Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is used primarily by tech savvy subscribers who are very active online. In short your target audience for everything from Consumer Electronics and Online Games, to Arts & Entertainment and Travel. The possibilities are endless.
RSS can sometimes sound intimidating to marketers, but it's simply a standard for publishing regular updates to web-based content. Using this standard, branded Web publishers as well as influencers who have personal blogs or podcasts provide news headlines, product reviews and buy recommendations. Consumers use RSS reader applications (or one of a growing number of online services) to collect and monitor their favorite feeds (or content published through RSS) in one place. Thus, RSS makes reviewing a large number of sites in a very short time possible.
Online direct marketers who want to reach consumer electronics and PC buyers online can now easily include RSS advertising as part of the marketing mix. Read on to find out why it works, and how to make your ads most effective.
Three Reasons Your Prospects Use RSS (and not search on your website)
RSS users are tech savvy, and so the anonymity and user control inherent in RSS feeds is highly attractive to them. While it's argued that reading RSS feeds REPLACES other online activities like search and website visits some say that it actually increases online activity. However it's a much more focused site visit where the overall exposure to other forms of advertising may be limited. But the good news is, marketers can still reach them through targeted RSS advertising.
1. RSS is easy to consume. With all of the content in one place, it's easy for RSS users to scan through each feed's items and see which deserve further reading. The fact is, many RSS-savvy consumers do not visit websites or do online searches for product info and comparisons. They rely on their feeds and selected influencers. These influencers may be recognized publishers like the NY Times or PC Week, but they could also be individuals who publish product reviews and recommendations. The good news is that advertisements are placed around content that is relevant to your marketing message, regardless of source.
2. RSS easily organizes and stores non-urgent content. Consumers are in a different frame of mind when they read RSS feeds, just as email is a different environment than search. The good news for marketers is that the frame of mind is all about information, research and understanding. So consumers rely on their RSS feeds to keep important product news and comparison shopping data handy for when they are in-market.
3. RSS gives control to the user. For the most part, RSS feeds are anonymous and privacy is completely protected, a very attractive feature for the cynical tech savvy consumer. Since only requested feeds ever appear, RSS allows users greater control over their online experience.
Four Ways to Reach RSS Users Effectively
Besides offering your own content through RSS feeds, marketers can leverage RSS feeds as an advertising channel. The medium is already using standardized text and graphical banners, so it's easy to develop creative specific for this medium. Employ these four tips to get the most of your RSS advertising.
1. You're in when they are in. Take advantage. Since RSS feeds are used for activities like product research and comparison shopping, many users collect and save information for use when they are ready to buy. Thus, RSS offers not just reach, but recency: an ad when and where the reader is involved with content. Ads served in RSS feeds are content-targeted. The advertiser's message or ad is displayed based on specified content channels like electronics, business, to health and wellness and travel - to name a few.
When subscribers read their feeds that match advertiser's specified channels, the content-targeted ads appear. Some clients have started to explore new and innovative ways to use their advertising space to add value to the consumer experience - offering comparison charts, pricing discounts or editor's picks that speak to the frame of mind of the reader.
2. Start a conversation. Develop creative approaches that extend the RSS reading experience by using descriptive, conversational ads. This takes advantage of the users' RSS mindset, and gives you a chance to differentiate your brand and products without other advertising clutter. Test headlines like, Here's a story of how two guys got completely different deals on a new entertainment center. Or, Three gamers explain why our software is essential for winning. Or, Diaries of dudes on holiday.
