RSS: Really Simple Strategy
Unless you’re like me and you’re posting like a fiend to get your assignment done for your master’s class on time, you may not have as much of an opportunity to post on your website or blog every day.
On the flip side, are you overrun with blogs and news sites you frequent? For example, I just perused the Advertising Age Power 150 Blogs, and thought my head would spin with so many resources.
In either of these cases, why not consider an RSS feed?
Say what? If you’re not familiar with the acronym, you’re not alone.
More likely, you’re probably familiar with the little orange button you’ll see all over cyberspace.
The RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. According to its entry in Wikipedia (more on that below), “RSS is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format.”
Pushing Data Out
The internet is hungry for fresh content. One of the simplest ways to get traffic via RSS is to use a blog. Each time you update your blog, the RSS feed will give readers a sample of your content and a link to your blog for more information.
Blogs sites (such as WordPress) are fairly user friendly tools, and can be a quick way to publish RSS feeds. By categorizing your blog by date and topic, RSS directories can be used to promote your blog.
Streamlining Data In
What about the information overload from so many newsources and blogs? RSS feeds allow you to choose to get update notifications delivered directly to you through a news reader of your choice (Google, Yahoo and Microsoft all offer these services).
You then select the Web sites from which you want to receive information and the content will be delivered automatically to your RSS reader.
Either if you are a reader or a marketer, RSS offers an efficient means to build an effective means of two-way communication. Companies are using RSS for a variety of reasons, ranging from public relations to one-click product deals
For a brief tutorial on creating an RSS in plain English, here’s a great YouTube video:
A word about Wikipedia:
Wikipedia is the free online encyclopedia that is open to the public for editing. The site was launched in 2001 and has grown to include millions of articles in a variety of languanges. There are significant concerns about the quality information that has an open architecture for editing. However, Wikipedia has become one of the most popular resources, and is reported as being the eighth most-visited Web site in the United States.
With real time editing, Wikipedia does not have a formal review process. As a result, every article can be called as accurate as those who have taken the time to write or edit it. Although Wikipedia (and the growing number of individual “wikis” for specific topics) continus to grow, research from an extra source is always a good idea to get your facts straight.
Web 2.0: History in the Making
As I’ve gone through the Emerging Media Course at West Virginia University this semester, I have learned that one of the most important aspects of new media is information. Both marketers and consumers have a vested opportunity to share, communication about each other,
Web 2.0 is changing the way we share and manage our information. Virtually anyone can do this now, and over the course of time, the internet is becoming smarter. Although some of what we do is passive (i.e., clicking on a website link), programming behind the scenes allows sites to learn what is of interest specifically to you, and offer recommendations of additional products or services. (Think of Amazon.com’s recommendation list).
This fabulous video made its way around the internet waves in 2007. Although by today’s online standards what happens yesterday quickly becomes old news, something from two years ago is really old news. However, this link shows a very useful insight into the development of today’s “Web 2.0″. The video focuses on the evolution of forms ranging from HTML-based web-pages to RSS-feeds, from text to multimedia, and static web-sites to dynamic, “living” blogs and social web utilities.
Interesting to note is that creator of this film is NOT a social media guru or a modern day ad agency executive. Michael Wesch is the Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology from Kansas State University. Through is in-depth study of humankind, Wesch has created a relatable demonstration of new media’s influence on how society “talks” to each other (either in person or via technology). By watching, observing and learning how online communities will continue to evolve allows marketers an opportunity to learn new ways to communicate and engage consumers.
(Not to mention, the digital music is way cool.)
