“Pre-set Button Mindshare” and the iPad

(Note: This post assumes that the iPad, and devices like it, will become a new platform for people to receive content. It might not happen, but it’s important for your organization to think about how to deal with it, if it does.)

Twenty years ago, our car radios had 5 pre-set buttons. Most of us picked our five favorite stations, programmed them, and never listened to anything else.

Now, along comes the iPad, with its home screen full of icons. And that’s a huge opportunity for small organizations who create their own application for the device. Because those home-screen icons on the iPad will effectively serve as station pre-set buttons. If the iPad becomes a new platform for consuming media, it will be the best opportunity ever for your company or nonprofit to grab “pre-set button mindshare,” alongside the millions of other options offered to consumers on the Web.

Of course, you don’t need to be a pre-set button for everyone in the world. The real value is in being a pre-set button go the 100 or 1,000 people who mean the most to your organization. So the trick is to decide what those 100 or 1,000 people want to receive from you so much that they’re willing to give you a place on their home screen.

The amazing opportunity of an iPad application is that it will reduce friction between you and those important people. Less friction for you to push content to your audience. Less friction for your audience to consume your content.

Creating an application to deliver your content goes a step beyond creating content for a mobile Web browser. You’re not simply making your content available. The idea is to encourage your audience to give you one of their pre-set buttons, and then earn their trust by delivering valuable stuff. That “stuff” is what I’ll address in my next post for this series.

(This post is part of a series about how the iPad may play a role in the communications strategies of small organizations.)