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Answer Upon - Analyzing the New Yahoo! RSS Report for Marketers
“Networking” has become one the sales bywords in recent years. Many will tell you that the key to building your sales is to “network” effectively. There is no question that building a strong network can be incredibly helpful to your sales efforts. Nevertheless, many people in sales face the same difficulties in networking that they face in cold-calling. It sounds great, yet for some reason they just don’t seem to be able to do it effectively. Let’s look at some of the factors and see if we can debunk some of this.Exactly what is “networking?” The first thing comes to mind for many salespeople is that networking about finding customers without having to make cold calls! A common perception is that networking means going to a lot of events, meeting as many people as you can (also called “working the room”), handing out your business cards to “qualified”
To marketers, these three should be the founding stones of how to get their visitors to adopt RSS.
6. THE FAMOUS ORANGE BUTTON
Marketers, pay attentin to this.
Only 4% of total RSS end-users actually use the orange XML button, and only 38% of RSS aware users use it.
It seems the orange button isn't dead ... it was never alive.
Let's move on and replace it with something more user-friendly.
And BTW --- 22% of the people that clicked on the button don't even know what action they took after clicking the button and 26% left the site. Goes to show the RSS button is only losing us subscribers.
7. HOW USERS FIND THEIR FEEDS
50% use the defaults available in the RSS reader and only 13% use the search engines to find them.
Yes, it's cruical to be in the RSS feed search engines, but it would be even better if you could move your way to the default seetings. And by all means, actively promote the feeds on your site as end-users, according to the report, actively tend to subscribe to the feeds on the sites they find interesting.
8. CONCLUSION
To conclude this, here's a direct quote from the report, saying exactly what I've been trying to get through for a couple of months:
"To position RSS among m
Ever feel like you were "just a salesperson"? I think anyone who has been in sales for awhile has thought or felt this at sometime in their career. In some fields, sales is such a dirty word that they've created euphemisms to try and reclaim some dignity. I am sure that you have heard many of these. I used to carry the title of Account Executive. Nice title, but it's meaningless. "Executive" in charge of what? The empire of my mind? Business Development is another one: "we don't sell... we develop business". Gee, creating business where there previously was none... sure sounds like sales to me. Here's my new favorite I heard just recently. A major aerospace firm that sells their services to the government calls selling "capture". As in "capture" the contract. I don't know about you, but anytime I "capture" a contract I just made a "s
1. YAHOO!'S KEY FINDINGS
Let's first take a look at Yahoo! key findings and what they mean for marketers.
a] Awareness of RSS is quite low among Internet users. 12% of users are aware of RSS, and 4% have knowingly used RSS.
Although RSS awareness is increasing, only few internet users yet understand what RSS is and how to use it.
For marketers, this means that simply placing an RSS button on their site it not nearly enough, with the report finally demonstrating that marketers needs to use clear and persuasive copy to get their visitors interested in RSS, explain RSS to them and get them to subscribe to their feeds.
In addition it also shows that marketers need to make sure they are using "user-friendly" buttons to generate subscribers, such as "Add to MyYahoo!", which consumers do understand.
b] 27% of Internet users consume RSS syndicated content on personalized start pages (e.g., My Yahoo!, My MSN) without knowing that RSS is the enabling technology.
This finding only underlines the above suggestions.
Stop touting your RSS feeds only using an RSS button, but rather aim for a "subscribe feature" and then explain to the visitor how to use it.
Strong copy has never been so important.
c] 28% of Internet users are aware of podcasting, but only 2% currently subscribe to podcasts.
Goes to show that podcasting still has a long way to go and can right now function only as a supplement to your existing marketing activities.
It might also give an indication that audio is not the most appropriate format for much online content.
d] Even tech-savvy "Aware RSS Users" prefer to access RSS feeds via user-friendly, browser-based experiences (e.g., My Yahoo!, Firefox, My MSN).
e] My Yahoo! has the highest awareness and use of any RSS-enabled product.
Both of the findings above, although indicating that these are the results Yahoo! would want to publish, show that having browser-based RSS reader subscribe buttons is a must.
