A presentation done by Rob Stokes on how iGoogle Gadgets can be used by marketers.

1. iGoogle for Marketers by Rob Stokes CEO Quirk eMarketing

2. What is iGoogle?

3. Google’s personalised home page

6. A fun video…

7. Gadgets?

8. Also known as widgets, badges, modules, webjits, capsules, snippets, flakes and plug-ins

9. On iGoogle, they are called Gadgets

10. Gadgets are like small web pages which can be embedded on other pages

11. They can consist of HTML, Javascript, CSS, Flash, Silverlight, etc.

12. Basically anything possible in a web page is possible in a gadget

13. Gadgets are easy to develop and share!

14. What’s really cool about this?

15. You can write once, run anywhere

16. Anyone can take your gadget and embed it in their site or iGoogle page along with your brand message

17. Quick fact:

18. 1997, Trivia Blitz was the first widely syndicated widget. It was a Java game applet built by uproar.com as a mechanism to drive traffic to their site

19. So why use gadget technology?

20. Because they use standard web technologies

21. Scalable

22. Cross platform

23. Free hosting and bandwidth

24. Gadgets can be used in many places

30. So why are you here?

31. We want to introduce you to the world of gadgets from a marketing perspective

32. Why should you be thinking about gadgets?

33. Masses of eyeballs and interactions for your brand!

34. Some gadgets get millions of page views each day

35. Engaging your customer online is no longer restricted to your website

36. Your brand now needs to be on their turf in a way which suits them

37. What’s the most commonly viewed page on the internet?

39. Now 1 in 5 US visitors to Google are seeing this:

41. iGoogle is Google’s fastest growing service!

42. iGoogle is not only a marketing tool, it is also useful to marketers

43. It offers instant dashboard capabilities

46. Many third party marketing applications have iGoogle gadgets

48. You can even get the gadgets to interact with each other to form a full application

50. So what makes a good gadget?

51. Much like any customer engagement tactic, it must deliver timely and relevant value to the user

52. Provide useful information or services

53. Extend functionality or information already provided by a web property. I.e. BrandsEye.com

54. It should localised wherever possible I.e. SA Weather Vs. Weather

56. South Africa’s most popular gadgets

60. Lets see some of them in action…

61. Things to consider when developing gadgets

62. Relevance

63. Stickiness

64. Functionality

65. Usability

66. Design

67. Make your content locally relevant

68. But also offer multiple languages through your gadget

69. Keep your content FRESH – update at least daily!

70. Be fun – style counts!

71. Be a good citizen – don’t ask for too much info and respect the info users give you

72. Above all ask yourself the question… “ What will make my gadget remarkable?”

73. Marketing your gadget

74. Firstly make sure its remarkable!

75. Then syndicate it on your website or blog with an “add to Google” button

76. Also submit your gadget to Google and other third party directories

77. How do you rank well in the gadget directory?

78. Like the main search engine, the results are algorithmic

79. Factors in this formula include:

81. You can set the following metadata so make sure its keyword optimised

83. Other marketing considerations:

84. Size: if its too big, users will delete and that will hurt your ranking

85. Test: speed and functionality – users will delete gadgets that are slow or broken

86. Choose the right category – Google will auto assign one if you don’t specify

88. You can even aggregate gadgets and offer a full iGoogle tab as a service to your customers

90. Measuring Performance

91. Weekly page views are displayed in the directory

92. You can also use Google Analytics or most decent analytics packages

93. Gadget ads

94. A rich and interactive new ad format using the same technology as iGoogle gadgets.

95. Once again, they are like mini versions of your website in any Adsense ad size

96. Can incorporate live data feeds to increase relevance and value

97. Ability to reach over 75% of unique internet users in more than 20 languages in over 100 countries

98. Different targeting options: contextual, site, geographic, demographic

99. Priced on a CPM or Adwords auction CPC model >NO campaign charges!

100. No serving or hosting costs!

101. Full analytics and interaction reporting

102. A great gadget ad example:

104. “ Using Gadget ads has led to additional conversions at a significantly lower CPA” Bettina Feil, Marketing Manager, Lastminute.de

105. A few more examples…

106. Lets get practical….!

107. Some final notes…

108. Wits gadget competition: (UCT Vs. Wits) Will the students beat the pros?

109. Entries in by 31 st October

110. iGoogle Version 2 incorporates the Open Social API so you can make your gadgets social…!

111. Editors picks: email us ->gadgets@quirk.biz

112. Thank You