DIGITAL MARKETING
RSS on the horizon and rising
09-01-2006
by denise cox
RSS is a fascinating technology which presents an excellent opportunity for companies to review how they're currently using e-mail to communicate with customers and prospects, and how RSS can fit into a company's communication channels. Part I covers what RSS is and II looks at its effective use.
What is RSS?
RSS technology allows people to subscribe to receive content from websites (and blogs) when it is published. It also gives content providers the ability to syndicate their content so that it appears on a number of websites. (More about the technical aspects of RSS, and software available.)
It's very early days for RSS. According to a recent Fast Company article, Pew Internet & American Life Project poll found just two percent of online households in the US say they use RSS. Subscribers are early adopters, journalists and bloggers. (Compare this figure to e-mail, which is one of THE most popular uses of the internet - 91 percent of US internet users use e-mail regularly.)
Despite the current low pick up on RSS, businesses are already starting to include feeds in their offerings. Jupiter Research found 30 percent of magazine websites and large companies have begun offering RSS feeds on their sites. The New York Times has seen page views stemming from RSS feeds increase 342 percent from March 2004 to March 2005 - without specifically marketing their RSS feed. Feeds are also a popular way to deliver new postings on blogs to subscribers.
Without resorting to my crystal ball, I predict once people can use RSS without having to know any technical aspect of it, and don't have to download anything to receive the feeds, RSS will be a popular communication channel.
E-mail and RSS: It's not either/or - it's what and how
Dr. Dolittle's two-headed llama Push-Me-Pull-You deftly illustrates the difference between RSS and e-mail. E-mail is push (you send), RSS is pull (content pulled in by a recipient's feed software.) Rok Hrastnik, who has published a terrific eBook on RSS, provides a further overview of the relationship: "Newsletters (and blogs) are 'the what' - what you publish online - the content side. RSS and e-mail are 'the how' - how you get that content or information to the reader."
Here's a broad strokes comparision between the two channels:
Control - With e-mail, the subscriber hands over their e-mail address and the publisher is in control. The publisher also has the ability to ask for more information from the subscriber to build a user profile. When they want to unsubscribe they follow the process provided - generally one click. With RSS, the subscriber stays in control. They select and sign up anonymously to feeds, and decide how often they'll check them. When they no longer want to receive the feed, the subscriber simply deletes the feed.
Layout - RSS feeds are generally delivered as individual items/articles, each one including a title, brief descriptive text, sometimes a graphic, and a link to the web page for the full feature. HTML e-mail can deliver a carefully crafted, branded e-mail newsletter, which includes all the relevant items/articles in one missive.
Delivery - Currently RSS is enjoying a clear path to the recipient as there are no filters issues (yet). The deliverability of e-mail has been a challenge in recent years, though one that has been met head on by legitimate e-mail marketers.
Statistics - E-mail has the ability to provide highly detailed statistical data from mailings. RSS is beginning to have very general statistics available - through Web server log analysis, using third party RSS trackers and per-user generated RSS feeds.
In the second part of this article I'll give you some ideas for using your content effectively in both RSS feeds along with your e-mail marketing.
Further reading
Rok Hrastnik's Unleash the Marketing & Publishing Power of RSS eBook
MarketingSherpa's RSS in Reality: Not a Replacement for Email - Metrics & Best Practices
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