It also shows that the market is ready for the soon-coming IE and Outlook integrated RSS features, which should really boost RSS usage among consumers online.
Now, let's take a deeper look at the report ...
2. "UNAWARE RSS USERS" VS "AWARE RSS USERS"
The whitepaper makes a strong distinction between "Unaware RSS Users" and "Aware RSS Users", positioning the "Unaware" batch as the mainstream Internet population.
This makes it absolutely clear that B2C marketers, targeting consumers, should take special care to promote their feeds using "friendly" subscribe buttons.
On the other hand, if targeting a more tech-savvy audience, going the way of "RSS" and more complex RSS reading tools might be a better choice. This might also prove more effective for targeting executives and other corporate target audiences that might be using an enterprise-wide RSS solution, such as NewsGator.
3. CONSUMPTION LEVELS
The whitepaper says that on the average "Aware RSS Users" subscribe to 6.6 feeds.
The consequences of this are not as simple as they might seem. Even "RSS Aware" users do not subscribe to "just anything" and seems they only subscribe or keep being subscribed to the content of highest relevance to them.
The message for marketers is to become even more relevant and more focused on providing real value for their target audiences.
RSS does not mean that end-users will start consuming that much more online content, but simply that their primary consumption channel will change. It's up to you to make place for yourself in this consumption channel, but you can only do so if you become one of the key targeted content providers for your market and can deliver consistently high-quality content.
4. TYPES OF RSS CONTENT CONSUMED
Even in the world of RSS, mainstream media rules, with World news and National news both leading the pack at 52% and followed by Entertainment at 34% and Weather ad 31%.
If we take a look at what lies beneath this we can see that end-users still see RSS as a news consumption tool and a tool to receive time-sensitive updates, such as weather info.
The interesting part is that blogs achieve only 23% and although they are gaining quickly are still not part of the mainstream.
Whichever way you look at this, the real long tail is still far from fruition.
There are two are interesting categories listed in the report: investment/financial info/banking at 13% and Shopping/online commerce at 10%.
The popularity of these two shows that RSS in fact is appropriate for delivering business info and that RSS can be used for e-commerce. A strong case in point urging e-retailers to start providing RSS feeds.
5. WHY END-USERS USE RSS
"RSS Aware" end-users subscribe to feed because of "ease" or "convenience", followed by being able to choose what they read.
To marketers, these three should be the founding stones of how to get their visitors to adopt RSS.
6. THE FAMOUS ORANGE BUTTON
Marketers, pay attentin to this.
Only 4% of total RSS end-users actually use the orange XML button, and only 38% of RSS aware users use it.
It seems the orange button isn't dead ... it was never alive.
Let's move on and replace it with something more user-friendly.
And BTW --- 22% of the people that clicked on the button don't even know what action they took after clicking the button and 26% left the site. Goes to show the RSS button is only losing us subscribers.
7. HOW USERS FIND THEIR FEEDS
50% use the defaults available in the RSS reader and only 13% use the search engines to find them.
Yes, it's cruical to be in the RSS feed search engines, but it would be even better if you could move your way to the default seetings. And by all means, actively promote the feeds on your site as end-users, according to the report, actively tend to subscribe to the feeds on the sites they find interesting.
8. CONCLUSION
To conclude this, here's a direct quote from the report, saying exactly what I've been trying to get through for a couple of months:
"To position RSS among ma
Internet marketing is one of the most effective marketing methods to increase the sales and traffic at a very fast rate. Traffic is generated by search engines optimization, directory listing, affiliate marketing strategy, ppc advertisement, and comparison shopping among others. keywords play the major role in search engine optimization process. All those keywords are being targeted which are having a good conversion rate and are highly popular according to the search engine point of view.Following are some of the ways through which you can generate traffic:Article submission:Articles play a vital major role to increase the site visibility on the search engine. Posting an article to 10-15 article sites will get you unexpectedly increased clicks. Moreover, inbound links seem to be increased when search engines update their algorithms.S
Stop touting your RSS feeds only using an RSS button, but rather aim for a "subscribe feature" and then explain to the visitor how to use it.
