What is RSS? Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary (RSS) finds and gathers headlines and snippets of content (both text and multimedia) together with their links from across the web. RSS content management software organizes these feeds by topic, and sometimes category. Users select the topics they want to read about through a news feed, either installed on their computer or through an online service, such as delicious (which I use through my Yahoo! account) or newsgator. Then you can have the service deliver the latest news of current interest to you to your email. Here’s a list of RSS readers and aggregators.
By subscribing to an RSS feed, you can stay up to the minute with industry buzz. RSS is a great tool for market research and competitive analysis. If there’s a news or blog storm brewing, you’ll be among the first to know about it.
By syndicating your content through RSS, you’re creating a viral niche marketing opportunity – with a virtually unlimited ability to be linked by any number of subscribers or sites. As a promotional tool you can
Feature your news aggregator button on your site. Put an RSS newsfeed on the news section of your website, and news sources interested in your topic may find you even if you never send them a news release.
Unlike email marketing, the opt-in is built-in.
RSS is spam-free, so you don’t have to worry about your information getting blocked.
What’s more, you can pick up fresh content daily to add to your site, since copyright on shared content has been cleared by the posting source. Timely commentaries direct from your website or blog, if RSS enabled, create more exposure for your company.
You can find those who’ve bookmarked a topic you’re interested or engaged in. And then add them to your network and share bookmarks back and forth. Sites where you frequently post and to which you link may feature your RSS link — so it’s a great link building tool. With a bit of dedication, you can become an industry insider in a topical circle on the web.
The Ultimate Niche Marketing Tool
The beauty of RSS for marketers is that your prospect is already receptive to your message. RSS allows the user ultimate control over how and when they receive information, which can comethrough their TiVO, iPOD, text message, satellite radio, and other consumer-controlled media. In fact, RSS is increasingly
interactive: Yahoo! Shopping allows users to create lists of products they like or don’t like, and distribute these lists via RSS. So, although it’s a bit of a double-edged sword if your news isn’t necessarily good news, marketers who are on their toes can really tune into their customers.
American Life Project found that 6 million Americans use RSS aggregators for online news in 2006. Slashdot.org, a leading edge technology blog, showed that 73 percent of its existing RSS users intend to increase their RSS consumption this year.
Ready for RSS Advertising?
Advertising embedded in RSS feeds is a hot topic. You can find case studies on Pheedo and other web analysis services. Pheedo as well as FeedBurner and Syndicate IQ provide RSS Metrics. You can get statistics on the daily circulation, activity, advertising stats and the number of requests for your feed.