticket promotions and memorabilia. Or scoreboard tickers and schedules for sports enthusiasts.
- Entertain them. Offer light content (e.g., videos, event coverage, movie trailers) that they can digest quickly -- when they have time.