Strong copy has never been so important.
c] 28% of Internet users are aware of podcasting, but only 2% currently subscribe to podcasts.
Goes to show that podcasting still has a long way to go and can right now function only as a supplement to your existing marketing activities.
It might also give an indication that audio is not the most appropriate format for much online content.
d] Even tech-savvy "Aware RSS Users" prefer to access RSS feeds via user-friendly, browser-based experiences (e.g., My Yahoo!, Firefox, My MSN).
e] My Yahoo! has the highest awareness and use of any RSS-enabled product.
Both of the findings above, although indicating that these are the results Yahoo! would want to publish, show that having browser-based RSS reader subscribe buttons is a must.
It also shows that the market is ready for the soon-coming IE and Outlook integrated RSS features, which should really boost RSS usage among consumers online.
Now, let's take a deeper look at the report ...
2. "UNAWARE RSS USERS" VS "AWARE RSS USERS"
The whitepaper makes a strong distinction between "Unaware RSS Users" and "Aware RSS Users", positioning the "Unaware" batch as the mainstream Internet population.
This makes it absolutely clear that B2C marketers, targeting consumers, should take special care to promote their feeds using "friendly" subscribe buttons.
On the other hand, if targeting a more tech-savvy audience, going the way of "RSS" and more complex RSS reading tools might be a better choice. This might also prove more effective for targeting executives and other corporate target audiences that might be using an enterprise-wide RSS solution, such as NewsGator.
3. CONSUMPTION LEVELS
The whitepaper says that on the average "Aware RSS Users" subscribe to 6.6 feeds.
The consequences of this are not as simple as they might seem. Even "RSS Aware" users do not subscribe to "just anything" and seems they only subscribe or keep being subscribed to the content of highest relevance to them.
The message for marketers is to become even more relevant and more focused on providing real value for their target audiences.
RSS does not mean that end-users will start consuming that much more online content, but simply that their primary consumption channel will change. It's up to you to make place for yourself in this consumption channel, but you can only do so if you become one of the key targeted content providers for your market and can deliver consistently high-quality content.
4. TYPES OF RSS CONTENT CONSUMED
Even in the world of RSS, mainstream media rules, with World news and National news both leading the pack at 52% and followed by Entertainment at 34% and Weather ad 31%.
If we take a look at what lies beneath this we can see that end-users still see RSS as a news consumption tool and a tool to receive time-sensitive updates, such as weather info.
The interesting part is that blogs achieve only 23% and although they are gaining quickly are still not part of the mainstream.
Whichever way you look at this, the real long tail is still far from fruition.
There are two are interesting categories listed in the report: investment/financial info/banking at 13% and Shopping/online commerce at 10%.
The popularity of these two shows that RSS in fact is appropriate for delivering business info and that RSS can be used for e-commerce. A strong case in point urging e-retailers to start providing RSS feeds.
5. WHY END-USERS USE RSS
"RSS Aware" end-users subscribe to feed because of "ease" or "convenience", followed by being able to choose what they read.
To marketers, these three should be the founding stones of how to get their visitors to adopt RSS.
6. THE FAMOUS ORANGE BUTTON
Marketers, pay attentin to this.
Only 4% of total RSS end-users actually use the orange XML button, and only 38% of RSS aware users use it.
It seems the orange button isn't dead ... it was never alive.
Let's move on and replace it with something more user-friendly.
And BTW --- 22% of the people that clicked on the button don't even know what action they took after clicking the button and 26% left the site. Goes to show the RSS button is only losing us subscribers.
7. HOW USERS FIND THEIR FEEDS
50% use the defaults available in the RSS reader and only 13% use the search engines to find them.
Yes, it's cruical to be in the RSS feed search engines, but it would be even better if you could move your way to the default seetings. And by all means, actively promote the feeds on your site as end-users, according to the report, actively tend to subscribe to the feeds on the sites they find interesting.
