Marketing Roadmaps

Susan Getgood

RSS and marketing

by

So, today’s big news from MarketingVOX is that RSS gets "poor marks" from marketers. Article cites the BlogAds survey that indicated that use of RSS not as widespread as was assumed.

Personally, I think this whole issue/question/argument (whatever you wish to call it) is just silly. RSS is a tool that you can use to make your content more accessible. If the people you are trying to reach like or prefer RSS, you should use it. End of Story. Right now, that may be a small population, but particularly in tech, it IS a fairly influential population. How does the song go: voices carry…..

I am not influential like a Scoble or a Rubel, but if you want me to read your content regularly, it REALLY helps if you publish an RSS feed. And I know I am not alone.

More importantly, even if those of us who prefer RSS feeds are voices in the wilderness NOW, it won’t be that way forever. Slowly but surely, more and more people will start using RSS for the same reasons we like it now — easier to keep up with the volume of information, easier to keep track of your favorite sites. And so on.

So, my advice to marketers is, learn about RSS, evaluate it as a tool against the audiences you are trying to reach, and be prepared to add it to your marketing toolbox when your audience is ready. It will happen.

After all, remember all those folks in the early 90s who insisted that no one would ever make any money on the Web, and why would a company need a (quizzical look) Web site anyway …..

Where are they now, I wonder 🙂

RoundUp: Marketing, Direct Mail and Blogs

by

This week’s links are short items that relate to things I have written about recently.

From Jim Logan, a great post on Paper Direct Mail is Not Dead  He provides specific, and excellent, examples on how to integrate direct mail with web marketing for an integrated marketing program. More proof that it isn’t about one marketing tool or another being the magic bullet, it is about using, and combining, all the necessary and available marketing tactics to raise that prospect. Also be sure to read a follow-on post from Brian Carroll that has  further recommendations.

From A Consuming Experience: Blogging – and your job This is particularly interesting as this blog is an excellent example of a well-written, interesting, anonymous blog. The author goes into some of the reasons why she has chosen anonymity in this post.

Today’s Getgood Hi-Tech Customer Service Award

by

Today’s Getgood Hi-Tech Customer Service Award goes to Six Apart for an amazingly prompt reply to a problem I was having with the TypeKey registration system. I know they have had some system issues in the past few weeks (growing pains I am sure) but I am very glad I chose to use TypePad for my blog. Now all I could wish for was that it wouldn’t let me leave a post in progress without saving it 🙁

That said, I still haven’t been able to leave a comment on the Marketing Playbook blog which is what I was trying to do in the first place — there still seems to be something funky going on. So, I’ll do it here — thanks a bunch for the link out to my post and comments on Marketing Vs. Marketing Communications

And while I am on the topic of The Marketing Playbook, I highly recommend it, even for experienced marketers. It is quite simply the book I wish had been written when I was starting out, so I didn’t have to discover all this stuff by trial and error. Although I did already know a lot of the material, as most senior-level marketers will, it is still an excellent addition to your bookshelf.

The authors put a new spin on some of our old tactics, and the worksheets are super. In fact, I intend to use them in some upcoming client work as they are better than what I used to use.

And for marketers just beginning their careers, this book will really jumpstart your knowledge.

And of course, continue reading Marketing Roadmaps 🙂

Best form for a corporate weblog: the collaborative or group blog

by

As the use of blogs as corporate marketing tools expands, it will become crystal clear that the best form for a corporate blog is the collaborative or group blog. And the best collaborative blogs will include BOTH company representatives and customers.

I am currently working with a client to develop a group blog written primarily by customers. I will report more on this project as it progresses.

In the meantime for your reading pleasure:

From Blog Business World: Multi-person group blog: start one