RSS Marketing: Time to review.
A friend of mine at a software company was lamenting the trouble with email marketing, and how spam has caused an extremely low click-through and open rate. Whether trying to email his own list of customers - which is one of the most cost effective ways to increase sales and get conversions - or renting/buying a customer email list from firms like eMarketer or WebProNews. The results achieved from email marketing just don’t cut it anymore. I reminded him to tap into his RSS subscribers, and to find new was to leverage RSS for marketing.
For bloggers, it’s something to be taken for granted. But for most businesses, RSS marketing is the often forgotten component to new media. Blogs and social media get all the buzz, and finding creative ways to leverage your blog, or blog technology are frequently ignored due to the “set it and forget it” nature of many business blogs. RSS marketing is one of the biggest reasons to implement a business blog - whether it’s an externally facing tool for reaching potential customers or the CMS for your intranet page for existing customers - using RSS to build communication channels to customers or prospects is the MUCH more effective way to reach customers.
RSS can be used for lead generation, PR, direct marketing, creating links for SEO, and it’s a great way to completely eliminate the need for email marketing to your customers. RSS, when done correctly, can help stoke two way communication with customers and generate ongoing interaction with your customers. It’s a great way to build dialogue with customers once they purchased.
As an addition to your PR efforts, RSS can be a great way to deliver new content to the market. Why not release the newest case study via RSS, as well as traditional PR for more direct distribution. E-commerce sites have taken to RSS feeds for customers who are currently shopping for specific products, and it’s become a brilliant delivery mechanism for coupons and discount codes. (I sheepishly admit that my gadget obsession and recently acquired digital SLR purchase have driven me to sign up for a number of retailers RSS feeds.)
With an endless list of feed readers (Google Reader, Netvibes, Cullect, Pageflakes) and no need to worry about spam filters, we would probably all prefer never to have to open email again. I hate that if I don’t get an email confirmation the same day I typically have to call and tell people to pull email out of their spam filter. (I understand it, but it drives me crazy.) Best of all, RSS frequently leads to content being distributed beyond your initial list. A recent analyst report shows that 85% forward links to articles or content found through RSS feeds. I’m sure unless it’s pictures of kitties that number is much smaller for email.
There is plenty of information on RSS marketing available on the web, and a few companies out there with legitimate expertise in the field. As you review which of your marketing efforts can be improved, don’t forget to review your use of RSS marketing.
Tags: RSS, RSS-benefits, rss-marketing