Thanks to TiVo, I won't miss the next episode of "Arrested Development." Thanks to RSS, I won't miss a sale on the coveted DeLonghi retro toaster oven.
RSS, commonly known as Really Simple Syndication, is just one medium for distributing online content. Atom is another XML-based web content and metadata syndication format. Both technologies gather web page files from a website and translate them into XML, an Extensible Markup Language file. An aggregator or feeder, selected by the user or specified by the page that will display the content, analyzes the XML. The output of that analysis is the content that can be placed on almost any website.
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Learn more now! For example, when a user clicks the RSS or XML button on a website, that page's information can be imported into the user's home page, personal website or online community. Just as Seinfeld has been syndicated for viewing on multiple TV channels, content from one website can be syndicated for viewing on multiple, even infinite, websites.
So what does all of that mean to you as a member of the online community?
It means you have the power to dictate your online and mobile information experiences. You don't have to imagine a home page where only the news, sports, pet care tips and shopping bargains you want are immediately available. Many internet users are already taking advantage of this personalized experience on My Yahoo. It means users can access only the information they want, and in most cases, they only have to click a couple buttons to receive it.
These RSS and XML buttons are ubiquitous, popping up in browsers and on websites everywhere, screaming, "Free content for the taking!"
But as a self-aware marketer, why would you encourage a client to just give away their company's information? Can clients acquire more consumers and increase consumer loyalty without quid pro quo?
From push to pull
The online marketing paradigm is shifting from traditional marketing to content syndication. From opt-ins and scheduled email messages, to available value-added content. Online consumers are demanding content on their own terms. They want control of their information intake, and companies in-the-know are giving it to them.
What type of content feeds are companies offering?
News, shopping and blog feeds, audio podcasts and appcasts are a few of the available feed types. Companies are beginning to eagerly stock the information buffet, growing more confident in the positive consumer response. Slate.com offers a daily podcast of current news, which users can play on their iPods or computers for free. Online shoppers can subscribe to the coupon feed from the Home Shopping Network website. A ficus aficionado can even receive a blog feed of bonsai tree trimming techniques on her personal website. The information distribution potential is illimitable.
Go to a favorite website and chances are they offer a categorical feed of content. Even popular search engines such as Yahoo and Google are consistently offering RSS feeds on users' home pages. For users who cannot spend a few hours searching for a feed, content syndication search engines such as Feedster allow users to locate feeds by category or name.
Aggregators, the technology that interprets and renders the feeds, are available within the search engine or in some cases, the browser. Even Microsoft plans to incorporate an RSS aggregator into its new version of Internet Explorer. This easy integration of feeds will only make the content syndication offering more attractive to wary consumers.
Who is using the feeds?
The number of people currently using RSS technology is minimal. This low adoption number may be attributed to a few factors. Many users are just beginning to feel comfortable with The Internet and any change perceived as complex causes fear. Additionally, words such as "XML" and "aggregator" are intimidating enough to make a seasoned Internet user uneasy.
According to Forrester, the typical RSS user is a young male consumer, perpetually wired and technologically elite. So maybe he's not saving feeds from the Home Shopping Network, but you can bet he's tuning into iTunes podcasts.
Still, only 5 percent of U.S. internet users have integrated RSS into their information review routine. That doesn't seem like much, especially when the majority of those users cannot even drive a car. Just wait a few years and those impatient bipeds will be negotiating new Volvos via cell phone feed.
Companies: Syndicate or suffer
Let's say your client is a leading manufacturer of pet food and pet care products, and their target audience is not the young male consumer. Your client sends their pet care tips in a weekly email message to target consumers, so why bother with RSS?
Because the young male consumer is at the forefront of a new technology that will soon be as common as the remote control, and just as significant.
Users are barraged with email messages and information every day. They frequently don't have time to dispose of spam, much less read the messages they wanted to receive. How many "Word of the Day" email messages has the quiet logophile regrettably deleted because he didn't have time to read them?
In a world where marketing success is measured by clicks, hits and opt-ins, how do companies relinquish control over their content? They don't. By making their information available to users, rather than forcing it upon them, companies are asserting themselves at the apogee of the syndication summit. If they do not make the desired content available, businesses can be seen as slow, uncooperative and penurious. Let's not forget that if users really want the information, they can just scrape it off a company's website.
If you encourage your clients to limit those email messages and begin syndicating, then how do you gather the statistics needed to determine ROI? The good news is you can still track how many subscribers want a feed, and your client's business, by inserting a tracking code into the feed URL. Feed subscription and circulation can be analyzed as well. Although it's still early in the syndication lifespan, as the technology behind RSS and Atom advances, more analysis methods will develop.
The vision
As consumers, we will continue weaving online experiences into an inextricable thread in our lives. We will explore the new technology that makes our lives easier and better. Our curiosity will grow into expectation. As advertising experts with vision, we will align our technological acumen and adaptability with our clients' competitive marketing spirit, and give curious consumers reasons to expect more.
So my toaster oven hasn't dropped to the hard-to-beat sale price I want. And I have left the serious bargain hunting to a mysterious conglomeration of acronyms. Yet I know that while I may have hitched my wagon to the content syndication star, I still hold the reins.
Since joining VML in 1995, Matt Anthony has been the chief architect in building a dynamic 400+ person, full-service marketing communications company, operating at the intersection of marketing and technology. Matt's leadership has propelled VML from an agency once dominated by one major client (Northwest Airlines) into one of North America's premier digital marketing companies. Matt's dedication and vision are reflected in the company's nonstop, double-digit growth during each of the past five years. A true leader in the industry, Matt brings more than 20 years of fast-forward thinking to the VML vision-- and to its clients. As a result, global clients like AMC Theatres, BP/Castrol, Bayer, Burger King, Colgate-Palmolive, Microsoft, Sprint, Simon Malls and YRC Worldwide now look to VML for its multidisciplinary, problem-solving approach to integrating their businesses into the online channel. Each relies on VML's unique integration of marketing and technology to create more powerful, relevant solutions for the ever-changing global marketplace.
