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　　Here's a look at a few ways your brand can take advantage of the users you're currently not talking to。
　　
　　How much is your brand missing out by not employing a widget strategy？ There's no easy answer to that， but since comScore starting tracking an audience of close to 300 million users， most brand managers have that itchy feeling like all their users are watching a TV channel that they just can't get space on。
　　
　　Luckily， brands that haven't gotten in on widgets or mini-apps are closer than they think。 Keeping the premise simple and the audience discourse in mind provides surprising amounts of lift in all kinds of places， which those experimenting with the medium are enjoying with great frequency。
　　
　　So let's take a look at just a few of the ways brands are making a measurable difference in the space； ways your brand can take advantage of these hundreds of millions of users you're currently not talking to at all：
　　
　　Micropayments
　　
　　

　　Typically thought of in terms of social media and online gaming， quite a bit of attention was paid to micropayments at SXSW Interactive recently。 After all， it's a big way Facebook is paying the bills right now， and a bigger way that a lot of Facebook application creators are paying the bills。
　　
　　For those not in the know， micropayments mean offering something of value for one or two dollars。 It seems counter-intuitive to spend time on it as a brand because the amount paid is so small。 But here's a hook： With micropayments usually comes an audience comfortable with saving their credit card information for one-click quick transactions。
　　
　　You're essentially making a dollar into a click， which becomes easier for the user every time they do it。 After all， it's just a dollar。 Why not？
　　
　　A lot of the micropayment action is happening right now in virtual gifts （more on this in the next section）， and virtual items for avatars in multiplayer games。 Along the way， they're already generating tens of millions of dollars in revenue。
　　
　　But Facebook isn't the only platform taking micropayments all the way to the bank。 Even though they've gotten the most press because they've taken this notion to the social media set， you can't overlook the way that iTunes has completely revolutionized the entire distribution model of music with micropayments。
　　
　　Both of these ecosystems depend completely on the convenience of widgets。 Without desktop applications tied to the internet， or web-based widgets providing intra-platform ease-of-use， the door is open。
　　
　　It's easy to think of an album split into tracks and sold individually， but what about higher-priced items？ Thankfully， all these users have accounts -- accounts that are unique。 Because of this uniqueness， you can stack micropayments together， like coupons， collecting them until you're able to make a purchase。
　　
　　A teenager may not have the hundred dollars he needs for the hot new sneaker， but he does have， on average， 115 friends on social networks that wouldn't think twice before sending a buck in a click to help their friend get to the sneaker promised land。
　　
　　
　　So the question asked of brand managers now is， "What do you make that can be split into smaller objects？"
　　


