Archive for July, 2008

Raising the IQ of Widget Marketing

Monday, July 28th, 2008

The allure of the web widget is simple and seductive – the power of technology connecting millions of users with a marketer’s brand. Unfortunately, beneath the luster of massive scale widget marketing lies a costly truth some marketers aren’t prepared to face: depleted budgets with no intelligent ROI because of costly distribution fees.

BrandWeek reports that installation or engagement fees can range from $1 to $5 per widget install. According to comScore, nearly 148 million U.S. Internet users viewed widgets in November 2007, representing 81 percent of the total Internet audience. MySpace.com widgets had the widest audience, reaching more than 57 million Internet users. Slide.com ranked second with 39.2 million viewers. Google.com had the sixth widest widget-viewing audience with more than 19 million viewers. Translation for interactive marketers: These numbers can add up to real cash quickly and drain most marketing budgets.

Internet marketing agency W3i, who has earned a reputation as a Silicon Valley-like company in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, is raising the IQ of widget marketing. Founded in 2000, the Minnesota company built its profitable legacy by giving away high-demand downloads for free through an ad-supported business model. Through Freeze.com and other websites, W3i distributes over 4 million downloads each month. With just 60 employees, 2007 gross sales were $27 million.

Recognizing the opportunity and fear in the marketplace among widget marketers, W3i created a clever way to offset user acquisition and maintenance costs by layering on an additional, ad-supported revenue stream during the download process through a proprietary installation system they developed, aptly called, “Install IQ.”

The way the system works is simple and user-friendly. In short, Install IQ bundles the primary widget download with other high-demand software — like the Yahoo! Toolbar and the Weatherbug Desktop widget. If a user accepts one of these optional offers during the install, the widget marketer makes money – up to a $1 in most cases. To prevent inadvertent installs, Install IQ deploys a unique download manager that allows the user to pause or cancel at any time.

The intelligence inside W3i’s unique installation system continues to impress by allowing for customization, optimization, and suppression. Marketers can leverage their brand equity throughout the entire installation process with images and text. The bundled software offered during installation can be optimized for target marketing. And if the software is already installed on the user’s desktop, Install IQ suppresses the offer and suggests an alternative download. Finally, in an age when best practices in privacy on the Web are carefully monitored, Install IQ holds up under scrutiny by being the first installation system to receive certification in the TRUSTe Trusted Download program.

A number of desktop widget marketers are currently using Install IQ and taking advantage of the high-volume rates W3i has negotiated with top industry partners who are part of W3i’s Download Network.

Case Study #1

An audio and multimedia player deploying Install IQ generated $86,280 in revenue during the first month of use. After achieving such phenomenal success, the online marketing firm representing the software added a dozen more applications to W3i’s installation process.

Case Study #2

A social networking profile editor using Install IQ’s optimization feature increased EPC rates by 33%, install rates by 44%, and CTR rates by 16%, resulting in a 34% increase in revenue.

Case Study #3

A utility software application that speeds up PC performance earned $263,089 over the course of ten months using Install IQ.

Conclusion

With Install IQ, clients of W3i are monetizing their desktop widget channel in an unprecedented fashion, generating meaningful revenue with minimal drain on their internal resources because nearly all of the set up and on-going maintenance is performed by W3i staff. Install IQ also works with any type of downloadable digital content like music, video, and games. With such a unique opportunity now available in so many flavors, you can take the fear out of widget marketing and embrace the future of software downloads.

For more information about increasing your revenue using Install IQ, click here.

About W3i:
W3i, owner of Freeze.com, delivers proven, integrated desktop marketing and mobile marketing solutions. With offers and services tested and optimized on over 15 million unique users each month and over 4 million downloads, W3i can increase your revenue from digital content or provide a receptive consumer base for customized, targeted marketing programs. Solutions include: software marketing for shareware and freeware, software bundling and ad-supported installations. The three Weber brothers, owners of W3i, are recent winners of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2006 Award in the Minnesota and Dakotas region. To learn more about W3i, visit www.w3i.com.