8. CONCLUSION
To conclude this, here's a direct quote from the report, saying exactly what I've been trying to get through for a couple of months:
"To position RSS among m
An embedded command is a suggestion that is hidden within written or spoken language. It is used to communicate to the conscious mind while also sending a message to the subconscious mind. The intent is to actually bypass the conscious mind and communicate directly to the subconscious mind. Since embedded commands usually remain undetected by the conscious mind, they are very commonly used in marketing and advertising. It is in this covert way that marketers can create expectations and desires within their audiences without encountering resistance. Often, the embedded commands are small fragments that fit into a full sentence. For example, Pepsi used to have the slogan that encouraged, "Have a Pepsi Day." The embedded command was "Have a Pepsi." The most effective embedded commands are short and concise. In fact, ideall
This makes it absolutely clear that B2C marketers, targeting consumers, should take special care to promote their feeds using "friendly" subscribe buttons.
On the other hand, if targeting a more tech-savvy audience, going the way of "RSS" and more complex RSS reading tools might be a better choice. This might also prove more effective for targeting executives and other corporate target audiences that might be using an enterprise-wide RSS solution, such as NewsGator.
3. CONSUMPTION LEVELS
The whitepaper says that on the average "Aware RSS Users" subscribe to 6.6 feeds.
The consequences of this are not as simple as they might seem. Even "RSS Aware" users do not subscribe to "just anything" and seems they only subscribe or keep being subscribed to the content of highest relevance to them.
The message for marketers is to become even more relevant and more focused on providing real value for their target audiences.
RSS does not mean that end-users will start consuming that much more online content, but simply that their primary consumption channel will change. It's up to you to make place for yourself in this consumption channel, but you can only do so if you become one of the key targeted content providers for your market and can deliver consistently high-quality content.
4. TYPES OF RSS CONTENT CONSUMED
Even in the world of RSS, mainstream media rules, with World news and National news both leading the pack at 52% and followed by Entertainment at 34% and Weather ad 31%.
If we take a look at what lies beneath this we can see that end-users still see RSS as a news consumption tool and a tool to receive time-sensitive updates, such as weather info.
The interesting part is that blogs achieve only 23% and although they are gaining quickly are still not part of the mainstream.
Whichever way you look at this, the real long tail is still far from fruition.
There are two are interesting categories listed in the report: investment/financial info/banking at 13% and Shopping/online commerce at 10%.
The popularity of these two shows that RSS in fact is appropriate for delivering business info and that RSS can be used for e-commerce. A strong case in point urging e-retailers to start providing RSS feeds.
5. WHY END-USERS USE RSS
"RSS Aware" end-users subscribe to feed because of "ease" or "convenience", followed by being able to choose what they read.
To marketers, these three should be the founding stones of how to get their visitors to adopt RSS.
6. THE FAMOUS ORANGE BUTTON
Marketers, pay attentin to this.
Only 4% of total RSS end-users actually use the orange XML button, and only 38% of RSS aware users use it.
It seems the orange button isn't dead ... it was never alive.
Let's move on and replace it with something more user-friendly.
And BTW --- 22% of the people that clicked on the button don't even know what action they took after clicking the button and 26% left the site. Goes to show the RSS button is only losing us subscribers.
7. HOW USERS FIND THEIR FEEDS
50% use the defaults available in the RSS reader and only 13% use the search engines to find them.
Yes, it's cruical to be in the RSS feed search engines, but it would be even better if you could move your way to the default seetings. And by all means, actively promote the feeds on your site as end-users, according to the report, actively tend to subscribe to the feeds on the sites they find interesting.
8. CONCLUSION
To conclude this, here's a direct quote from the report, saying exactly what I've been trying to get through for a couple of months:
"To position RSS among m
Over the years, I have identified two kinds of midlife career changers: Jumpers and Clingers.Jumpers thrive on energy, enthusiasm and improbable luck. The last three times they leaped, a net appeared. They see no reason why the next jump should be any different.Clingers thrive on careers that offer security, money and identity. When they outgrow their careers, or find themselves forced out, they feel lost. They can't remember the last time they found themselves in this position.Coaching jumpers and clingers for career changeJumpers call a coach when they are ready to find a new mountain. Suggest a destination and they ask, "Where is it?" Often they've made another leap before the coach realizes what is going on.Clingers call a coach when they find themselves lost in the jungle. They ask, "How do I know if I've made
4. TYPES OF RSS CONTENT CONSUMED
Even in the world of RSS, mainstream media rules, with World news and National news both leading the pack at 52% and followed by Entertainment at 34% and Weather ad 31%.
