Kudos to those that are opening up their personal lives for the world to see on social networking sites. These brave (120 million) individuals have paved the way for a new marketing platform. They have filled out profiles about who they are and what they like. They have even allowed other users to track their whereabouts. In a world where most people are worried about “Big Brother”, it’s shocking that 120 million people are willing to lay it all out there. But as a marketer, I must say “all the power to them”. They are arming us with the tools needed to be successful in a world of media fragmentation.

A site called Twitter has been getting some press of late for their social networking platform. As described on their site, Twitter is:

“a global community of friends and strangers answering one simple question, what are you doing? Answer on your phone, IM or right here on the web.”

Users can post a message of where they are and what they are doing at any moment throughout the day, which will then ping their assigned friends with a text message on their mobile phone, their IM, or within the Twitter interface. Twitter is just one of several services, including Dodgeball.com (owned by Google), that combine instant messaging, social networking and wireless communication. With Dodgeball, you can also login with your mobile phone to locate friends within a 10-block radius. Another feature includes something called “crushes” that is borderline stalking that tells you when friends are in the area.

When I first saw these sites, I was perplexed. I try very hard to screen my calls to keep my whereabouts sacred. Social network users are opening up their diaries on a minute-by-minute basis. On Twitter, users are creating postings such as “I am waiting for a train” and “I just got done eating a doughnut”. They are questionably annoying and useless bits of information, but when I look at this from a marketing perspective, it’s absolutely great! The opportunity is there to geo-target a campaign down to a 1-mile radius, and rent a list of those that like doughnuts! How about when you’re within 10 blocks of a Starbucks, you receive a text message to come in and get a free sample? Or, what if your alma mater sent you a message about an event two blocks over? It seems intrusive, but some of these things are happening already. What’s different here is that by purchasing a list through Dodgeball or Twitter, you can select the coffee drinkers from the non-coffee drinkers, and target better. You can almost do this same thing on MySpace. MySpace has loads of useful information about their users. YouTube is attempting to do the same thing.

As social networking begins to take shape, the opportunity to market to these users becomes very intriguing. It means marketers will need to be creative and nimble. They will need to adapt and customize their strategies. Buying a list of 50 names might seem unworthy, but what if those 50 people are within walking distance of your storefront? Would you want to attract them if they already established themselves as a customer? Are they more valuable than those who are unknowns? I don’t have the answer yet for you, but it’s worth finding out.

Posted by Nick Bartolomeo at 08:34 AM
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There are many ways to build brand awareness on the web for products or services. Some of these online initiatives include banner ad placement, search engine marketing, blogs, email campaigns, microsites, etc. The online opportunities are becoming endless in today’s digital age. The difficult task for marketers is to not only keep up with the countless interactive trends that unfold everyday but to also determine which ones to implement. Well, here’s another one to consider…Web Widgets.

I recently read an interesting article about the wave of widgets on the web and how more and more advertisers are investing money in this new marketing medium. Web widgets are applications that have some useful purpose, such as giving weather updates, a “to do list” connected to Outlook, stock updates, or the time in China. These widgets are being used as desktop applications that connect via the Internet. The power of the desktop widget is its seamless integration with the desktop interface. You can drag and drop, click, and interact without ever having to launch a browser. If you have visited Google or Yahoo lately, you can find user-generated widgets that are customized and often obscure. For example, you may find a widget for the Texas Lottery.

While most widgets are being developed by the general masses, you can also find plenty that have been created by companies. Marketers have taken advantage of this new craze to brand their product or service on widgets. Widgets give marketers the opportunity to stay in front of consumers in a unique and effective way without having to be too obtrusive. A lot of times people will download a particular widget because they like the interactive features that it provides, regardless of who the advertiser is. The advantage for the advertiser is that as users are downloading and interacting with your widget they are being exposed to your brand at the same time, whether the consumer realizes it or not.

To take it a step further, companies have turned to developing large scale widgets or Branded Desktop Applications, to further reach their audience.

Below are a list of companies that are successfully utilizing this medium to increase brand awareness and interaction with their target audience.

WeatherBug: amongst one of the most popular branded desktop applications, users can download WeatherBug to receive free weather and traffic information. Marketers have the option of placing an ad within WeatherBug so that when consumers look for weather and traffic they are being exposed to your brand at the same time.
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Purina: this tiny box alerts pet owners when it is good dog walking weather in your area. Purina is providing useful information while also staying in front of its target audience- pet owners.
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Westin Renewal: sponsored by Westin hotels, this widget provides consumers with a daily personal renewal tip. Westin is promoting a healthy lifecycle while strategically promoting their brand at the same time.
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Target: this branded desktop application allows you to count down the number of days to a special event, like a holiday or a birthday. Target successfully uses this widget to subtly sell their services by linking out to a gift finder section, Target’s pick of the day, and their weekly ad.
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Widgets are just one of many online marketing techniques that exist today. I think the challenge for marketers is going to be to keep up with new trends and, more importantly, decide which ones are the most effective. While a branded desktop application may be the solution for one company, a banner ad may work better for another. Like I said, the opportunities are endless in today’s digital age. There are so many ways to market online; figuring out the best way to be there is the difficult part.

Posted by Keri O'Connor at 04:29 PM
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Rarely do you get a second chance, but its happened again. Close to ten years ago the web began to develop into the land of opportunity. Many made fortunes, many more lost their shirts. At the time it was a new and unproven frontier. Today, ten years later, it’s mature, stable and ripe. Did you learn from your mistakes the first time around? Do you still kick yourself for the missed opportunities? Most importantly, are you ready to capitalize on the web now?

It’s time to develop a next-generation website, if you haven’t already. It’s time to drive targeted, focused traffic to your site and track the effects through analytics. It’s critical that your offline marketing and online marketing look, feel and sound the same. It’s important that you let your online marketing begin to lead your offline marketing – because it offers a more immediate and immersive experience than any two-dimensional medium ever can.

Don’t blow it. You’ve worked too hard to gain your position. It’s even easier for Davids to overtake Goliaths this time. The web is faster, less expensive and even less predictable this time around. Opportunity is just around the bend...if you're open to it!

Posted by Anthony Campisi at 06:30 PM
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