　　This could be an entire series of articles unto itself， but virtual gifts are today's "Too Good to be True" story for interactive marketers。
　　
　　The premise is utterly simple： Create a small icon that people can save somewhere on their social networking profiles。
　　
　　As simple as the concept sounds， sending people small icons is generally untracked as an overall trend， but it's $15 million a year if you're Facebook （report by Lightspeed ventures）。 Balloons， care bears， images of drinks？if it sheds a sliver of light on someone's personality or relationship， it's often worth a click and a buck。
　　
　　The Lightspeed report shows a tremendous disparity between free virtual gifts and their dollar-costing compatriots。 Their bit of tracking shows free gifts given in the hundreds of thousands， as virtual gifts costing a dollar going at the snail's pace of a few hundred a day， with demand usually driven seasonally or around holidays。
　　
　　From a brand perspective， both scenarios are a win。 Give a free gift， as Axe has done with the "do not disturb" door-hanger-looking virtual gift， and a few hundred thousand folks will show them off to their entire network of friends。 Charge a dollar and give audience members the feeling of exclusivity within your brand， and get hard return on investment for your development costs。
　　
　　Put in the context of a widget， your brand can become a virtual gift hub。 Every gift （if given "publicly；" gifts can also be given so that only the sender and the recipient can see them） not only posts to the recipient's profile， but to the pages of all the people in their network as an update。 Best of all， it uses resources you already have in place。
　　
　　Your strategists have already outlined all the psychographics that tell you what perceptions your audience members hold to help define their outward-facing personas。 Your designers are constantly coming up with ways to explore those perceptions visually。 Make a widget with a sharable selection of icons that can be transferred to any number of social platforms， and watch the engagement take off。
　　
　　The fact is， people love collecting and sharing these trinkets， these artifacts of their personality and friendships。 And your brand becomes the conduit for this emotional connection。 Naturally fun and viral， when paired with micropayments， there's no end to the revenue and brand-building possibilities。
　　
　　Engagement
　 　
　　　　Don't groan。 Yes， engagement is the cliché du jour to describe all kinds of good audience interaction。 However， clichés don't become clichés unless everyone has accepted a certain universal truth about them。
　　
　　One shining example of widget engagement comes from an unlikely spot： the University of Illinois， Chicago。
　　
　　Initially looking for an efficient digital communications channel， as any locally based campus would， the athletic department pushed its chips onto a widget strategy that has paid off exponentially。
　　
　　Again， the concept is simple： a slideshow of sports action， sports news tickers， a button to play the fight song on demand， and links to buy gear or tickets on the UIC website。
　　
　　Creating a Flash widget that can be posted to just about every social media platform as well as desktop platforms like Apple's Dashboard， UIC received more than 100 percent ROI even before launching。 And just showing the comps to sponsors garnered deals with AT&T and Adidas。

　　　　Since launch， the response has been astounding。 Thousands of people from all over the social media map have installed the widget。 In the first month alone， it garnered more than 10，000 interactions。
　　
　　Even more impressive is the engagement。 Month to month， the average engagement time per user is 22 minutes。 You did read that correctly。 Every month the audience for this widget spends as much time with it as they do a network television show。 What's the production budget for 22 minutes of televised programming？
　　
　　Awareness
　　


　　Over at Gogo， we've got a brand that's launching and positioning itself as the nation's provider of Wi-Fi internet to commercial airlines。 As a new brand， it's in need of engagement and exposure。
　　
　　Working with partner agency Upshot， Gogoinflight。com features a game in which you're a cell tower beaming beautiful Wi-Fi signals to the planes overhead。
　　
　　This widget also continues to pull new downloads every single day， creating an advertising network of advocates money simply can't buy as effectively。 To the delight of everyone involved， Gogo has given early adopters and evangelists a convenient tool to spread the word， with Gogo maintaining complete control over the messaging -- and fun -- as they quickly build equity with the people who mean the most to these early months of the brand。
　　
　　But as any brand-launching marketer knows， frequency is crucial to establishing brand recognition in these media-saturated times we live in。 On average since launching the widget， on every game-play， the Gogo gamer is exposed to 80 branded messages。
　　
　　An added benefit of this widget strategy is understanding where the audience "lives" online。 Initially， the thought was that the most play would come from the major players like Apple and Facebook。 While these two monsters certainly earn a good share of the interactions， the largest groups of downloaders and active users are actually coming from hi5 and friendster。 This is incredibly valuable insight to strategists looking to plot the future of the brand's interactive channels。
　　
　　There are great things happening all over the world of widgets these days， clouded by the fog of terminology and， well， basic awareness。 But there's gold in those hills。 All we need to do as brand strategists is to look for simple ways to engage users on their terms。
　　
　　The return， at the very least， is valuable insight on user habits， using the very same talent you're currently employing to make banner ads and microsites。 At the very most， you'll be creating a network of advocates pushing engagement， awareness and significant revenue with every click of the mouse。
　　
　　If there's one takeaway I hope you act on， it's just to get involved。 Sign up on these networks。 It's free to check them out and fun to experience。 Just being polite and interested will help you to discover new insights and tactics to activate your audience that you won't find any other way。
　　
　　
author：Michael Leis