Widgets

I know most B2B marketers are paying close attention to new social media trends and technologies. Many of these are easily and obviously useful. Others, however, while practical for personal use, can at first seem less so for the enterprise. I saw this when speaking with JUNOS Jeff about Twitter as I was writing that post, and I also see it in the slow adoption of widgets (gadgets for Mac users) by B2B marketers.

Widgets can be thought of as essentially either RSS feeds of information that use a graphical interface to update users, or mini applications. They’re incredibly versatile and can be put on a desktop, downloaded for use on a Web site or blog, or even added to a mobile device—anywhere a user wants easy access to whatever regularly updated content the widget offers.

So let’s get right to the heart of the matter: how can widgets be used effectively by the enterprise?

First of all, as with subscription-based media, content is king. A widget has to provide information that your customers, potential or existing, will actually want. But what? Some successful B2B widgets that I’ve seen include:

• A widget that takes polls for your sites (e.g., using Poll Daddy ) to find out what people think about a particular topic, then shares the results with other users of the widget
• Widgets created to provide product updates and release information
• On a purely marketing side, widgets used to promote a sweepstakes or contest
• Here’s a helpful list of 10 interesting productivity widgets—some geared toward B2B

Not only can widgets such as these be distributed via social media technologies such as your branded, corporate support network, your Facebook page, or your blog, but there are a multitude of third-party sites like gigya that can also be used to distribute your widget—and your brand.

In the blogosphere, WordPress (based on personal experience with this blog) has widgets for “accessorizing” a blog, including bookmarking, top commentator identification, Pandora online radio, IM status checking, and more. Using widgets like these can enhance the stickiness of a blog, even if the information provided isn’t trained on that blog’s particular subject.

I’m in the process of looking into what widgets have worked best for B2B companies. Does your company currently use them? Do you have any insights to share on the matter? I’m particularly interested in whether any of you have seen good widgets for internal communities. Is this a good idea we should consider for J-Net Community?

Some sites that let you create your own widgets:
http://www.widgetbox.com/