Posted in Company Info, InstallIQ, Press Release, Software Bundling, W3i, W3i Application Network | No Comments »

Viral Marketing: Making Your Message Multiply

Thursday, July 17th, 2008

Not A Deadly Disease

Viral marketing sounds like a disease no one wants to catch. In reality, the outcome for a business can be healthy. Similar to how the flu spreads, viral marketing spreads a company’s message quickly as hundreds or even millions of people become exposed to the business’s brand. Viral marketing uses the power of one customer’s recommendation to another to help spread the word about a product or company. “It’s using social networks to create exponential increases,” said David Hopkins, managing director of the Carlson Brand Enterprise in the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. “People prefer a recommendation rather than an advertisement.” Still, companies aren’t spending millions of dollars to touch those potential customers.

Instead, viral marketing depends largely on the customers who voluntarily pass on a company’s message to their friends and family. Common mediums for a viral campaign are online social networks such as YouTube, MySpace and Facebook. Those social networks are typically free for companies to use. An example of one of the first successful viral marketing campaigns revolves around Hotmail, a webmail service. When Hotmail was launched in 1996, every e-mail sent through the Hotmail system had a tag line at the end, “Get your private, free email at http://www.hotmail.com.” The tag line is unobtrusive to the e-mail recipient and gets a message across in a simple way. Hotmail became an instant hit. Within 30 months of its launch in 1996, it had 30 million members (by 1999), according to Microsoft. Today, it has more than 300 million accounts worldwide. “It’s getting your audience to do your marketing for you. The focus is spreading the message,” Hopkins said.

Bring in the ‘wow’ factor
Not every company’s message can be viral. A key is to find what would make a customer voluntarily pass along the message. “The main thing is understanding the audience and how to stimulate that audience to make the virus spread,” Hopkins said. With viral marketing, a message is passed on quickly and can affect many people. But marketers need to make sure their message can be passed on easily. “You have to figure out a message that people care about,” Hopkins said. “It’s really hard to create it. Everyone wants to do it, but not everyone succeeds at it.” At Sartell e-service marketing company W3i, a recent viral marketing campaign focused on Mother’s Day flowers. It gave out free virtual “bouquet” wallpaper that can be sent to anyone through e-mail. The mission for the 13-person marketing team was to make sure the idea was creative and easy to use. It takes less than four clicks to get the wallpaper on the desktop. “If your grandma can do it, everybody can,” said Lisa Nistler, senior marketing director of W3i. “You have to build for that lowest common denominator.” W3i’s revenue comes from advertising dollars. Users can accept or decline advertising offers during the installation process. Companies are finding that creating a Web site costs little to nothing, but it takes time and creativity to develop a message worth passing on. It took W3i about two months to develop the marketing and to target an audience for its Mother’s Day campaign. It only took about an hour of software development to put logistics of the campaign online. “We focus on captivating content that the user is going to want to share,” Nistler said.

Getting customers to work for you
Although not a requirement, it has been proven that giving something away encourages people to pass on a marketing message, Hopkins said. That free item could range from food to a newsletter full of information. “It’s like a first date, an introduction,” Nistler said. “You are building a relationship with them.” Companies have to study their demographics to see what would appeal to those audiences and make them want to pass a message on. Although the rewards can be great, there are also risks with a viral campaign. A good idea can spread like wildfire. So can a bad one. “The main concern (about viral) is the negative,” said Michael Liebelt, marketing manager at W3i. “It can be very positive, but it can also can do the exact opposite.” As much as people may like the message of a viral campaign, they might not like the content. That could cause unfavorable exponential growth, Hopkins said. Companies have to figure out what distinguishes them from competition.

A shift in media mix
Viral marketing has changed how companies look at spending their marketing dollars. “The shift in advertising in traditional media to online or other marketing tools stems from the younger generation,” Nistler said. There is a need to come up with new marketing techniques to cater to an ad-blind generation that grew up with cereal commercials during Saturday morning cartoons and billboards at every street corner. “They know when they are being advertised to and they are saying ‘Enough, I don’t believe you anymore,’ ” Nistler said.

