According to Paparo, there are two myths in the marketing world about widgets:

First, the myth that widgets mean free advertising. Not so, writes Paparo, who states that “widget creatives still need to be developed by design professionals and updated by content professionals. Contrary to what your client might think, your branded widget isn't going to 'go viral' tomorrow without a lot of help. Expect you and your team (or agency) to work harder at the soft aspects of social marketing than they ever have buying media or tracking impressions and clicks.”

Additionally, a widget can't just be a repurposed advertisement, he states. It needs to capture and hold the user's attention, which means “developing developing branded content that compels them to accept and share with others. Sounds a lot like good web development, and it is,” he states.

Second is the myth of completely losing control of the brand when using widgets.

“Face it, your brand is already out of your control. That's the take-home of the whole social revolution. Consumers have become producers and they want to produce value around your brand whether you like it or not. Of course, you need controls to turn off a marketing widget on specific sites, or when they run past dates of relevance, but these are readily available. If you can't deal with a degree of loss of control, get out of the widget kitchen and go buy some banner ads,” Paparo states.

To read Paparo's full column, click here.