Benefits of RSS advertising
Progressively, organisations are recognising RSS Feeds as an effective viral marketing technique. It efficiently allows users to receive information, while at the same time profiting from advertising within these RSS Feeds.
Why RSS advertising? Users are subscribing to RSS Feeds thick and fast - making RSS advertisements easy to track and effective in enabling organisations to measure success. It’s reasonably low-cost and can generate higher click-through rates than most forms of online advertising.
The real allure of RSS advertising is the ability to aim at niche target audiences - it can be extremely relevant and it reaches forward-thinking users that have chosen to hear from specific publishers.
RSS advertising is quite possibly the next pathway of opportunity for savvy marketers to explore and employ.
If organisations wish to streak ahead in generating Web 2.0 content that gives them bang for their buck, they must be open to seize and employ innovative advertising ideas to push their brand further online. Using advertising within RSS increases website traffic - ultimately leading to revenue growth.
Effective execution of the right strategies is ultimately what will help advertisers obtain the results they want from RSS marketing campaigns.
What is RSS?
Developed by Netscape in 1997, RSS Feeds allow users to subscribe to a website, receiving new and updated content instantaneously, without being required to revisit the website. RSS Feeds ultimately provide an open and efficient method for digital content syndication.
Given the surge of RSS Feed usage over the last couple of years, it quite possibly has the potential to overtake the world wide web or email as a direct way of viewing content by users in the future. Statistics show over 6 million users subscribe to RSS Feeds, with 73% intending to increase their RSS usage.
Won’t RSS advertising turn subscribers off?
RSS advertising is essentially a win-win situation for everyone involved. RSS advertising allows for premium, frequent content to be attainable.
Generating and offering content costs time and money.
Users demand free content.
Organisations want published content to drive more traffic to their web site, creating an increase in revenue.
Advertisers - aim to reach users through quality content.
Yes, users can always unsubscribe to RSS Feeds if they are turned off by advertising. But let’s face it, as long as the advertisements are relevant, useful and not overpowering, it’s unlikely subscribers will turn away.
Top 5 do’s and don’ts of RSS Advertising
1. Don’t place advertisements in inappropriate locations or settings
Why are users flocking to RSS? Time. They don’t want to swim in reams of content to track down what they want while being bombarded with ads. RSS advertising can either be a blessing or burden if it is not utilised with the appropriate online strategy.
With an interactive medium such as RSS, a combination of text and imagery is the best medicine for amplifying your online coverage.
Remember, users have made the choice to receive content and are often dedicated readers of their feeds. Therefore RSS is direct, can be significant and usually reaches users that want to hear from a specific publisher.
2. Purchase advertising within feeds that are relevant to your product or service
RSS advertising must to be valid and less prominent than other methods, or not be seen at all. Consider the time management attitude of user consumption and contemplate different ways to integrate ads into the RSS streams.
Apply the same online marketing strategy as you would to your website content. Compose content that is useful and unique – Content is king!
The beauty of RSS advertising is that it is still fresh and developing - seize this opportunity and experiment with different feeds, content and techniques.
3. Keep an eye on ad ratio’s and unsubscribe rates
Since the evolution of Web 2.0 and the flood to create user generated content, the focus is now on users – they ultimately control RSS. Flood streams with irrelevant advertising and users will choose with the unsubscribe function and go elsewhere.
The key to maintaining balanced advertising ratios and implementing an effective system is to unsubscribe rates and to regulate the number of ads to content.
RSS advertising can be effortless and straightforward as long as you respect the portal and your audience.
4. Don’t try and push sales
As you would in sales – RSS is all about maintaining a relationship with your target demographic. You’re not just providing information it’s now up close and personal – so make it easy for users to access information and give them a reason to read it. RSS is all about efficiency and effortlessness.
5. Try to be patient – Not all RSS feeds are read
Patience is really the key with this new, stimulating platform. You need to build trust and rapport with users before they approach you. RSS is quite unique – when users are ready they will access the information.
Strike while the iron is hot and get into RSS advertising now before the market becomes inundated. Statistics state that there are over 6 million RSS subscribers, with a 20 to 40 percent subscriber growth each month.
RSS is a distinctive portal. Its interactivity functions differently to email, browsing or search – tactics you would normally employ there doesn’t necessarily work in RSS. Don’t expect to achieve RSS advertising overnight, rather try to understand the appeal to users and formulate your RSS advertising strategy around it.
