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The Reality of Really Simple Syndication
Target Marketing Magazine
Irene Cherkassky, senior editor
Get the right message to the right audience at the right time has been a long-standing mantra in direct marketing. Now, marketers have another tool to consider as they reach for that goal: RSS (real simple syndication). RSS is an XML format (akin to HTML-type tags) designed for sharing Web content. News sites such as CNN, CNET and Forbes, among many others, already are making heavy use of this technology to share their latest content. Anything from events listings to project updates to corporate information or even discussion forums can be shared via this relatively easy-to-use, real-time information vehicle.
Not surprisingly, RSS is starting to catch the attention of savvy marketers. "There are a lot of opportunities with RSS," says Reid Carr, president of San Diego-based Internet presence management firm Red Door Interactive. "From a very tactical point of view, you can distribute press releases via RSS and get them directly into editors' and writers' inboxes." B-to-B and consumer customers also can choose to receive the latest news and product information from a marketer by installing its RSS feed in their inbox, making for a personalized and relevant experience, and serving as a useful customer service tool.
The ability to publish information once and have it disseminated in many different places--to any site or individual who wants to accept the marketer's RSS feed--is one of the tool's most attractive features. Carr says, "It's going to be able to provide people with information in the place they want it, when they want it, and ideally, in the most accurate format, because it happens immediately and is controlled by the source that has the appropriate information." It's also a way to avoid providing customers or prospects with links that may die at some time in the future, such as when the marketer redesigns its Web site. "You can use RSS to send out an automatic newsletter that you never even have to touch," adds Carr. "You just hit 'send' and the feed pulls all the most recent stuff, [such as the] most recent product updates -- it's automated."
Early adopters, says Carr, already are using this tool to distribute newsletters, PR releases--even as a way to continually update portions of their own Web site. However, time will tell just how popular and ubiquitous RSS will become. In direct marketing, measurability is essential and expected. The good news is RSS is starting to become trackable. Carr says, "There are technologies such as Feed Burner and a few others that are going to start allowing you to track where your feed is going [and] which ones are being opened." This will help marketers prove the value of their RSS investment. "I think tracking will be one of the most important things to help people overcome the barrier of implementing [RSS]," says Carr.
He also points out that since the technology is relatively new, there's still a good deal of education involved. "A lot of people are not familiar with how to install a feed reader, for example," he says. "So it's helpful to let people know, 'Hey, if you want these RSS feeds, install a feed reader [and] here's a number of feed readers you can use,' and provide people those resources. As it stands now, RSS is actually helping people get to readers, delivering the content directly to them and then putting it in e-mail, on the Internet, extranet [and] your Web site."
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