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| BizBits | May 2006 |
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Marketing with RSS and Blogging Technologies |
| There are lots of new obstacles being placed in the path of the internet marketer - e-mail campaigns often fail thanks to new anti-spam measures like service providers blocking and bouncing back forty percent of e-mail marked unread or sent straight to trash. But the marketer moves on: in this case the new high-flyers in web marketing are the Blog and the RSS feed - the web world is buzzing with these new opportunities. The Blog is nothing more than a web-based diary, a page or entire site where the owner and guests publish their thoughts, comments and articles. It makes online publishing a piece of cake - the blogger (the person who uses a Blog) does not need to know any html and has no need to learn to upload via FTP an so on. Any internet browser can be used to read the Blog. Another option is to receive the blog on an RSS reader. RSS means Relatively Simple Syndication and is a current technology that allows translation of web pages or Blogs into a format that can be fed to a desktop reader. These feeds operate via a defined URL and the user opts in to receive the content directly. A quick internet search will reveal plenty of RSS reader choices, all easily downloaded. Some are free and allow allow their users to opt into the blogs they would like to read. Those web sites with plenty of content often use the Blog and RSS so their subscribers are kept up to the minute with info, headline news and articles. If you subscribe via RSS then the info comes to you - no more tedious visits to multiple web sites, just switch on the RSS reader. Because the end user has asked for the feed in the first place, this kind of information is known as Pull Technology. In contrast e-mail marketing campaigns and the like are Push Technology - pushing unasked for content towards readers. Marketers are becoming more creative in their use of Blogging and RSS feeds to help boost profits. These new techniques provide many opportunities for exploitation by business. For example, RSS and Blogs are being used to send marketing messages without the hassle of email. Right now the potential of RSS for an Internet marketing expert is huge. The Blog is fairly easy to maintain. It can be filled with information that announces and sells a service or product, yet still feel to the reader like a soft sell. Maybe it is in fact a hard sell, but remember that the RSS subscriber has asked for this information (pulled it)! What a wonderful opening for any product or service that is sold via the Internet. |
| Mark Vandorone Copyright © 2005 All rights reserved About The Author: Mark Vandorone is the founder and chief executive of Five Marketing, a quality provider of highly targeted traffic for your online marketing campaigns. Stop putting up with junk clicks and poorly converting traffic from PPC search engines! |
