This post wasn't meant to be a soapbox for why you need a widget strategy. That's been broadcast numerous times and there's even events dedicated to all things widgety.
But before leaving the pulpit, I will reinforce that if you or your clients aren't exploring the ways to distribute content via widgets, you're missing out. Sharing and syndicating information via web snippets doesn't seem particularly revolutionary at first, but dissect things a little more and you'll find it encompasses some of the fundamental things that we talk about everyday on the web. Simple things like giving users control of content to larger notions like telling your client to they need to act more like a media company. Yep, all embodied in widgets. So when I noticed a few slick renditions from Real Time Matrix (for Social Media Today) and CoBrandit (powered by SpringWidgets), I thought I'd pass along a friendly reminder why they're important. Some are obvious, so bear with me.
- Facilitates content distribution. (remember when you had to send content to webmasters and the IT bottleneck?)
- Ensures brand integrity. It's the easiest digital billboard you'll ever create.
- Highly portable and mobile-friendly. Great newsletter and email marketing add-ins.
- Feeds users' habits of consuming bite-size chunks of micro-content.
- Zero maintenance as content is automatically updated via XML and RSS feeds.
- Drives blog and RSS subscribers.
- Social Network (SoNet) ready content that's easy to integrate and publish to.
- They're a poor man's enterprise mash-up.
- You don't need a "Dummy's Guide to Widgets" to create them.
Technorati Tags: widgets, RSS, social+media+today, real+time+matrix, cobrandit, XML, mashups, social+software, syndication, content management
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