Since the dawn of the web in the mid-1990s corporations generally built big web sites and then activated a marketing campaign on larger sites to drive traffic. As the web shifts from a static, unidirectional world where their own content is king to a more participatory one where conversation reigns, it's time to rethink this strategy.
The reason for change is that a quiet conflict is brewing. Marketers, eager to turn their focus to brand engagement, naturally want their consumers to spend more time on their own sites. So, they are creating ways to empower consumers to talk to each other. This can take a myriad of forms from message boards to blogs to full-blown communities and so on. Unfortunately, consumers may not have the time to pay mind. They are busy setting up residence in massive galaxies where they can find people like themselves. These include communities/centers of gravity like MySpace, blog networks, Flickr, digg, Second Life and so on.
The solution is what I call Picture-in-Picture Marketing. It's the online equivalent of the feature that's common on any modern television set. Basically you create a miniature version of select snippets of these large communities inside your own site. Then, you share your content the same way in reverse - e.g. create widgets that people can use to decorate their online homes. TypePad's Widgets are basically a Picture-in-Picture Marketing platform.
Every online strategy discussion today should include Picture-in-Picture Marketing. Think about not just the content or the community you're creating on your own site, but how you can make that conversation attractive to others to embed in their own blogs, social network presence pages and more. At the same time don't ignore the broader conversation. Tap into select cuts and integrate bits into your sites.
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