E-commerce : The New Landing Page
Widgets just might be the ultimate targeting tool
May 2008 By Thom KennanWell, now we have a rationale. The reason widgets have become so important to digital marketers is this: Any campaign based simply on the premise of driving targeted consumers specifically to your brand, product Web site or landing page will fail.
Think of your own online habits. How often do you find yourself browsing a Web site that you've never been to before? If you're like me, the sad answer is, "Not much."
But now think about how often you find yourself on your favorite blog, or checking up on your friends on Facebook or LinkedIn. Maybe sounding off on a sports, finance or parenting forum. So, if our customers and potential customers are anything like us, when they're online they are likely somewhere in the digital wild, not on our brands or product Web sites.
When imagining, planning and developing your next integrated campaign, ask yourself: If I have a really compelling offer or powerful reason for a consumer to clickthrough, where is the best place to find those prospective clicks? And what's the best way I can target and capture those coveted clicks?
Good marketing is essentially about well-timed, well-placed and well-positioned interruptions. Hopefully these are relevant and meaningful to those we're interrupting. Figuring out how to time and place these moments of meaningful interruption is what we do for a living. So how does including a widget in your campaign add value to the overall success and, especially critical, ROI of the campaign?
What Widgets Are
Think of a widget as a little Web site or landing page that is capable of living, traveling and sustaining in the digital wild, untethered by your Web site and hosting environment. A widget is nothing more than a contained piece of functionality that should pass only one significant test in the eyes of your targeted consumers: Is it something they want to spend some time with?
Your brand homepage is about everything on the shelf. Your landing pages, ideally, are all about a focused, offer-driven fulfillment environment. The goal is to provide just enough messaging support and calls to action to achieve a simple goal: a lead, a sale or a registration.




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