New media marketing across available digital platforms can do many exciting things, from encouraging discovery of television programs, to assisting with the viewer’s scheduling of their favorite programs, to simply generating buzz through sharing and community. But while those are all crucial elements to a program’s success, their correlation to the nitty-gritty math behind actual tune-in is often vague at best. A new widget aims to bring it into focus, sharpening both a platform’s ability to facilitate tune-in, and marketers’ ability to measure it.

The essential function of Dijit Media’s Reminder Button, as the widget’s name suggests, is to let networks and online TV providers remind their viewers when a given show is about to start. It’s a simple solution to a complex problem: “People see promotions for new TV shows and movies that look exciting, but forget to actually watch when the premiere occurs,” Dijit co-founder Adam Burg said in a statement. “We built the Reminder Button to help regular TV fans never miss a show they want to watch, and kept it very simple for them to use.”

Networks or online TV providers who license the Reminder Button – which already include BBC America, truTV and Fox – can easily embed it in any website, mobile app, banner campaign or social network promoting a specific series, and customize it to reflect their branding. When a user clicks on it, they are prompted to register for Dijit’s iOS app, NextGuide, though all this entails is providing an email address or Facebook profile (though viewers new to Dijit, may wish to explore NextGuide, which is an intriguing discovery platform in its own right). The user will then begin receiving reminders 30 minutes prior to the live broadcasts of subsequent episodes. The Reminder Button can also notify viewers when a show becomes available on a digital avenue such as Netflix or Hulu.

The Reminder Button extends the reach of a digital TV marketing campaign all the way into the viewer’s inbox, and does so with the ease and subtlety of Facebook’s Like button. But Dijit’s real innovation may be its ability to measure the widget. The company’s detailed analytics offer broadcasters insight into the viewers signing up for reminders and tracks how many of the subsequent reminder emails are opened. Dijit CEO Jeremy Toeman believes this feature can help clients predict ratings for upcoming shows, which could be almost as valuable as the ratings themselves.

“It completely changes our dynamic,” Toeman said. “We now have a direct-response mechanism with users that tracks intent to watch.”

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