Staying on top of new online technology is daunting and overwhelming. Last night, I was talking to a friend about Spongecell’s ‘Add to Life’ tools, to which she confessed it took her months to integrate GCal (Google Calendar) into her life. As a marketing professional, she was able to recognize the value in a marketing agnostic platform like Spongecell’s, which allows consumers, customers, and website visitors to select the information that is most relevant to them, and seamlessly bring it into their lives. Unlike Google calendar, aiming to convert every customer into a GCal user, this platform allows users to add to their outlook, google, ical, whichever is comfortable and already a part of their life. If they’re texting savvy, they can send themselves an SMS reminder, and if they belong to social networks like Facebook or MySpace, they can share it with friends.
The platform provides facility to the end user, which makes marketing more successful in the end because you’re not forcing a user to sign into Google to add something to their calendar, but inviting them to bring that data into their lives, in a way that is relevant to them. As my friend summed up quite simply:rather than force feed one technology on your consumers, you encourage them to sample the buffet, and choose what’s most appealing.
