This post has been contributed by ViralBlog via CBN

In this item you’ll be able to learn all about the power of viral widgets, what brands are using widgets and what do widgets cost?

The didgeridoo is a wind instrument of the Indigenous Australians. Didgeridoo is sometimes described as a natural wooden trumpet or “drone pipe”. Musicologists classify the didgeridoo as an aerophone.

I would classify widgets as: online tools, applications or instruments that can be created, embedded and spread easily by internet users. As social media specialist, I see widgets as a great opportunity for brands to play a whole new ’sound of music’ in the social media space. That’s why I would like to introduce the term: “Widgeridoo”.

The Nissan Live Traffic Widget is a smart way of building brand identity using a software application that can be embedded in e.g. a Facebook page or downloaded to a computer desktop. Also facilitating and smart: the Kraft Foods Recipe Widget.

Other widgets that work? How about music, games and entertainment widgets? How about utility widgets like: personal finance calculators or world clocks? Indeed more advertisers build brand awareness and engage consumers with their own widgets. Take a look at Google’s Gadget Gallery (gadget is another fancy name for widget) or Yahoo! Widgets.

Nearly 148 million people in the United States, viewed widgets in November 2007, according to comScore. MySpace widgets had the largest audience with nearly 58 million viewers, followed by Slide.com at 39 million viewers. The measurement service separately tracked Facebook applications; the most popular application there was “Top Friends,” by Slide with nearly 20 million viewers.

What do widgets cost? Advertisers looking to hire a top-of-the-line digital ad agency like Digitas can expect to pay $50,000 to as much as $300,000 for an elaborate widget that uses Flash, says Clickz.

Which MarComm goals can be achieved with widgets? Widgets can be used to build brand awareness or to serve an assortment of marketing objectives, from traffic to lead generation.

Widgets can also contain video, viral commercials, a music video with an interactive playlist and more. Compelling widgets can spread viral and fast around the globe, at no media costs at all. What’s your opinion about widgets? Do you believe in widgeridoo?

Source: Clickz