The Widget is Back!

For so long just a term used to describe a general product, Wigets are now destined to have a life of their own. But what will it look like, what is a Widget?

Well, Widgets are little pieces of content or tools which are designed and provided by a third party. They are used on bloggs, personal sites and on profile pages. The widgets can be either static or animated according to your preference. Some widget providers have tooled areas online where consumers can access, share and even create their own widgets.

Widgets seem like good fun but in fact they are actually a very clever way of advertising. Widgets are uploaded onto sites by the consumer as opposed to being pushed on the consumer by the marketer. It can give the advertisers access to arenas it would never have accessed before.

Many marketers have recognised the increasing power of the widget and on 13th July 07 a ‘Widgetcon’ was held in New York City. The conference was specifically aimed at engagement marketers and those wanting to be part of the widget revolution. As a result of the conference the ‘WMA’ (Widget Marketing Association) was formed which brings together agencies, brands, publishers and widget companies. Members of the WMA currently include Clearspring; comScore; Freewebs; Gigya; Gizmore; Goowy; Yourminis; rockyou and Widgetbox.

It has been said that 2007 is ‘The Year of the Widget’ and it is a topic that all marketers will have to explore if they want to keep up with the rest and continue to connect with their customers.

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