A national presence

Viral campaigns are becoming a common tool in a marketeer’s tool box. Viral marketing is always changing because of new mediums created to pass along messages and the creativity of the messages, experts say. But it is now a permanent tool worth trying. A viral campaign eventually dies out. Companies always have to be looking forward and ahead to the next campaign. But what might be considered a good viral campaign recipe now may be different in a few years. Part of the reason viral marketing is so successful is because it’s unique and considered cutting-edge, experts said. And like television ads or billboards, people tend to get immune to ad clutter, which makes it a challenge for marketers to come up with the next big campaign. “It’s always changing, morphing, becoming something different,” Nistler said.

For the full version of this article, click here. Article written by Amy Trang, ROI Central Minnesota Magazine.

Posted in Company Info, W3i | No Comments »

NBC Universal to Boost Its Interactive Media Presence Through Acquisition of The Weather Channel

Wednesday, July 9th, 2008

General Electric’s NBC Universal unit should be congratulated for leading a group to bid $3.5 Billion for The Weather Channel. By recognizing the strategic value of adding The Weather Channel to its arsenal of media properties, NBC Universal should be able to close the gap with competitors who have been stronger in a variety of interactive media channels. The Weather Channel has long been ahead of the curve in recognizing the value of creating an integrated, interactive presence throughout the Internet, desktop, and mobile connected world. For example, The Weather Channel’s desktop application which W3i distributes has been one of the most successful desktop widgets ever created, and drives many users back to Weather.com. Other smart media companies like The Weather Channel understand the value of creating an integrated, interactive media presence. One of my favorite recent quotes is one from Jeff Yapp, a top MTV Networks’ digital executive who said “If you watch our shows, you’ll want to live them.” (in Newsweek’s April 14th 2008 article by Johnnie Roberts titled “I want My (Web) MTV”,). Hopefully NBC Universal will fully take advantage of the knowledge acquired via The Weather Channel acquisition, and put this knowledge to use to grow other NBC Universal interactive media properties. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080706/ap_on_bi_ge/nbc_weather_channel)

Rob Weber, Vice President of Business Development and Co-Founder, W3i Holdings, LLC – Rob is an Internet marketing pioneer with over eight, profitable years evolving W3i (owner of Freeze.com) in the Integrated Interactive Media industry.

Posted in Application Marketing Trends, Article, Desktop Application Marketing | No Comments »

W3i Sells Ringtone.com to Atrinsic

Thursday, July 3rd, 2008

St. Cloud, Minnesota, July 3, 2008 – W3i, provider of integrated desktop and mobile marketing solutions, announced Tuesday the sale of Ringtone.com and its assets to New Motion, Inc., doing business as Atrinsic, a premier Internet media and mobile entertainment company.

“In line with our strategic intent to be the market share leader in the Integrated Interactive Media Industry, the sale of Ringtone.com will allow us to focus on our core business,” comments Andy Johnson, CEO of W3i.

W3i’s continued focus is to create digital market places by providing compelling content for users supported by valued offers from clients. Recently it launched its proprietary, Install IQ installation system, to enable ad revenue during the installation process. “Our strategic focus is to continue to develop additional services that enable low cost distribution of quality content and information,” adds Andy.

About W3i:
W3i, owner of Freeze.com, delivers proven, integrated desktop marketing and mobile marketing solutions. With offers and services tested and optimized on over 15 million unique users each month and over 4 million downloads, W3i can increase your revenue from digital content or provide a receptive consumer base for customized, targeted marketing programs. Solutions include: software marketing for shareware and freeware, software bundling and ad-supported installations. The three Weber brothers, owners of W3i, are recent winners of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2006 Award in the Minnesota and Dakotas region. To learn more about W3i, visit www.W3i.com.

Posted in Company Info, Press Release, W3i | No Comments »

Back to W3i.com

Find Out More on How W3i Can Grow Your Consumer App Business

Please complete the form below and a W3i representative will contact you to discuss how the W3i Application Network can grow your consumer application business.