Use Gidgets for Viral Marketing Success

Widgets or gadgets how are they different?Well they aren’t, so why not combine the concept here and stop the confusion, let’s call them gidgets. Now that we have cleared up that formality how can gidgets help with your viral marketing campaigns?Jeff Huber, VP of Engineering for Google explained, “Gidgets are being created using rss, html, flash, and css and gadgets that are open, easy, mashable, packable, portable, and embeddable.” And, “what rss did for content, gidgets are doing for apps.”Ok, he didn’t say gidget, or widget, but we have covered that already.Why is this important? We we know the re-usable pieces, parts and mash-ups are easier to wire together in usable ways. An example of this is the mortgage calculator. When branded correctly, and created with new twists, turns, humor, and/or value—your site visitors may use it (first) and may find it useful or entertaining enough to embark on the journey we know as viral marketing and email it to someone (second), who in turn keeps the fire going and sends it to their friends and hence the virus is off and running, driving traffic like mad.If set up correctly with back-links and not too “pitchy” it can be a very worthwhile exercise. While many say formulas exist for viral marketing using widgets and gadgets, I say it’s all about “strategy” and “testing.” Google has mastered gadgets creation and many companies are creating mash-ups to intermix technology, widgets and gadgets for useful applications.Resources:Check out Ning.com as a platform to build your own.Build your own widgets using Opera.Create a community on your site using KickApps!