How to engage in RSS marketing

RSS marketing is quite different and unique as compared to most of the other internet marketing tools or technologies. In RSS marketing, success or failure lies in the hands of the consumer or the internet user. Although this may sound scary from a business perspective but at the same time there are certain advantages.

There are some online businesses that have garnered a good click-through-rate varying from 7% to 10% using RSS feeds and this means that it has actually outperformed various other mediums of online advertising. Of course this number can't be reached overnight. There has to be a strategy in place and the execution has to be perfect to derive such a high click-through-rate.

For those who have not been able to capitalize using RSS marketing and for those who are new to RSS marketing, here are some tips that will definitely help you in leveraging consumer control in RSS. The tips are as follows:

Feed characteristics

There are many websites who have their feeds while others don't. It is not necessary that the feeds in the websites that have them will be created equally. There are quite a few variables that have to be considered during content delivery using RSS feeds. Let us look at an example: Some websites like My Yahoo is able to display only the headlines of their RSS feeds while websites like Bloglines are able to show almost the entire feed or complete article content. So there are some publishers who will provide only partial feed while others might provide entire content in the feed.

In marketing terms, this means that you should know how you will present the content and what the marketing message will look like. If you are not aware of the various characteristics of a feed, then RSS marketing can be a risky proposition. It is important to hence understand the feed characteristics and identify the methods of distribution. You need to think and imagine in advance how your consumer will receive this feed, and how it will help them to make an informed marketing decision, which will help your business in the long-run.

One of the prevailing issues is that of full feed vs. partial feed. Let us take another example. If an online publication has 5,000 RSS feed subscribers and the publisher is offering only the first paragraph of each of their articles in the RSS feed then the reader will have to click through each of the feed to view the entire content. There are many internet readers or users who will skim quickly through the feed content click through directly to the website. In such a scenario, if the publication has placed any advertisements in their feed then the consumer will miss it completely. So the online publication might get a high readership rate but will be a bad option for RSS advertising because the click-through-rate is low.

Hence it is extremely important to evaluate the various feeds where you would want to advertise.

Make content interactive

If your content is not interactive or engaging then it will not attract too many RSS consumers. Consumers are not looking for saleable content; they are looking for useful and relevant information. For example if you are running an advertising campaign for the launch of a new paint then you need to target the different home improvement blogs and websites as a part of your RSS advertising & marketing campaign. In a home improvement blog, you will find the audience who will be interested about the various aspects of home improvement and how it can be done and what all they can use. This will boost your advertising efforts.

Another important aspect is the matter, the concept in the advertisement. Don't try to sell the product, try to attract people with a story. If you present a nice story with information, facts, research analysis, benefits, pros and cons then it will increase a reader's interest and thirst for knowledge. This will be advertising at its best.

Fresh and creative content

There is nothing like fresh and creative content. How many times would you read about a product in articles that have been rewritten over and over again? It will be boring, monotonous and put you off. This stands true for all consumers. Hence the need is for refreshing content that will hold a readers attention and keep adding new content. A thumb rule in RSS feeds is to have creative content in every six new posts.

The bottom-line is attracting consumers with intellect and not the same old story.

The Internet Marketing Blog

If you subscribe to the micro persuasion model of public relations, then you would agree that the Internet is the new frontier in marketing. Blogs are increasingly becoming the medium of choice for companies and entrepreneurs in bringing their brands and products closer to consumers. E-commerce sites are fast becoming widely-accessible, and a variety of products can now be purchased online, from clothes, to computers, to cars. The World Wide Web is one big conversation, and companies are vying to join in, get to talk back, and get feedback in return.

The essential thing for a company to do is to initially create an online presence. As long as you're there, online and accessible over the Internet, people are bound to seek you out, in their quest for information. Imagine how much more business you can generate if you actively pursue marketing activities online. Imagine if your company website or weblog comes out as number one in Google for a generic search on your product or service. You can literally bring your brand closer to hundreds of millions of people who go online.

This is what the Internet Marketing Blog is all about. Here, we intend to share whatever knowledge and expertise we have to help businessmen and entrepreneurs harness the power of the Internet in effectively marketing products and services. We will explore the various avenues by which you can spread the word about your company or brand. We will help with the best practices and most sustainable methods-this is a fickle industry, after all. What's in today may be passé tomorrow. So we would delve into both tried-and-tested and new-and-upcoming Internet marketing techniques.

Blogs and Blogging.

The concept of Web 2.0 has given power to the consumers of information to be content-producers themselves. Blogs and blogging have become indispensable tools in marketing one's products, services, and brand. With blogs, companies can join in on the big conversation, and hence reach out directly to their clients, with a very effective talkback mechanism.

Search Engine Optimization.

What used to be a black-hat, or illicit, trade is now a recognized profession in the Information and Communications Technology industry. Search engine optimizers, or SEOs, pride themselves in being able to quickly, effectively, and legally raise a website's rankings in the popular search engines, in order to attract more clients, and hence generate more business. After all, majority of online business is generated from fresh traffic, or first-time users who come straight from the search engines. It's always a good feeling to be number one on Google, or at least on the first page, for relevant searches.

Online Revenue Streams.

We will also discuss how you can actually earn revenues online, through the various pay-per-click advertising, referral, and affiliate programs available. We shall also explore the different models, from contextual ad-generation, to fixed, per-impression advertising.

These are only some of the very exciting topics we intend cover on the Internet Marketing Blog at http://www.theinternetone.net. The Internet is abound with innovative and interesting ideas, and business people and entrepreneurs should keep abreast of what's new. The next wave of new millionaire-minting ideas can be just around the corner. Thus, it pays to be informed.