If we take a look at what lies beneath this we can see that end-users still see RSS as a news consumption tool and a tool to receive time-sensitive updates, such as weather info.
The interesting part is that blogs achieve only 23% and although they are gaining quickly are still not part of the mainstream.
Whichever way you look at this, the real long tail is still far from fruition.
There are two are interesting categories listed in the report: investment/financial info/banking at 13% and Shopping/online commerce at 10%.
The popularity of these two shows that RSS in fact is appropriate for delivering business info and that RSS can be used for e-commerce. A strong case in point urging e-retailers to start providing RSS feeds.
5. WHY END-USERS USE RSS
"RSS Aware" end-users subscribe to feed because of "ease" or "convenience", followed by being able to choose what they read.
To marketers, these three should be the founding stones of how to get their visitors to adopt RSS.
6. THE FAMOUS ORANGE BUTTON
Marketers, pay attentin to this.
Only 4% of total RSS end-users actually use the orange XML button, and only 38% of RSS aware users use it.
It seems the orange button isn't dead ... it was never alive.
Let's move on and replace it with something more user-friendly.
And BTW --- 22% of the people that clicked on the button don't even know what action they took after clicking the button and 26% left the site. Goes to show the RSS button is only losing us subscribers.
7. HOW USERS FIND THEIR FEEDS
50% use the defaults available in the RSS reader and only 13% use the search engines to find them.
Yes, it's cruical to be in the RSS feed search engines, but it would be even better if you could move your way to the default seetings. And by all means, actively promote the feeds on your site as end-users, according to the report, actively tend to subscribe to the feeds on the sites they find interesting.
8. CONCLUSION
To conclude this, here's a direct quote from the report, saying exactly what I've been trying to get through for a couple of months:
"To position RSS among m
So you want to have a special sales event – great idea! But why are you slashing your prices and having big discounts? You can have a successful income buster without even touching your prices! You just need brains, guts and real (and I mean real) excitement.What’s an “income buster”?An income buster is a promotional event that gets a large amount of people excited about something. It wows and delights your customers so much that they want to thank you for it when it’s over. It’s not about lowering prices; it’s about getting your customers excited about something more substantial.Of course, there’s no magic event that will work for everybody. The key to finding the right income buster for you is in your customers – and your ability to see things their way.The First Element: BrainsBefore you can put on this event, you must as
To marketers, these three should be the founding stones of how to get their visitors to adopt RSS.
6. THE FAMOUS ORANGE BUTTON
Marketers, pay attentin to this.
Only 4% of total RSS end-users actually use the orange XML button, and only 38% of RSS aware users use it.
It seems the orange button isn't dead ... it was never alive.
Let's move on and replace it with something more user-friendly.
And BTW --- 22% of the people that clicked on the button don't even know what action they took after clicking the button and 26% left the site. Goes to show the RSS button is only losing us subscribers.
7. HOW USERS FIND THEIR FEEDS
50% use the defaults available in the RSS reader and only 13% use the search engines to find them.
Yes, it's cruical to be in the RSS feed search engines, but it would be even better if you could move your way to the default seetings. And by all means, actively promote the feeds on your site as end-users, according to the report, actively tend to subscribe to the feeds on the sites they find interesting.
8. CONCLUSION
To conclude this, here's a direct quote from the report, saying exactly what I've been trying to get through for a couple of months:
"To position RSS among mainstream Internet users, it is essential to effectively communicate the benefits of RSS (ease, convenience, access to information of interest). Internet users do not understand how to use the XML button, how to actively seek out RSS feeds, or even what the term RSS means. Instead, they need a simple interface where they can choose the information and content that interests them. This is where personalized start pages and browser-based experiences can help move RSS into the mainstream."
Copyright 2005 Rok Hrastnik
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